Entries Tagged 'Wildlife' ↓

It’s April Fools Day everyday around here. And that’s usually the case for anyone with a home positioned near bodies of fresh water in Florida. We see… things… in the water. All the time. Usually its just something like this.

And at first you think

“Oh crap. A gator. How big is it? Do we need to call the Gator hotline?”

Because yes there is such a thing. But then you realize, no. It’s just driftwood. Yep. Just another piece of wood floating by that sure does a good job camouflaging itself as as a gator. Ha ha. Very funny. The joke is on us. Again.

But you always have to check. You have to keep the kids and the small pets back. Just in case. Because it could always be this. And this isn’t driftwood.

Full disclosure: this wasn’t taken in my backyard, it was taken at the Florida Aquarium. Not that I haven’t seen gators in the ponds out back. Or ambling through my yard. They are just really hard to sneak up on and are more often than not (thankfully) more scared of us. They usually disappear very quickly before I could ever get this close.

(Unless its a very big one and it wants me this close but then I don’t think I’d have time to grab my camera anyway.)

They just want to go about their business, finding and becoming their inner driftwood, submerging themselves silently if we come anywhere near.

But still. You have to check.

Ha ha.

April Fools. Just another piece of wood.

This time.

Sometimes Groundhog Day offers you a surprise. Not that we are strangers to surprises in our yard. But still. I am beginning to wonder if I harp on the routine around here too much. And maybe I don’t always see the amazing and the unique when it passes me by. Maybe it takes a wild animal to clue me in. Maybe.

I was doing what I always do around 6:00pm – feeding my kids in the kitchen. Chicken, pasta, apple.

And I was saying the usual too.

“Sit in your seat, be sure to eat some apple too, I said SIT DOWN, would you like more milk… HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS THERE’S A BOBCAT!!!”

The next thing I said was…

“DUCK!” And we all ducked under the window.

I know how skittish these animals are. I’ve seen them before and have seen them bolt at any sign of human life (thank goodness considering… you know… my kids play back there everyday).

But I wanted a picture.

So I crawled over to my dining room table, snatched the camera out of my bag and peeked up out the window into my backyard. The bobcat was moving slowly up towards my house and would be passing the kitchen window in seconds. So we all scrambled back into the kitchen, giggling and anticipating. I froze with camera poised, the kids waited – and there it was. It froze too. Gave us this exact stare. And then scurried away.

Surprises. There’s nothing better. And maybe if I paid more attention to whats happening around me, I’d see more of them now and then. The little stuff and the big stuff can make a day more unique if you allow it to. Nothing like an afternoon bobcat to snap you out of it. Message received.

While life for me has been holding steady, 2010 hasn’t exactly started out so well for the world at large. The loss and devastation in Haiti alone is enough to derail a year that has only just got its feet under it. Horrible, traumatizing, my heart is with the people trying to rebuild their lives. I am just one of millions: watching, mourning and utterly helpless.

And our country, well. The current politics, the unyielding process, the hold ups, the party issues on both sides… yeah, to say I am feeling a little disillusioned right now would be an understatement. Bleh.

So, as I go about my day and see my neighborhood – usually hearty with large palm leaves and sprawling green lawns – now brown and dead after those weeks of frost… Well. It certainly seems to fit.

The other day I was checking over my fave hibiscus plant. No matter how much I had it wrapped, it had not done well in that freeze. And that was no surprise either. Freezes in Florida kill plants. Forever. It’s a crap shoot what struggles back. And as I checked over my plant, I saw no bright blooms, no green left anywhere, just bare branches with a few remaining withered leaves holding on until the next stiff breeze . *Sigh*

Yesterday I happened to hear two fabulous bits of news that just might help 2010 regain a little footing. At least from where I stand. The news was about babies. One had been born and one has recently been made (no, certainly not mine – but its not my news to share so I’ll leave it at that). And that made me think back about my dearest friend who just had her beautiful baby on Christmas Eve. And another friend who had a horrid life-altering 2009 – but is finding joy from weeks of life beating inside also.

