A Reflection

This weekend as we shed some tears and said farewell to Hayden, our roommate and friend, I found myself reflecting on my time spent here so far. I am just about to hit my 4th month here at Corkscrew, and the time is flying - especially when there are adventures happening every day.

I was lucky enough to see my first wild Florida panther last Wednesday, along with one of our staff members and everyone on our swamp buggy tour. I always love doing guided tours on the swamp buggy through our backcountry because you never know what you are going to see, and this day was no exception. Within the first 20 minutes of the three-hour tour, I see something brown and large trotting through the cypress trees, only about 20-30 feet to the left of the buggy. My first thought was- bobcat? But as it continued to run, the long tail presented itself and then the entire body. Panther! We all cheered from the top of the buggy - what an amazing sight! I consider myself so lucky to be able to see one of our panthers finally. I have spent a considerable amount of time out in our backcountry and have never had such luck until now. We joked that we could just end the tour there, because how could we ever top that? But we continued on.

Later on, I found out that a guest had also seen a panther from the boardwalk, and even one of our volunteers saw a panther sitting on the boardwalk on the observation platform last week! Perhaps since we are seeing more wild boar movement, this could be why we are seeing more panthers. Panthers generally eat white-tailed deer, but additionally will eat boar as well. 

Seeing this panther was certainly a moment that I will take with me forever, As well as other beautiful moments that I have certainly blessed with such as: sitting on the porch of our home away from home, the "Gator Hole" listening to whip-poor-wills call in the evening with Hayden, seeing one lone firefly on the boardwalk with Kelsie (which was almost as exciting and magical to me as seeing the panther since I haven't seen a firefly since I was 11 years old in Washington D.C.), and finding out that I got into grad school, celebrating with my fellow teaching crew all around me in our office. 

My last two months will go fast, this I know. However, I am determined to soak in every minute that I can while I am here. I realize now that working a seasonal job is very exciting, but can also be very anxiety-inducing as you really don't know where you're going to end up in just a few short months. I am learning to take it slow, catch a wave, and ride it out over the next couple months. 

Until next time, 

Shelby