March 20, 2010

We have left the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park and have taken many wonderful memories with us. We had a chance to spend time with our friend Debbie Tuel who is the Director of the Agape Home for Women in Moore Haven, and take a few days to heal from the KOA experience. Unfortunately, both of us acquired a nasty cold and we were laid low for a couple of days. On Sunday, while Ken wasn't feeling the best and I was feeling about 2 days better than him, we went on a Swamp Buggy Tour of the Prairie. This swamp buggy has only room for 9 people which includes the driver. The buggy was built on a Ford F150 chassis - the truck bit the dust - and has two transmissions. One for the vehicle itself and the other to put it in 4-WD which we experienced only one time. The tour guide - Tom - was extraordinary. He volunteers January, February and March at the Prairie and the rest of the year he volunteers at the Walusa Springs State Park in the Florida panhandle and at the Fish and Wildlife Center in Monroe, Louisiana. Anyway, he was funny, very knowledgeable about the Prairie and very informative. Here are some of the facts about the Prairie. They have scheduled burns throughout the year and depending on the time of year they burn determines the vegetation of the area. The Loblolly Pine and the Wire Grass need the heat of the fire to burst the seed pods and germinate. If the burn is during the time that doesn't affect these plants, the vegetation turns to Sawtooth Palm plants and greener grassier plants. The most interesting plant we saw was the Oak Tree. This tree is on a horizontal level with the trunk buried in the ground and only about 1 foot of the leaves and branches showing above the ground. You can tell them from other vegetation because the leaves form a big circle in the ground. In this picture, Tom is standing above the trunk with the tree top behind him. Notice the shape. Just one of those weird and wonderful things on this earth.

Next up was having to put the buggy in 4-wd because of the rain. Usually during the winter the roads are extremely dry. Not this year. This was the week of the monsoon rains that everyone in Florida got to experience. As you can see in this picture, the road became a stream and this was the norm for at least 50% of the tour.


The tour was 12 miles long, lasted 3 hours, including the Prairie information and a Pig Dog Rescue. This dog was obviously lost and wanting to be found. She was just standing in the road and followed the buggy to an area that the guide could get over and stop. With some help of some of the passengers they were able to retain the dog - Tom used his belt as a leash - and hold her until the ranger could come get her and return her to her owner - "Spook". Spook hunts the wild boars on the preserve and last year took over 300 boars off and they expect him to do as many this year. They are being hunted and removed because of the damage they are doing to the land by rooting up the ground looking for grubs and tender roots. This is what a small part of what they can do. And a look at the Pig Dog. She is about 16 inches high at the shoulders - not a big dog at all. She was young and Tom thought she probably stopped to get a drink and couldn't catch up with the group.

We saw several birds - Split-Tailed Flycatcher, Black and Turkey Vultures, Eastern Meadowlark, Northern Mockingbird, Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, Red Shouldered Hawk, Crested Cara Cara, Sharp Shinned Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Wild Turkey, and several Alligators. Florida isn't complete without Alligators - here are my favorites.

One last picture of the Prairie. Next stop - Blue Springs State Park - Manatee Country.