Life comes back.

And yesterday I also happened to look at my hibiscus again. Something caught my eye. A tiny small bit of green. New green. Only an inch in diameter, just arrived, waving at the world.

Well look at that. Perhaps Florida’s spring has arrived? Life indeed comes back.

While the Lowry Park Zoo graciously offered me a day’s pass for my family to be guests at the Koala exhibit opening yesterday, I let them know I was planning to attend anyway. We love this zoo and happened to buy a family pass a few weeks ago anyway. We were thrilled to have another reason to roll in there.

The boys and I arrived at 10:30 that morning – fired up to meet Bundaleer the Koala . Honestly, though? Upon arrival, my kids took one look at the crowds gathered around the exhibit and then at the sprayground calling their name. Not surprisingly, their enthusiasm to see  Bundaleer faded a bit. But before I unleashed them into those fun fountains, I had them watch the ribbon cutting and check out the cool koala cake before I set them free. And then I did. It made sense to to wait for the crowds, news cameras and throngs of strollers to thin a bit before we went over to say hello. So they ran and jumped and sprayed and spun and giggled in the water while I listened to a wonderful diggeree doo player and watched various handlers introduce interesting animals to zoo goers wandering by.

We eventually made our way over to meet the sweet grey furry bundle of Bundaleer. He was very cute. But I don’t think he realized how much commotion was being made over him. Acting very “koala-ish”,  we found him sleeping off some of the 23 hours a day that they generally snooze, curled up behind a clump of eucalyptus. Luckily, a handler happened to go in right then so Bundaleer woke up a bit so I got a picture. They are adorable animals and Bundaleer makes a great addition to an already very fun Australian section of the zoo. Oh and check out his adoring crowds in the reflection!

After soaking themselves on the sprayground one more time, we spent the rest of the morning visiting animals. And finally wound up having snacks watching the rhinos in the “Africa” section before heading home. My boys cracked me up as they acted out the emotions of “grumpy” and “happy” for the camera (see below). It was a great day at the zoo for sure.

As you all know, sometimes Blogging has its benefits. And while I hardly blog for those few and far between benefits alone, I love ‘em when I get ‘em. And what perk came my way this weekend? A free afternoon at the Florida Aquarium for Tampa bloggers, tweeters and social media folk alike.

And you know how much I love where the wild things are.

So with a gleeful kick of my heels, I packed my two boys and willing husband into the car spouting promises of lots and lots of fishies. “It will be better than the fishies in the aquariums at Walmart!” Oh. Ok. Now THAT got their attention. Better than Walmart fishies? They were IN.

When we were arrived, we were escorted into a conference room filled with fellow social media peeps. They too had brought their families, so we milled about and kept our kids from reaching into the lone fishtank found at the front of the room. After some welcomes and introductions, the Florida Aquarium staff brought out a few beasties to check out: one snake and one small gator. I felt right at home while my 6 year old waited patiently to pet each.

Next we walked out into the Aquarium and spent well over an hour walking from tank to tank. I appreciate how they have laid out the Aquarium. Visitors start in the Wetlands and meet the sort of wildlife you might find in your own Florida back yard (alligators, turtles, otters, birds and the rest). And as you walk through each exhibit and move through various stages of water, you experience the underwater wildlife you might find in mangrove swamps off the Florida coast or in the deep waters of the gulf.

My children were besides themselves with glee. They ran from tank to tank to tank to tank. “Look at this one Mommy!” “WHOA! Mommy, Daddy, look at THIIIIS!!!” They got to touch star fish, climb on displays, interact with educational technology, step over sharks and play under schools of fish. We all came to a screeching halt and were mesmerized by the floor to ceiling panoramic window displaying an enormous tank full of fish. The kids loved watching a diver interact with and take questions from visitors.

