Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

This past weekend I joined Carlos and the rest of his lab (known as the "Zebra Lab" named after the large stuffed zebra that greets you at the front door) for a trip to western Florida. We (there were 9 of us total) packed into two cars, loaded tents and assorted camping gear, and drove to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary for the annual Plant Biologists of South Florida Meeting.

On our way, we stopped for a cultural experience at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum on the Big Cypress Reservation of the Seminole Indian Nation. I really liked this museum that housed artifacts and exhibits depicting the lifestyles, traditions, and livelihoods of the Seminole tribe through history. The museum also had a nice boardwalk through a cypress swamp replete with indigenous Everglades flora and fauna.

After our museum tour, we stopped at the Swamp Water Cafe for lunch and to look at the variety of native (and some exotic) animals on display. The highlight of this place is the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). This is a critically endangered subspecies of puma that only occupies the Big Cypress region of South Florida and there are only about 80 - 100 individuals estimated left in the wild.

Continuing on to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, we arrived before dark and toured around the extensive boardwalk system, admiring alligators, birds, and tons of cypress trees. This was a really beautiful nature preserve!

We spent the following day attending the PBSF meeting and learning about the local botany research conducted throughout Florida (and beyond). The meeting was rather small, but full of information -- everyone in the Zebra lab gave great presentations as usual and late in the afternoon we packed up our gear and drove back to UM.

Overall, this was a fun (and educational!) weekend trip where I saw TONS of animals and my first ever Painted Bunting (a really colorful bird related to cardinals). I had a nice trip and got to see a part of Florida that I had never visited!