Burglars
Its been five months since our last trip into the Big Cypress Swamp. Not
that it was planned that way. The mid-summer trip planned to visit camp
was cancelled, because it looked like the weekend was going to be a rainy
washout. A tropical depression, turned into a tropical storm and passed
right over the camp. There wasn't any point in going, if the work that
needed to be done, couldn't be done. That tropical storm went on to become
hurricane Katrina which destroyed the coast of Mississippi, Louisiana, and
Alabama. Fortunately when it went over our camp, it didn't do any damage.
During that period of time, Camp Six Pack and the others in the area were
visited by burglars, not criminals per say, but opportunists and
destroyers of property. Six camps were broken into. The perpetrators made
no effort to cover their tracks. They left their prints all over
everything, even the sides of the buildings. Their chief mode of
operation, was to break a glass window and enter the premises, then they
did their dirty work. Besides ransacking the interior of the camps and
eating all the food found, they left "used food" all over the place, if
you know what I mean, by used food.
Here is one of the crime scenes:
Hall's Camp, (looks like they lived here awhile)
So, that's the way it went at the break ins, smash a
window, rummage around, grab some food, return it digested and leave. Not
a pretty sight. Now one of the camp owners named Bob, decided he was going
to identify the perpetrators and set out a security camera at his camp.
The following picture shows he was on the right track,
but still didn't get a good look at the burglar:
This was better, but still no cigar!
Finally, Bob got a good shot of the perpetrator:
It seems a momma bear and her cub (the cub is above)
have been visiting the camps and helping themselves. Another large single
bear has also been spotted in the area and may also be in on it. They
haven't made it into camp Six Pack yet, but its not for trying. Paw prints
are all over the outside of the camp buildings. After we had several break
ins over the years, we learned you can not have glass windows exposed to
bears. They will jump right through a solid pane of glass. We use wooden
shutters, bolted shut and so far it works. That and making sure there is
no smell of food around, "that is real important". A determined bear will
get into anything it wants too. |
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Ghosts
I saw a ghost while hunting last week. I was sitting in a tree
stand, in what looked like a pretty good place. A small piney area,
surrounded by cypress on three sides. The pine area, which would normally
be dry, was almost completely covered by shallow water. The water in the
Big Cypress swamp, is at a ten year high level and parts of it have been
closed to hunting. But, back to the ghost.
I was sitting quietly, looking for a deer to go by and
I heard splashing of water off to my right side. The noise came from a
small cypress area, but thick enough you could not see into it. Now I
could say, it was twilight, with a fog rising from the water and getting
thicker in an eerie way, but it was a nice sunny quiet morning, the
kind of morning that makes you want to sit in the swamp for hours. Not a
ghostly type morning. The splashing was not quiet, I was expecting any
minute to see three or four deer break into the open, running in the
water. Muzzleloader at ready, I watched intently.
What appears is a low to the ground, dark object, large
floppy ears, with a flat nose and a little curly tail. I rub my eyes, it
can't be a wild hog. Everyone knows that the panthers have eaten all the
wild hogs in the Big Cypress Swamp. I set my muzzleloader down on my lap
and reach for a camera. I need a picture or no one will believe I have
seen a wild hog. But I am not fast enough, I get two good looks at it as
it walks the edge of the piney area and with a crash of palmetto branches,
it disappears in a scrubby oak thicket.
Now some might ask, you had a gun, why didn't you shoot
it. Then you would have your proof you saw a wild hog. I say NO! you can't
shoot a ghost. Everyone knows the bullet would just pass through the
ghostly body. If I did shoot, and I was wrong and it was not a ghost, I
would not want to be the person that shot the LAST wild hog in the Big
Cypress Swamp. So, I couldn't shoot and I hope no other Sportsman can
either.
In a frivolous way I have touched on a subject that is
having an extreme effect on the Big Cypress Swamp's animals, in a major
way. The Florida Fish and Wildlife commission decided that to ensure that
panthers were saved from extinction, they would introduce Texas Cougars
(panthers) into the gene pool of Florida panthers, to reduce genetic
problems with inbreeding. They have been very successful. The number of
panthers or are they now Cougars, has increased substantially.
Florida's panther biologist has stated that the Texas
Cougar genes will over take the Florida panther genes in ten years, so
there will not be Florida panthers in the future.
The number of other animals has been reduced
substantially. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, stated recently, that 95
percent of the wild hogs in the Big Cypress Swamp are gone. That 90
percent of the raccoons in the Big Cypress Swamp are gone. That 25 percent
of the deer are gone in the Big Cypress Swamp. I can't remember the last
time I saw a raccoon, a possum, a armadillo or a wild hog,
(ghosts excluded) or their tracks. Gone, they
are gone! Panther food!
There are now more panthers in the Big Cypress Swamp
then can be supported. Per the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, the
panthers are now showing an aggressiveness toward humans, also a lack of
fear. Why, because they are hungry! They have expanded beyond their food
source. The most at risk humans will be children, because they are smaller
and panthers attack based on prey size. The number of panthers in the Big
Cypress Swamp will be reduced. No species can expand beyond their food
supply and not reduce in numbers. So, it is just a matter of time and the
number of panthers will reduce to the level that can be supported by the
food source in the Big Cypress Swamp. I hope that no humans are attacked
before that happens.
It also seems that the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Commission, no longer does game management. Back when they had another
name, they would manage game animals. If a species population was down,
they would adjust the hunting rules, to give that species a chance to
recover. Even though the wild hog harvest has reduced to almost nothing in
the past few years, there has not been a change in the hunting rules
governing harvests. It's still allowed to hunt raccoons, but you won't
find any, so where did game management go? Gone with the name change
I guess? Gone with the Quail that used to inhabit the Big Cypress Swamp.
Gone with the heritage of hunting in the Big Cypress Swamp. Soon the
hunting tradition will be a ghost. It is already a "ghost of itself",
compared to before the forming of the "Big Cypress National Preserve".
Snakes
There is no shortage of these in the Big Cypress Swamp. Maybe the
panthers will develop a taste for these:
That would solve the over abundant panther problem.
They can bite each other and then the panther can enjoy its last meal.
Story by Steve - October 18, 2005
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