Prairie Life

February 16, 2016

We are enjoying the ebb and flow of life on the prairie. I thought it had only been one week since I had posted, but it has been almost two weeks! We are finally having more seasonal weather with less rain. Last night was the first big downpour since our International Dark Skies event on February 6^th.

Big storm moving in

That event went well in terms of attendance and programming, but was a washout for stargazing. After a long application process Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park was awarded the first International Dark Skies certification in Florida. The head of the organization came to make the presentation and we had several great talks and photo shows from experts about light pollution, dark sky ecology (how plants and animals are affected by constant light during daytime and nighttime), an astronomical trip through the universe by a planetarium presenter, and a talk on astronomy by our resident volunteer astronomer. Bill spends January and February camped in the park and makes his telescope available for sun and night sky viewing for our campers.

Bill's astronomy presentation

We were also entertained by a troubadour from Canada who won a Florida folk music contest for his original song about our unique park. At 8:30, after all the presentations were over, Bill was to set up his telescope, and a half dozen other astronomers who were camped on our “astro pad” were going to do the same. No stargazing took place. We had downpours all evening. Everyone was packed into our small ranger station and the presenters had to compete with the pounding rain on the roof and the wind that blew through whenever we opened the doors.

Greg had a booth set up on the porch to help people put red plastic on their flashlights to help keep our local light pollution down for the evening's star gazing. He didn't have too many takers. I manned the inside desk and answered the phone and fielded questions from our visitors.


Sunday dawned clear, but most of our campers had to leave before nightfall and the pristine sky that followed. That night the stars were amazingly bright and the Milky Way was clearly visible. Well, we got to enjoy it. One of the privileges of volunteering in this remote lovely place.

The flooded dry prairie behind the oak hammock where we camp

Clearing skies after the big storm

Local residents enjoy the newly flooded lawns

 One of the disadvantages of the remoteness is our bi-weekly grocery run, a two-hour round-trip to Sebring in the interior. We went again a week ago and have been stocking up for two weeks at a time. Here is my teeny-tiny fridge and freezer. A week in and still jammed full!

Greg had a couple more days out in the swamp buggy doing trail maintenance. This week he finally got to drive! Today he is back to pulling invasive plants. We took a walk on the Hammock Trail for the first time since we arrived. It is muddy with a few huge puddles, but has been impassable until now. Great to get in there, but Greg found a whole bunch of Sida growing in there, so he is back there this morning.

Some trail sections had 4 feet of water

Stopping to repaint trail markers and clear brush

Swamp Buggy Helmsman

The Hammock nature trail

Any gators in there?

Invasive Sida shrubs that the deer and feral hogs refuse to eat

Greg bikes frequently, mostly to his jobs, but still can't go very far. Most trails are still impassable. We both biked the road to the gator hole, found a few gators, but also met a nice couple of retired teachers from Georgia who full-time in a small Casita trailer. They've been on the road almost as long as we have, but are still moving from place to place frequently. Kind'a gave me itchy feet...

Searching for dry trails

We are getting better acquainted with the birds and wildlife. But, with the huge amount of unseasonable water here, the gators and wading birds are more widely disbursed over the 54,000 acres this year. Not as many to be seen. The gators are supposed to be gathering in groups to begin mating, but we haven't seen or heard them lately with so much flooded land for them to spread over.

The "Gator Hole" is always popular with the big guys

The turkeys continue to wander through our campsite most days. The crows are constantly exploring the camper's belongings. Hawks are nesting in the family campground, and we've seen crested cara-caras, woodpeckers, harriers, gnatcatchers, kingfishers, larks, kestrels, ibis, egrets, herons, doves, and sandhill cranes.

Tricolor Heron

Cattle Egret left his cow behind

Possum visiting our camp

The vultures are loving the wild pig culling that is taking place out on the reserve at night aided by infra-red sensors. The pigs are not native in the wild. They are descendants of domestic pigs that got loose. One breeding pair can be responsible for 1,000 pigs in two years! They very quickly grow dark hair and tusks. Like piggy rototillers, they tear up the underbrush looking for a particular type of root they like to eat. Very destructive to the ecosystem. After culling, the pigs are left in the wild to be cleaned up “naturally”. (Cue: The Circle of Life). Greg has seen wild pigs on his swamp buggy rides. We also see deer, rabbits, and a waddling possum made a leisurely trek across the back of our site.

Not an Alligator!

We have 6 more weeks here. Some of the volunteers have left and we have some new ones. Some like to move between state parks more frequently than others. Others want to be closer to civilization and the stores and restaurants. This time, we are enjoying the slow pace, and getting to know a place more intimately. We have a busy summer and fall coming up, so this feels like a good respite. I commented to Greg last night that I can't believe that we get to stay free for three months in this beautiful quiet spot, and all we do in return is an easy 10 hours of work apiece, which we often double.

Strolling on the "high" ground behind our camp

Fungus growing on a burnt palmetto root

And BOOM! There goes the downside of bordering Avon Park Airbase. We hear small explosions, but that one was a doozy. I felt the blast through the open window and thought the glass would break! Didn't see anything through the trees, but wouldn't like to experience that again. Last week we had a few fighter jets make several low passes, but we could hear them coming. Oh, well, guess we can't totally escape civilization as long as we are in the East!