Gottfried Green

I can't say how many times I've had to stop and help a gopher tortoise to cross the road. It's always a wrong time wrong place situation for the tortoise. If they could only keep to digging their burrows and remaining safe. I guess even then they find themselves between a rock and a hard place literally. A friend sent me news about the practice of "entombment" where developers build on top of the burrows and the tortoises are left buried alive ultimately unable to dig through the concrete and asphalt laid on top of them. To spell it out more directly here is a quote from the article in The Washington Post, "Trying to dig out, day after day, but not being able to, it's got to be pretty horrible," said Matthew J. Aresco, a biologist at a 50,000-acre conservation area in Florida who helped bring the tortoises' cause to light. "It's truly appalling." This has turned out to be a win win situation as the fine the developer would have had to pay to bury the tortoises was more expensive then having them relocated. When it works out this way it makes for one less excuse when destroying the environment for the sake of development. Visit Nokuse Plantation for more information about the rescue effort. From the site: "Nokuse Plantation is 48,000 acre private conservation initiative in the Florida Panhandle conceptualized and funded by M. C. Davis and Sam Shine. It is designed to be both a model and a catalyst for future landscape level conservation projects, which is the only way to preserve nature’s intrinsic biodiversity."

Labels: permits, wildlife

Simon Norfolk/NB Pictures, for The New York Times

My neighbor Olga believes the end of days is coming soon. She's 8 years shy of a century of living on the earth and sometimes I think she is right. Things do seem dire. I read local environmental news here. Someone in Naples shot a bald eagle last week. How stupid do you have to be to shoot a bald eagle?? There is the Atlanta drought which is translated to the rest of us through pictures of the empty lake. California is on fire and now I read this article in the Times. It's a great piece because it goes back in history to how water "works" in the Southwest since the US started regulating it. Long story short, the decreased "snowmelt" that feeds the Colorado River is causing drastic water shortages for something like 7 states including California. I know here in Southwest FL we have our own drought that I can see by looking in a pond in the back of Grandma Gottfried's house that was full last year at this time and now has about 6 inches of water in it. It takes a lot for things to sink in the minds of humans so I guess we can wait it out and see if the rising seas beat out the lowering levels of potable water.

Labels: global warming, Nature, water, wildlife

Labels: wildlife

I know this isn't very exciting but it was the perfect event to practice embedding my own videos on the blog. In the future I can do this easily to further document some of the house build and things occurring on site.

Labels: wildlife

Ever since we set foot on the lot over a year ago, I noticed these small little holes everywhere. Along with the holes we found little burrows in the thick Palmettos that are scattered over the property. Finally it all makes sense. 3 times now I've arrived at the lot to see a nine-banded armadillo hanging around the same Palmetto which must be where he lives. I caught him in the act of making this hole. They like to dig and find insects and slugs. At the Link are some fast facts about Armadillos from MSU.edu. Did you know that "During the Great Depression of the 1920’s, armadillos were nicknamed “Hoover Hogs” by the people who ate them. The name was a bitter jab at President Herbert Hoover, who had promised “a chicken in every pot” but had instead presided over a collapse of the US economy following World War I."

Labels: wildlife

It's hard to know how to feel overall when you find that your Scrub Jay review finds no evidence of Scrub Jays. Of course, if there had been evidence of Scrub Jay activity it would have been next to impossible for us to build on our property. We did have indicators that we would not have a problem building on the lot before we bought it but to hear it officially gives us the real green light. I spoke to my neighbor who has lived in her home since the 60's and she said the area was teaming with Scrub Jays at one time. Quail were also everywhere. All I can say is that we are keeping all the scrub habitat that exists on the property intact. The area where we build is mostly cleared with a few non-native trees we'd need to get rid of anyway.

Labels: permits, wildlife

We knew going into this a year ago we were in the red zone. This is how a scrub jay zone is mapped on the county's GIS system. We had an environmental assessment done prior to purchasing the property to make sure we could build on the lot. Regardless, I still have to submit a Scrub-Jay Review Package to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. I think this is good thing and was prepared for some federal reviews because the property mostly remains as it always has. The initial assessment found no evidence of scrub jays which isn't great news on any level. Also, where we are building on the lot is not near the zoned scrub habitat. We plan on only removing a few palm trees of which there is an over abundance anyway. If there are scrub jays that want to visit our property, there will still be scrub for them to enjoy.

Eco Florida Magazine provides this information about the Florida Scrub Jay. "As the name implies, the Florida scrub jay thrives in a scrub, which is an extremely dry habitat. Their ideal environment is a relatively open flatwoods of oak or sand pine scrub with trees less than 10 feet tall, wide apart and providing minimal canopy cover. Most of this scrub is bare ground having a few plants that are less than half a foot tall."

