Friday the 15th, we began getting ready to come home to Ohio for 8 days. Nothing interesting to report.
But on Saturday, we took off for Audubon’s Francis Beidler Forest. It’s an 18,000 acre nature and wildlife preserve and is the world’s largest virgin cypress-tupelo swamp forest. They have 1,000 year old trees!
I got really excited when I saw a picture on their website with two boys paddling a canoe, thinking we could put our kayak in and go exploring, but we weren’t allowed.
If you want to explore, you have to be part of a tour with a guide. $30/person. And not in December. ☹ I can understand it however, as after having seen it, I think it would be easy to get lost in here. At least for me. 😊
I had read that kids on field trips abound during the week, which is why we chose a Saturday. With the exception of those who work here, there was only one other person around today.
It took us a while to get started. We were met by a friendly and welcoming woman (whose name escapes me since I’ve waited 10 days to start writing this) who seemed to be needing someone to talk to. But they had snakes in aquariums to look at as we conversed! Aren’t they beautiful?!
This is Cleopatra and she’s a corn snake.
I can’t remember anything about this one. But you probably don’t care . . .
Blaine was a bit disappointed at first that we had to drive over thirty minutes and pay $10/person for only a 1.7 mile boardwalk. We started out like it was a hike to complete, but we immediately slowed down and took in the ethereal scenery and began looking and listening. It took us about 2 hours. They gave us a self-guided book to point out a few things. Some of which we found interesting, some we didn’t and some was already on the signs along the boardwalk.
The Swamp is full of black water that, much to my surprise, was actually moving. Parts of it so shallow, we could see Fall leaves lying on the bottom,
other parts so deep, a deer could swim in it.
The deer was in this vacinity
Look! Remember that time I thought I had a picture of a Cedar tree but it wasn’t?
And ever since, we’ve been trying to find out what these trees are?
Now we know!! I’m soooo happy!!!
Part of the boardwalk that meanders through the swamp for 1.7 miles.
So we’re walking along, appreciating the quiet beauty, when all of a sudden we hear this racket. I’m looking down around the water surface thinking maybe it’s a heron taking off, or an alligator thrashing about, then my senses take me to the treetops and there were the noise-makers, in the treetops! Now, we’re talking 60-80 feet up in the air, crashing through the branches in the most awkward flight I’ve ever seen a bird make.
Turkeys!! We were so surprised to see them! Especially way up there! We were told later that it’s highly unusual to see them like that!
Looking around, it’s hard to believe water could reach this height, especially after we learned that the water level today was pretty high.
A reminder of the destruction Hurricane Hugo caused in this place.
They leave everything natural here, except for repairing their boardwalk.
This knee has the largest girth in the forest
Unfortunately for us, many of the natives were hibernating. They have a plethora of snakes, turtles and alligators that ply these waters, as well as many species of birds. But you need to be there in the Spring and Summer to see them. I was really hoping to see a big snake slithering through the swamp! I know most of you think I’m crazy. But then, you’ve probably thought that for a long time!
The girth of this tree was pretty amazing to us – especially when you consider that it’s standing in water all the time.
Sure they do . . . .
Looky there! It’s still Fall y’all!
The remains of a fallen Cypress tree
This shows how the water drains through the swamp
Horrible picture, I know, but when you’re cursed with critter repellent, you take pictures of whatever you can!
This is a pileated woodpecker. Another bad picture. . .
In the spirit of the Christmas Season, we saw (but weren’t able to capture in picture):
5 Flying Turkeys
4 Gray Squirrels
3 Hunting Hounds
2 Pileated Woodpeckers
1 Swimming Deer
I just know you’re trying to put this list into song form right now. The ‘woodpecker’ part is hard. You have to sing it really fast. 😊
We also saw our ever-present vultures. I swear they follow us around just waiting for one or both of us to make a fatal mistake.
Oh! You’re probably wondering about the Hunting Hounds, huh?
When we were near the end of our walk, we heard these hounds baying. We knew what they were because we used to have a beagle. No other dog sounds like that. 😊 Anyway, we knew they were close. Then we saw them. Three 15” hounds. In the protected swamp! When we got back, we reported our find and they told us they belong to the adjacent property. They’ve talked to the owners before, but the dogs are trained to hunt deer and sometimes encroach on the property. I don’t know what you do about that, but it seemed to us that they had little recourse in the matter.
Then there were a couple of 1,000 year old trees and a 7’ Cypress knee – the tallest in the forest. I attempted to find out the record height, but failed. Guess we’ll just have to keep searching the globe . . .
The 1,000 year old Bald Cypress.
Doesn’t look a day over 400. What do you think?
It’s so hard to take pictures of how incredibly tall these trees are!
What am I gonna do when we get to the Redwoods???
A 7′ Cypress knee.
Knowing it was supposed to be seven feet tall, we were looking for something about eye-level.
Fortunately, there was a marker indicating its location or we would’ve missed it.
The water must be deeper here.
Here’s the man responsible for preserving this incredible place
Once we were finished here, we headed off to find a JoAnn Fabrics and a Dollar Tree. It was nothing like shopping at home. I had warned Blaine that JoAnn’s most likely would take hours to check out, but there was no one there. In and out in a flash! And then Dollar Tree, which is usually moderately busy even at the worst times and has lots of cashiers and speedy wait times, was packed with people. I think everyone was doing their Christmas shopping in $1.00 gifts this year!
This will be my last posting for a while as we continue to prepare to head home on the 18th. Ten-hour drive in the Jeep. Our home will be safely tucked in to rest and await our return on the 27th.