Corkscrew Swamp

On our field trip through the Corkscrew Swamp our class was broken up into two groups to be able to better understand and learn what kinds of ecosystems are found in the Corkscrew Swamp. After comparing my group's part of the tour with the other half who went with the instructor, it looks like my group was able to see more animals.

Some of the types of animals that we were expected to see were at least alligators, and even through the lettuce lakes we had a hard time spotting them. Probably because the water level was still a little low for them to really come out of their "caves". As our group was walking back north towards the entrance, on the North Lakes we did see a mom swimming away from us while her babies were sitting around the border. One of them was in the water, possibly trying to catch something. It was hard to spot them at first, but since we were still long enough I was able to properly identify them.

While we were in the same area, we also spotted a black snake on a log right below the boardwalk. I can't remember what kind of snake our guide said he was, maybe a water moccasin or something. Finally as we were only a few feet away from the entrance, finishing our walk through the prairie area, we spotted a deer who was staring back at us. But as we moved forward, it scampered away.

Its always fun to spot animals because a lot of their activities make the trips more fun. It would have been nice to see more of them to better see what types of environments the normally habitat. But most of the walk was nice and quite, and I can see why others might want to come out and sit in the observation areas. We identified the ecosystems that we have already identified on our campus walk, but it seemed more like a natural environment.