Labels: permits, wildlife

We had just picked up a small, 10ft jon boat to easily explore the creek. The second we put it in the water, I looked around and saw this huge brown mass moving around the lagoon but for some reason I just thought it was a reflection of the mangroves on the water. Anyway, as soon as we pushed off this huge swirl occurred right next to the boat and I just about walked on water to get back to shore. It wasn't until after my initial alligator paranoia retreated (there's a very small chance they'd enjoy the creek's brackish water) that we realized it was a manatee. We walked around and watched him as he ate. We hope he comes back again. Manatees have a tough time in FL. If it isn't the boat motors injuring and killing them, apparently red tide toxins remaining in the water also kill them. "Red tide is such a unique threat to the approximately 1,000 manatees in Southwest Florida that a state report last year predicted their numbers would drop 80 percent in three generations. The same report recommended reclassifying the manatee from endangered to threatened, because they are faring better in other parts of the state where red tide is rare." Read the article at the link.

Labels: wildlife

Labels: wildlife

Now we know for sure. Although I did have my camera when the woodpecker returned yesterday, it was too high in a slash pine to get a good shot. This is, however, what we saw- a Red-bellied woodpecker. OK so it doesn't look anything like the Ivory-billed except for the red, black and white colors but at least we're on the lookout. Let's put it this way, before these sightings I didn't know there were woodpeckers in FL.

Labels: wildlife

Just for fun I'd like to think that what I saw on Gottfried a few weeks ago was a Ivory-billed woodpecker. I was on the top end of the lot and I heard a tapping sound and knew it was a woodpecker. I walked over to the sound and looked up and saw this beautiful bird with a black body and and a red head. I am not a bird watcher generally but it was pretty impressive. It was tapping into an Australian Pine which is a non-native tree and seemed frustrated and flew off. It wasn't until reading another chapter in Wilson's book The Creation that he described a miraculous discovery of what had been thought of as an extinct woodpecker, the Ivory-billed. He decribed it and mentioned the initial redicovery had occured in the same region where we are in FL and then I began to wonder if this is what I witnessed. I went to the Cornell, Search for the Ivory-billed website (where I pulled the above photo) and found that there is at least a chance it could have been. Confusion often occurs between the more common Pileated woodpecker which is found in open parks, golf courses etc. The habitat on Gottfried matches more closely to that of the Ivory-billed. Unfortunately, there was no camera in hand and I didn't know enough of the markings at the time to have a clue. I'll keep my eye out for a return just in case.

Labels: wildlife

I finally got around to reading The Creation by the Pulitzer Prize winning biologist E.O Wilson. The book is his plea to a generic Pastor of evangelicals who believe nature was given to us by God for our use and it is heaven that is the real prize. This goes against Wilson's feeling that we are but a humble part of nature and therefore must respect our delicate place. Something that caught my eye specifically was his definition of the word biophila. He explains an example in the fact that when asked, people from all over the world, if they had to choose, would select a living environment similar to the environment of early humans. When asks people stated, "they wish to live on a height looking down and out, to scan a parkland with scattered trees... closer to a savanah then to either a grassland or closed forest and to be near a body of water such as a lake, river or sea." He goes on to say that although not proven it does make a nice case of why so many people want to get back to nature and specifically, waterfront i.e. the representative vacation home. "...this interpretation holds that human beings today still choose the habitats resembling those which our species evolved during millions of years of prehistory. The distant forebears wished to be hidden in copses looking out over a savanna or transitional woodland, scanning the terrain for prey to stalk, fallen animals to scavenge, edible plants to gather, and enemies to avoid. A body of water nearby served as a territorial boundary and an added food source." It is true that some people wouldn't be caught dead in the "country". But there is something that rings true with why so many want a second or retirement home with these natural amenities. As a species we've been intimately tied with nature from our beginning. In our rise above, we've abandoned what allows us to exist here in the first place.

Labels: Nature, wildlife

Our poor dog Jasper has been missing Brooklyn probably more than anyone. A bit reversed considering a country life would be the preferred life for a dog. It's a different kind of country down here, however. Up to now he's been feeling a little left out and neglected. We're trying to find a new routine and it takes time. He used to run Prospect Park every morning off leash, fetch his ball, and freely answer the call of nature. Here has been a bit confining for him as everywhere nearby requires a leash. Now we can take him, in the evenings, to his future home for a real run. Jasper is once again a happy pup. I have to say SWFL is a little strict with dog rules. We'll have to look into that and see what we can do.

Labels: wildlife

Along with Mr. Snake, there are many water birds that enjoy the pond. This blue heron visits often and makes a grand exit with its gorgeous wing span.
He comes by just about every day.

Labels: wildlife

While our house is being built we are staying at Grandma Gottfried's house that is just around the corner from our lot. We knew there were alligators in the pond behind her house because we hear them at night. They sound like giant bullfrogs. We finally met one who Miss Gottfried named Mr. Snake. He visits about twice a week seeming very interested in our goings on. We think he is taking inventory. We've secured the perimeter as we know they love dogs and toddlers!

Labels: wildlife

Fire ants are found along Gottfried Creek where we'll be. A good sign is that when we were there no one was attacked. It will be something to look out for as there is a Miss Gottfried running around. The Florida State University myrmecologist, Walter Tschinkel believes fire ants get a bad wrap. "Humans make habitat for fire ants and fire ants are very abundant and, therefore, I'm provided with abundant research material," Tschinkel said. "My favorite phrase is `Man is fire ants' best friend.'" When was the last time you heard a myrmecologist say that?

Labels: landscaping, wildlife