FootNotes * * Newsletter of the Highlanders Chapter, Florida Trail Association January – February 2021 Volume 22, Issue 1 Mission of the Florida Trail Association The Florida Trail Association develops, maintains, protects and promotes a network of hiking trails throughout the state, including the unique Florida National Scenic Trail. Together with our partners we provide opportunities for the public to hike, engage in outdoor recreation, participate in environmental education and contribute to meaningful volunteer work. Highlanders Nature Notes – Accepting Nature's Way I did see the largest Bull Frog (Rana catesbeiana) I’ve ever seen in the wild. It was barely visible under- neath the bushes and trees on the bank it sat on. I had to use my binoculars to get a decent look at it. As we approached the end of the second boardwalk out over Lake Dora, Nancy was ahead of me and mo- tioned for me to come quickly. When I looked at what she was taking a photo of I saw a Great Egret (Ardea alba) in the process of eating a small, juvenile, Florida Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata pictiventris). It was crunching the snake in its bill from head to tail and back again, in an attempt to kill it before swallowing Lake May Reserve trail, (Lake County photo) it. Apparently it is too difficult to swallow a live snake, even a small one. It was small enough that Nancy thought at first it might have been a large Yesterday morning my wife, Nancy, and I strolled worm. along the boardwalk at Palm Island Park in Mt. Dora. We saw the usual critters: birds, turtles, lizards, butter- On another occasion, in the Dora Canal, Nancy and flies, dragonflies, and lots of plants, both native and I witnessed a Great Egret in the same situation. Only exotic. But I didn’t see what I’m always hoping to see this time the snake was bigger and had wrapped its on my walks in nature: a snake or two. You know by head and upper third of its body tightly around the now of my love for snakes and reptiles, in general. A bird’s long white neck, in an attempt to save itself. nature walk isn’t complete without seeing at least one The egret had the snake’s tail in its bill, crunching good snake. away in a battle to kill it. But the snake continued to hang on for dear life. It had somehow managed to tie 1 itself in an almost perfect clove hitch! We stayed for ture? Is there such a thing? Or is it more accurate to quite a while hoping to witness the outcome. But we say that nature’s laws prevail for the good of ecology? eventually had to move on, as we were in a rented Our human views of fairness appear biased and pontoon boat due for return. There was little doubt in flawed when they come up against the immovable my mind who the victor would be, as the egret was laws of the natural world. much bigger and stronger. Eventually the snake would have succumbed to the chewing on its tail end. So yesterday I got to see a snake on our nature walk, after all. Just not exactly how I wanted to. We can’t al- It was hard to watch the object of my affection get ways get what we want, and nature certainly has its eaten right in front of me. Nancy and I talked briefly own rules and ways of doing things. Enjoy it for what about the compassionate urge to somehow rescue the it is. Ralph Waldo Emerson told us that, “Nature has little snake on the boardwalk. It was already half dead her own mode of doing each thing, and she has some- by the time I saw it, but even if it wasn’t, did I have where told it plainly, if we will keep our eyes and ears the right to rob the egret of its hard-won meal? open.” Wouldn’t that be just like walking into a public school cafeteria one morning and taking away some child’s There is always something new and interesting to breakfast? Surely, everyone has the right to eat. In the see in nature. Study it for knowledge and insight, and world of nature, it’s eat or be eaten. enjoy it while you still can! At one of my hospice children’s camps we once –Mike Barnett watched a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) swoop down from a tree onto an Eastern Gray Squir- Sources: rel (Sciurus carolinensis). It immediately clasped the Bartlett, R.D. and Patricia Bartlett. Florida’s Snakes. squirrel in its strong talons, pinning it to the ground, Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2003. and began crushing the life out of its prey. We were Long, Kim. Frogs: a Wildlife Handbook. Boulder, watching this scene from inside a building through a CO: Johnson Books, 1999. large plate glass window. One of my female staff im- Long, Kim. Squirrels: a Wildlife Handbook. Boulder, mediately sprang toward the door before I could stop CO: Johnson Books, 1995. her, in a futile attempt to save the squirrel. I stopped Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds her before she opened the glass door, but too late. The of Eastern North America. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., hawk saw her movement through the glass and flew off, leaving its prey twitching on the ground, immo- bile and near death. I’d like to think the hawk came back for its meal once we left the area, but we got busy and I didn’t see the end result. I told my staff it wasn’t our place to deny a meal to anything in the nat- ural world, no matter how cute or defenseless we thought the squirrel to be. After all, we had just eaten our own breakfasts earlier. That may be a difficult lesson for some of us, but nevertheless it is nature’s truth. Predators must eat their prey in order to survive. Lynda Wheelwright Schmidt, in her book The Long Shore, wrote, “Win- ning and losing make sense to me only in terms of hunter and hunted, in the natural order of things. Coy- Sunset at Lake Louisa otes eat rabbits; rabbits never eat coyotes. This may Photo by Lake Louisa State Park not be fair, but it is how it is.” What is fairness in na- 2 Notes from the Chairperson – New Highlanders Website (Article written with input from Wade Williston) ing access and a review of the existing site and Van Tran, Community Outreach Manager, at the Florida Prior to assuming the role of Highlanders Web Admin- Trail Association (FTA) for her part in providing an istrator, Wade Williston embarked on a project to redo understanding of their system, obtaining approval to the chapter's website to bring it towards a standard de- continue to use the highlanders.floridatrail.org URL sign, space for many topics, and a tool that would cre- with the new website, and providing space within the ate a website that would be user friendly but require FTA server for storage of our newsletters. To access virtually no need for programming. the new website, simply continue to use the High- lander's existing URL – highlanders.floridatrail.org. Francis and Bobbi Keenan had been maintaining the Once connected, the URL will show up as existing website for many years and after hearing https://sites.google.com/view/fta-highlanders-chapter. about the idea, asked if he could take over the respon- sibilities as the chapter's web administrator as well. With this new site, it is hoped that additional articles The tool selected, a new version of Google Sites, was about our chapter and the area we maintain can be chosen - as it provided space on the web and standard- added, to continue to provide a means of communica- ized web formatting, with a unique look. tion with chapter members and the public and their families so they may also enjoy the beauty of our trail Finally; after extensive testing, a fix to allow the new segment and it's surrounding environment. website to continue to use the highlanders.florida- trail.org URL, and a new space on the FTA web server Be Safe and Sane to maintain copies of our newsletters (for reading and downloading), the site was launched on December -Mike 18th. Many thanks go out to Francis and Bobbi for provid- https://highlanders.floridatrail.org 3 Outdoor Photos by Nora More great photos of Florida's wonderful landscape 4 2020 Recycling Efforts The following is a list of the types of metal and amount of cash received from recycling efforts this year. Material Weight (Pounds) Cash Generated Iron 9,836 $368.21 Aluminum 42 $4.09 Brass 144 $153.30 Copper 144 $299.20 Nickel 47 $14.57 Lead (Battery) 176 $37.04 Lead 6 $1.98 Totals: 10,395 $988.51 The above does not include aluminum cans/scrap that was not sold this year due to a low price. The aluminum we have on hand will be sold when we have a better price. Additionally, the list does not include articles that were sold on Facebook Marketplace. Nevertheless, the Highlanders recycled more than five tons of material which generated nearly a thousand dol- lars to our organization. -Bill Leach To all Florida Trail Members and Prospective Members Please be considerate of those members with sensitivi- We ask for everyone's cooperation to accommodate ties to various chemical or scented products.