Okaloacoochee State Forest Slough- Pic Heavy

[stolenheron]

Drove out to Okaloacoochee State Forest Slough today with a friend. Intentions were to catch, photograph, and encounter animals. We accomplished that quite well...

SAW: 2 gators, 1 black racer, a dead cow, a deer, multiple turkey, hawks, swallow tail kites, sand hill cranes, Cara Cara (Mexican Eagle).

Caught: corn snake (caught on the way there), ribbon snake, water snake, raccoon

the area was beautiful, driving from swamps to hammock and back to swamps on dirt roads. On the Mustang road, it dead ends into Mustang Loop. a 4x4 only trail (LEGAL, 95% of the trails were for park rangers only, this was the only legal marked trail around). It started off in palmettos with small ruts, sand, and little muddy spots. Then it opened up into a cypress swamp with sandy bottom covered in tea color water. none of it was that deep, but we decided it was an awesome photo opportunity. My friend helped me out and took pics while I drove. It was a 1/4 mile long trail with only about 200 yards of it underwater. Later this summer, when the rains are strong and constant this trail will be MUCH more difficult and will be much deeper.

The forest is about 45 minutes from fort myers, fL and directly east of Lehigh Acres, FL. It is in Felda, FL, Hendry County.

http://www.fl-dof.com/state_forests/okaloacoochee.html

 

[stolenheron]

 

[stolenheron]

 

[stolenheron]

 

[stolenheron]

 

[stolenheron]

 

[stolenheron]

 

[SilverBullet]

Nice pictures, but you are nuts! Just to me I guess. I HATE snakes with a passion, so I would not even get near you when you did that. My hats off to you. Even your pictures creep me out, you are crazy, but the pictures are great.

 

[jh504]

Awesome post! I am heading down to JW Corbett tomorrow! I was hoping to get some good wildlife shots and you have really got me excited now.

 

[stolenheron]

Nice pictures, but you are nuts! Just to me I guess. I HATE snakes with a passion, so I would not even get near you when you did that. My hats off to you. Even your pictures creep me out, you are crazy, but the pictures are great.

LOL, i was really disappointed none of the snakes i caught today were poisonous. i love working with "hot" or venomous snakes. trust me, this was a mild day of working with animals in my book. oh and FYI, the water snake bit me, tore my middle finger open a bit , didnt bother me a bit. i'm guessing you would have flipped out?

other days you'll see me with 9-10ft gators and a rattlesnake...

Corbett is a nice place, you'll have fun down there! enjoy it, but be careful. if its wet, corbett has a tendency of swallowing trucks haha. splashing in the shallows like i did is fun, but even that can screw up a truck if it hits the airbox, wiring, or anything else important.

 

[stolenheron]

 

[7wt]

With the exception of all the sneaky snakes, looks like a great trip!

 

[stolenheron]

yall need to cozy up with snakes, or all animals in general. i haven't gone on a camping trip, let alone an "expedition", without getting a snake in the camp, a spider in the tent, or a scorpion in my boot. the little buggers mean no harm unless you try to play with them like i do.

 

[jim65wagon]

Great looking place, the snakes are cool too! I always enjoy seeing reptiles and amphibians when we're out. Corn snakes are gorgeous creatures.

 

[stolenheron]

i used to breed corn snakes when i was younger. I've owner over 50 over the years and caught well into the triple digits.

I'm going to keep this pretty one for a few months, get it fat and then release it back to where it came from.