Peace River

Zolfo Springs 3

This handy little screen was picked up for $10 at a fossil show.

There are always a few trees down along the river, but damage from the hurricanes of 2004 is still evident.

On this day I spotted over two dozen Alligators Alligator mississippiensis juveniles and...

...a number of larger ones.

The weather was still cool and many of them were visible basking.

This stowaway Green Anole Anolis carolinensis, had finally had enough. After two hours in the kayak on the X-Terra and an hour on the water, it came out of its hiding place, shot up my leg and onto the screen. A quick backward glance and it jumped onto an overhanging branch and was gone. I was taking an alligator picture at the time and caught the moment.

And what is a day without seeing a turtle? This is a Peninsula Cooter Pseudemys floridana peninsularis.

A Florida Redbelly Pseudemys nelsoni giving me a one-eyed once over.

Some fossils found screening in a 3' radius. Turtle, Tortoise, Horse, Glyptotherium, Holmesina, Alligator, Sharks, and Ray.

Bony armor from Glyptotherium. A Glyptodont had around 2,000 of these dermal plates.

This is a model of the roughly VW Bug sized Glyptodont.

OK, I am a complete tool. I was snorkeling my way against the current when I looked up and spotted this. It was in slightly deeper water with just the nose out and the tail was moving (due to the current I discovered). There are no native lizards resembling this, but an exotic lizard in South Florida would hardly be surprising. I crept up on it slowly, a little shocked at how close I was getting. It was early (morning and Spring) and both the water and air were cold, so it was understandably sluggish. When I was close enough, I braced myself for any scratching or biting it might attempt and snatched it up. Gotcha!....And then quickly realized it was plastic and that I was lucky to not have an audience.

I don't often notice softshells basking, and none yet as colorful as this sub-adult.

King of beers?

Based on taste? Not in my opinion. Based on volume of trash in the river? Perhaps. It could be a 3-way tie between Bud, Busch, and beers with the word "Ice" in the title. The cans are an eyesore, the real treat is the voluminous glass shards from broken beer bottles.

This Hoplo Hoplosternum littorale has seen better days. A native of South America, this little fish does not take the cold well. No doubt the winter weakened this one to the point where a fungal infection could take over.

The first time I snorkeled the Peace years ago, I saw one of these and thought "someone dumped their fish". Since then I have learned that 3 types of Suckermouth Catfish have been introduced into Florida. The cool morning I pulled this one out, hundreds were visible in the shallow water along the banks, attempting to warm up.

Sailfin Catfish Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus.

Despite the armor, something, probably a raccoon, has figured a way to eat them. I saw numerous remains along the shore opened in the same manner.

Horse Tooth. I am uncertain of Genus and species.

I am going to go out on a limb and say this is a male. I was pretty run down after a few hours of collecting and crashed out on the river bank. I awoke almost two hours later surrounded by cows.