Journal Entry 5: Corkscrew Swamp

           Upon embarking in the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, also better known as the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a National Audubon Society Sanctuary; I was amazed by the natural state of the environment, the different wildlife, and all the different ecosystems you can travel through simply by walking along the boardwalk.
        This place amazes me, and brings up some sensitive topics in me. It is amazing to see how our local ecosystems once were, and how perfectly intact we can keep something simply by conservation of it. Walking through the boardwalk along the swamp, you feel as if  your in a completely different time. You see the local environment how it was before, before the huge migrations of people, and the subsequent development, and drainage of the wetlands to make them suitable for human's needs. You also get a feeling of how it was for the first people who came to this area, when it was a frontier. You get a feeling of really how hard it must have been to trek through this huge mostly submerged forest, and swamp. There was a sign about Audubon Feather hunters, who would go into this same swamp in search of valuable feathers on the birds. The sign described how sometimes they would just sit for days at a time, in this nearly inhospitable terrain, waiting for the perfect time to seize feathers from an exotic bird's nest.
        The walk through the Corkscrew Swamp starts to give you an idea of all the different wildlife, and vegetation that call this sanctuary home. It helps you visualize how before all of this development, most of Florida, especially South, South-West, Central, and South-Central Florida encompassed mostly vast untouched nature areas, like this Corkscrew Swamp. It gives you an idea of how powerful nature once was over here, and still is. These areas like the Corkscrew Swamp used to cover much of the Florida landscape before the influxes of people, and development. There are all types of wildlife, and plants; Florida Panthers have been spotted, Florida Alligators, Bald Cypress Trees, Yellow-Crowned night Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, snakes like the dangerous Cottonmouth, and countless other creatures, and plants. It wasnt too long ago that a couple walking along the boardwalk in Corkscrew Swamp actually spotted a Florida Panther stalking prey along a marsh. This is just further proof how important this conservation is to wildlife, especially endangered, and threatened species. The Sanctuary was actually established to protect one of the largest remaining areas of Bald Cypress, and  Pond Cypress.

Picture of Florida Panther walking along the Boardwalk at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, courtesy of http://www.wildflorida.com/articles/images/pantherMikeBarnes463.jpg

         Simply walking through the Corkscrew Sanctuary Swamp is amazing. All of your senses are experiencing the wonders of the natural world. You hear all types of sounds of birds, and wind passing over the trees, and marshes, you see all types of beautiful animals, and trees; and smell all the different aromas of all the different vegetation, and of the natural landscape. It is truly amazing to experience something like this, and I believe everyone, especially people living in South-West Florida need to experience this natural wonder. It really gives you an idea of your local ecosystem before development, and great migrations of people. You also get an idea of how hard it must have been for the original settlers trying to trek through this natural maze, and how easily they could be lost, or hurt. It is truly amazing to know something like this still exist today, but it is even more amazing to see that this is how most of our landscape actually looked before us, humans, and our subsequent development of many natural lands.