A highlight was certainly the penguin encounter. While I had to hold back my two year old by the scruff of his shirt (“I wub it mommy, I wub penguin, I wanna huuuugggg!!!”), my 6 yo listened intently to the Penguin handler. He promptly reported back to me what he learned later too: “Did you know penguins can poop 4 ft. away!?!” That’s great, babe.

We had a wonderful visit. The staff there were phenomenal. The vibe was child-friendly and relaxing. (That being said even though we never even made it out to the Caribbean Cantina tiki bar or splash park for kids set up out back.)

My only frustration? It is expensive to go very often unless you invest in a pass. Adults are $20.00 and children are $14.95 each. However, an annual pass is $140 (which includes parking) and is probably worth the investment if you and your children do love underwater wildlife and think you might like to visit the aquarium and their splash park more often.

Many thanks to Tampa Bloggers and the Florida Aquarium (on twitter at @floridaaquarium) for a fabulous family afternoon with Florida wildlife!

Mother nature must have been online yesterday. She must have taken a break from enjoying the sun’s rays in her cabana chair, wandered inside to refill her fruity cocktail and stopped in to check twitter. I bet she pushed her sun glasses to the top of her head, read all of pleads for rain in Tampa and said something to the tune of “Alright already. Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I got this.” I am thinking that with a sigh and one last wistful look at the sun, she set down her drink and got to work.

Meanwhile, back at my Morningside Mom ranch, my two boys and husband were playing baseball out back (just like they always do when he gets home from work), when the winds started up. I checked the radar and heard a low rumble of thunder. Whadda ya know. I told my fam it was time to come in, we might actually get a little rain.

And rain it did. Out of the blue, the heavens opened and down poured sheets upon sheets of rain. It had been many months since I had seen anything like it. The rain drove side ways, water gushed over the sides of the house, rivers streamed down the road and over flowed sidewalks. My backyard, frontyard and sideyards were flooded. Lightening cracked directly overhead, thunder rattled our entire house and the boys laughed and screamed and delighted in it all.

At one point I peeked out my front door to find a small turtle enjoying the new pond that was my front garden. His head was cocked skyward and his mouth wide open while rain splashed down on his shell. I think he might have been a little drunk. In fact, I was quite sure every bit of animal and plant life in my yard were drowning in gratitude and already far too over served. I blipped “It’s raining men” and was quite sure the gators were disco dancing below the surface of my finally refilling ponds.

It rained and rained and rained. It slowed some, but it kept raining. It was raining when we had dinner and while we watched the Lost season finale. And then, while I was brushing my teeth before bed, I noticed that the rain was quiet. But I heard a sound I had not heard in a long long time. So I rinsed my mouth, walked to the back sliding door and stepped out onto my dark, soggy back porch. And listened. The deafening sound of peepers (small frogs) filled the air. “It rained! It rained! It rained!” Damn skippy it did.

This morning I awoke to find a miraculous scene. I grabbed my camera, slipped on my flip flops and squished my way across the back yard. I took this picture (compare it to the picture I took yesterday). Mother nature took care of business last night. I am pretty sure she had it covered all along.

God bless Mother Nature, she’s a single woman too
She took off to heaven and she did what she had to do
She taught every angel to rearrange the sky
So that each and every woman could find her perfect guy
It’s Raining Men! Hallelujah! – It’s Raining Men! Amen!

-The Weather Girls

Don’t laugh at me. But I am obsessing about rain right now. It really needs to rain. I am kind of freaking out about it.

Do you see how low our back pond is? Look at that. In my almost four years in this house, I’ve never seen it this low.

This is kind of boring you isn’t it? Well, its big news for me.

Let me back up a bit.

While I am home everyday, putzing around the house and writing posts, I don’t see all that much action. Unless you count my 2 yo pooping on the floor 3 feet away from his potty “action”. But I don’t really call that action. I call that a pain in the ass. But I digress.

