A Walk on the Wild Side

This last week the research crew and I made our way to a section of Corkscrew called the Central Marsh Transect (CMT). This area is commonly used for routine fish sampling and even the occasional swamp walk with Corkscrew volunteers. On this particular outing we sought to sample three ecosystems along the transect including the wet prairie, pond cypress, and bald cypress locations. Dividing into two groups to tackle the project, we thought we had an easy day in the field ahead of us. Little did we know what was awaiting us in the swamp.

As we trudged through the ankle deep water with reeds and alligator flag towering over us, my group made our way to the bald cypress location to begin sampling. This required us to move through both the wet prairie and pond cypress locations first, as the bald cypress is the deepest and furthest out sampling location along the CMT. Making our way into the pond cypress the lowering of water levels could already be noted, despite it only being the end of October. This left many logs, cypress knees, and lower vegetation exposed. Having sampled these locations several times, we all had gained a certain level of ease walking through the mucky swamp waters. Stepping over logs and brush had just become apart of the job. However, as a took my next step, following closely behind another team member, I looked down and much to my dismay the log that I thought I was stepping on was actually an alligator’s tail!

Alligator after moving from the path and
 perching itself on a pile of fallen branches.

I leaped forward as the alligator that I had just disturbed began to squirm beneath me. The crew member I was following hadn’t even realized that he had also stepped on that same alligator while leading our group through the pond cypress. Now standing less than five feet from the large creature in knee deep water, we realized just how big and close to it we were. The alligator seemed to reach around six feet in length, and was much more mature than any other alligator I had run into while walking through the swamp. Awestruck we realized what had just happened. One of the oldest, seemingly most deadly creatures on Earth had just been beneath our very feet, and besides moving a foot or two off the path, it didn’t seem to care.

It was that day in the swamp that I realized just how wild and unpredictable this place can be. I also realized just how foggy the general public’s idea of alligators and and their supposed aggressive behavior is. These wild alligators, having not been in regular contact with humans, did not respond aggressively to our presence. Instead the large reptile opted for coexistence with our group. This is not to say that wild animals should be approached or disturbed within their natural habitat, but a friendly reminder that when in nature, we are putting ourselves in new, and unpredictable conditions and must proceed with caution and respect. I will always remember the day that I accidentally stepped on an alligator’s tail as a day that I was humbled by the beauty and coexistence that exists within our natural environment here in the swamp.

Until next time,

Evan