Pythons , Gators , Bears & Jungle Hammocks

[oldsparkey]

Camping in these changing times it's a good idea to check the area and not just for the weather , ground conditions or any of the normal things.
The dangers change with the seasons and time and not necessarily for the better. Unless you are a person who likes or studies Herpetology.

I was looking into camping with nothing but a tarp and out in the open , no bug netting of anything surrounding me. Figured it might be fun to try this winter since the bug situation would be less. Well it looks like bugs are the last thing to think about.

All those Burmese Pythons the Hurricane ( Andrew ) turned loose into the everglades many years ago have been growing , breeding and traveling.

There are ( verified ) sightings of them here in Central Florida as far back as 1918. One ( verified ) sighting was reported further up in northern Florida and west over into the panhandle of the state.

Yes Sir , It would be something to be sleeping on a mat , under a tarp out in some desolate piece of woods and end up with a uninvited guest joining you. Especially if that guest is 12 or 16 feet long , as wide as a basketball and with a nasty temper and flickering tongue.

Here is the scary part. They figure the conditions are right for them to eventually move into Georgia and the lower Carolina's. Then west along the Gulf of Mexico states and actually into California.. They thought the cold spell (30 degrees for a couple of days ) back in 2010 would of killed off most of them in the glades. After the freeze the research showed only about 60 died and the rest survived.

As Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz. " Lions , Tigers and Bears , O My. "
Apparently here in Florida it will be safe to say , Pythons , Gators and Bears , soon to be the big three state wide. ( yes , we have a large Black Bear population ) .

All of this has lead me to one conclusion. I have been doing my camping correctly for a very long time. Simply by using a good Jungle Hammock and being up off the ground. Considering all of the different types of critters wandering around . Especially those that have walked or slithered under the hammock on past trips.

I guess they deserve an honorable mentioning ... All the Fire Ants that have invaded this state and other states. Really nothing to mess with , pound for pound my vote is for them over all the others as the champions of pain.

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Florida has six kinds of snakes - four of’em will kill you with a bite; the other two just eat you whole. On the other hand, the Great Lakes have no salt, no tides, no sharks, no typhoons, no crocs or gators.

Scratching my head here, trying to figure the least-worst locale. No! No! Don’t tell me! I’ll figure it out all by myself.

 

[oldsparkey]

Florida has six kinds of snakes - four of’em will kill you with a bite; the other two just eat you whole. On the other hand, the Great Lakes have no salt, no tides, no sharks, no typhoons, no crocs or gators.

Scratching my head here, trying to figure the least-worst locale. No! No! Don’t tell me! I’ll figure it out all by myself.

Darn , The Great lakes area sounds rather dull and uninteresting. To use a double negative , No , Nothing. That's why Florida camping is more fun , isn't camping suppose to be an adventure ?
On the other hand Florida does not have snow ( OK most of the time ) > To be honest in my 77 years here I have seen it snow three times. Yes , it was enough to make snow balls with.

By the way we do not have only 4 verminous snakes in Florida we have 6. See it gets better all the time down here.

• Southern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix)
• Cottonmouth or "water moccasin" (Agkistrodon piscivorus)
• Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
• Dusky pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri)
• Eastern diamondback (Crotalus adamanteus)
• Eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius)

As far as the rest , " Florida is home to more snakes than any other state in the Southeast – 46 native species and three nonnative species. Since only six species are venomous, and two of those reside only in the northern part of the state, any snake you encounter will most likely be nonvenomous."
Nothing to worry about here in Central Florida of Florida's 46 native species of snakes, 35 are found in the Central Florida