So while real people in real offices wearing real business suits watch the exciting world go by from where they busily tackle the world’s problems, I am tucked away here in suburbia. The trash truck comes by. The mail is dropped off. Maybe an occasional school bus. But other than that, the sun shines down, driveways await their commuting residents, the flowers wave in the breeze and nothing seems to really happen around here.

But I actually think a lot happens outside my “office” window. My backyard is a virtual daily drama. I’ve mentioned all the animals before. Currently, there are at least three alligators moving between our ponds. We have a rabbit who appears first thing in the morning and late in the evening to snack on our grass. All varieties of herons, hawks and other birds swoop in to enjoy what our ponds offer. Deer come to graze and sip from our receding ponds midday. Lizards, snakes and turtles hustle about. There are actual bass in those ponds and the alligators will chase your lure down for them. I’ve seen bobcat and wild boar on multiple occasions. At night, bats and owls flit about, the bushes rustle, we hear calls in the night and unknown shadows wander by (most likely armadillo). I have even awoken to hear someone trying to get into our back porch only to discover a raccoon, up on his haunches, working the door latch with all his might. We joke we need to charge admission to our backyard. Guests are guaranteed to see something interesting whenever they visit.

So my office is pretty exciting. At least I think so. I love to observe the comings and goings of every beastie, the progress of each growing plant and now the level of the ponds.

I hate droughts. And I could tell you the story about the drought I experienced in Africa that meant such severe water restrictions, our dormitories were only allowed two showers per week for 10 minutes stretches with 3 people per shower nozzle. I could go on about that. But it might sound a bit like my father telling the story about how he walked to school everyday in the snow, uphill both ways – so I’ll spare you. I just know the value of water. That’s all.

And I also know that the state of Florida needs some. Badly. We haven’t had any significant rain at all since that heart-stopping tornado awhile back. Not cool.

Here is a video of an alligator who was trying to get himself comfortable in one of the back ponds last week (last week there was still some water in that pond). My mother in law and I happened to watch this alligator crawl through my backyard (it was only about 3 feet long, not big – or dangerous – by any means) and then lumber down to the water’s mud’s edge. I grabbed my camera and this is what I caught.

This morning, my 5 year old came running in to tell me there were lots and lots and LOTS of birds in our backyard. “Uh huh, that’s nice dear.” “No, Mommy, LOTS. Come see.” And I did. And so did my husband with my 2 year old toddling behind us.

There were, in fact, many birds in our backyard. Hundreds potentially. A flock like I had never seen were swooping and swirling and flying just above our heads. And then landing in one bush, weighing it down. And then off they went again. It was close to magical.

I grabbed my video camera and threw this little montage of the scene together. It certainly doesn’t capture the feeling or size of this flock flying all about us. But blog-worthy still. My backyard strikes again.

By the way, I used my Muvee Reveal software for this. It took 5 minutes to put together. The software edits the footage to work right along with the song. Pretty cool, huh?

Last time, all we saw was the damage. This time, the boar, feral pig, whatever the heck you wanna call them, attacked our lawn in broad daylight. My mother was home babysitting my napping son while I dared go get a haircut. And as she casually walked into the living room, she looked out the window and saw this sow and her five babies rooting through my previously patched up and carefully fertilized backyard. Being a blogger’s mother, before she shooed them off, she grabbed her camera. “I knew you’d want to blog about this!” Right she was.

Of ALL things. This pig had to be a mama. With five babies.

What am I going to do????

Initially they weren’t scared of my mother’s shooing but eventually they ran off.

And left one third of my back yard in utter shambles.

Over our past three years in Florida, we’ve witnessed all sorts of beasties prowling about in our yard. But this morning, we woke up to this. I suspected a wild boar right away but am now quite positive that is what we’ve got out back after watching this video. And, yup, they’re dangerous. Terrific. And I thought the aligators and bobcats were enough to worry about. I think I’ll be calling Animal Control today. Wish me luck. Things certainly never get “boar”ing around here… what? Ok ok, I’ll cut the jokes and call them already.