When we first arrived in Florida we picked up a card advertising the Billie Swamp Safari. It appeared to be a mixture of wildlife park, zoo and circus, and promised to let us see some of the rarer Florida fauna that we were unlikely to see by driving around.
From the Burns Lake campground off the Tamiami Trail we had to drive North to the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation. It's owned and operated by the Seminole Indians. It kept us interested for a full day. It is organised in the same manner as a theme park and we bought a 'day package', so we could go anywhere and ride anything. But we could only ride the air boat once.
Swamp Buggy
This is a vehicle with enormous wheels that can go almost anywhere. We were driven around a suitably rugged trail as the guide showed off the various native and exotic species roaming around the preserve.
An example of the terrain.
A flock of wild Black Vultures.
It's always the right time of year for a tom turkey to display.
The Nilgai are from India.
The Water Buffalo are also from Asia. The white birds are, appropriately, Cattle Egrets.
A closer look at a Cattle Egret. They are found wild in North America, and many other places.
There were acres of these bushes, covered with flowers in December!
Some Palmetto-dominated woodland.
Animals in Cages
Again, some of the species are found naturally in Florida, and some have been imported. Bill's fancy camera allowed for manual focussing on the animal where auto-focus would have zeroed in on the wire. Some of the shots below were taken across a wall and some through a cage fence. Can you tell which ones?
Peccaries are from South America.
A Serval. An African member of the cat family.
Otters live wild in almost all of the USA and Canada.
Back view of otters!
Critter Show
Twice a day the visitor can get a really close view of some animals. We were there in the low season and the two of us constituted the whole audience. So we got to meet all the animals.
A very tame White-tailed Deer. Its extreme friendliness was just possibly due to the handful of food Eve is holding. The species in common in American forests.
This macaw is captive-bred and the offspring of two different species. It has managed to inherit a lovely colour scheme.
An Alligator Snapping Turtle. The white thing in its mouth acts as a lure for inquisitive fish. They are found in the Florida panhandle and other states, but not in the peninsula. They can grow much larger than this one.
A much more approachable tortoise. We have forgotten which species it is.
Yes. Eve is cuddling a skunk. When it was brought out the keeper squirted some water from a hidden syringe to make it seem that the skunk had deployed its extra-smelly defence weapon. In fact, this one had been separated from its scent glands.
It seemed quite content to be embraced all day.
Then Bill had a hug. It was astonishingly fat.
We were shown a young alligator and an American Crocodile of similar size. Their mouths were taped shut to avoid accidents.
Bill is holding the alligator. The macaw is perched on its keeper's hand and has been introduced into the picture without Bill's knowledge.
Air Boat Tour
There are many air boat tours advertised in South Florida. An air boat is a regular boat hull with a huge fan mounted at the stern. This allows it to navigate shallow waterways where a propellor would be impeded by mud and plants. However, they are very noisy.
Eve waiting for the ride to get going. Seeing Bill's camera-and-telephoto-lens the skipper invited him to sit at the front to get better pictures.
Another air boat under way.
The sort of conditions the air boat is designed for.
There is a little clear water, and it may be several inches deep.
A glossy ibis in its winter plumage.
More of the wetlands.
An Anhinga in typical pose.
A Common Gallinule
A Belted Kingfisher getting out of the way.
Another water bird: a Little Blue heron.
They have wild alligators in the preserve.
A close-up of the lotus flower.
Snake Show
Once again, we made up the entire audience. But no, we did not get to handle any snakes.
The show was a good one, with lots of information about the various snakes we were shown. They were all American natives.
This is a Diamondback Rattlesnake. It refused to rattle, hiss or strike at anything. We were told that a lot of rattlesnakes are killed just because they are rattlesnakes, when the poor reptile only wants to get away and be left alone.
A close-up of the head.
Strolling Around the Park
There were more cages to investigate and even a short trail through some marshy woodland.
This is a crocodile, not an alligator. When an alligator closes its mouth you cannot see any teeth.
A Collared Dove.
From the trail.
Another African import. This is a Warthog.
The sign that explains why their biggest captive alligator is called “Trump”.
A Florida Panther. Yet another misleading common name. Panthera is a genus within the Felidae family comprising the species lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard and snow leopard. Only the jaguar is native to the Americas. This is not a jaguar. It is not any kind of panther. It is Puma concolor couguar, a subspecies of the animal known as puma, cougar or mountain lion (but it's not a lion either). The subspecies is confined to Florida and endangered. In the 1970s, an estimated 20 Florida panthers remained in the wild, but their numbers had increased to an estimated 230 by 2017. Lecture over. What a beautiful animal.
A brown bear and a black bear.
A wolf.
If you want to stay the night at Billie Swamp they have simple accommodation in traditional, native-style chickees (thatched roof dwellings). We passed by a few of them, mainly sited attractively by the water. However, many of those were showing signs of dilapidation and they didn't look as though they had been cleaned inside for months. We assume they are not very popular.
One of the better kept chickees.
A row of chickees photographed from the air boat.
For the night we parked at a truck stop. The parking area was generously potholed, but there was lots of room so we weren't disturbed by big engines starting up at inconsiderate hours. Parking was free, but the showers were $10! We made do with a flannel wash in our vehicle.
An evening visitor - a Caracara.
Sunset.
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