FLORIDA'S MARVELOUS MANGROVES OFFER A SPOOKY WALK

One of the advantages of falling behind my sister, Lynda, and the leader of the pack, Jimmy, is there are few pictures of my behind.

It was an invitation we couldn’t refuse. 

The boardwalk stretched as far as the eye could see, steeped in mystery courtesy of Florida’s marvelous mangroves; and was quiet as the breeze off Miami’s nearby Biscayne Bay.  

Spooky quiet with all those trees harboring all manner of wildlife ready to pounce.    

Deering's winter home was a nod to a favorite castle in Spain.

Our invitation had come courtesy of the Deering Estate just off Miami's historic Old Cutler Road.  
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Deering? 
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Surely you’ve heard of Charles Deering, philanthropist, wealthy industrialist, Chairman in 1902 of the newly created International Harvester Company.  Okay, maybe you don’t have ties to Miami (Miami’s Deering Estate was Deering’s winter home from 1922 to 1927); or maybe you don’t have ties to Chicago (William Deering, family patriarch and entrepreneur moved his family from Maine to Chicago in 1873, foreseeing the internal combustion engine’s role in America’s heartland, and the profits to be had via his new Deering Harvester Company); or maybe you don’t have ties to International Harvester (I wish; in 1902 Deering Harvester merged with the McCormick Reaper Company and several other smaller companies to become International Harvester Company, today still one of the leading manufacturers of farm implements).    

Not too shabby for a wealthy industrialist's view from the shores of his winter home.

Suffice it to say, the 444 acres of pine rockland, coastal tropical hardwood hammock, mangroves, salt marshes and a coastal dune now represent a National Historic Landmark offering a hunk of Florida history and one magnificent view of Miami’s Biscayne Bay.  

Trees that grow in salt water? Who knew?

No magnificent view of the bay from within the dense mangrove forest.  But the distinctly swampy saline woodland of trees and shrubs did offer a chance to see “… a diverse array of fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds.” 
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Did you notice how innocuously the word ‘reptiles’ appeared in the sign along with the fish, amphibians, mammals and birds?  Florida doesn’t have reptiles. 

I must say, Iggy swept me off my feet.

Florida has REPTILES; BiiiiG REPTILES that enjoy the view along Biscayne Bay same as the two-legged creatures out and about.     

Oh, look! A bask of crocodiles, ahem, basking in the sun.

Lots of BiiiiiG creepy, crawly REPTILES that would jump at the chance to engage with unsuspecting two-legged creatures.        

Does that look like a BiiiiG reptile, as in snake, slithering into my picture, bottom left?

​Thus was this two-legged creature’s mindset as we embarked on our trek into the wet depths of Charles Deering’s Mangrove Forest on an unseasonably warm February afternoon.  Back in the day, Deering made the trek sans boardwalk. Eat your heart out Indiana Jones!  

Can you see all those little pneumatophores blanketing the swamp?

Back in the day the sandy and muddy soil was home to dense fields of vertical pneumatophores, the same strange “breathing-roots” populating today’s federally protected ecosystem.  Cut down a mangrove or any one of those strange pneumatophores, a.k.a. snorkels for the underwater root system looking for a breath of fresh air, and you’re looking at a $10,000 fine. 
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Holy habitat!  That’s a chunk of change for one snarly mass of messy mangroves.    

These roots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do! One of these days these roots are gonna walk all over you. Sing it Nancy!

​And speaking of roots (my hairdresser would freak) the mangroves were all about flaunting theirs (you go girl!) although the proliferation of above ground roots made the trees look like they were walking on water; at the very least ready to quietly pounce.   Spooky was definitely the order of the day.

Wharf pilings, tanning fluid, fuel, dyes, fruit, and bush medicine are just a few byproducts of mangroves.

Apparently that spooky, messy mass of roots and shoots, among the oldest and most productive wetland forests on the planet (mangroves evolved approximately 114 million years ago), is the perfect coastal buffer when it comes to the ravaging effects of tsunamis and hurricanes.  

​Who knew?  Love this travel gig!  
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I suspect Florida might still be a sandbar looking for a foothold if not for mangroves. 

With germination so precarious in this tidal environment, mangroves are a vivaparous species, as in new seeds take root while still attached to the tree.

I also suspect during the heat of the summer this wetland would be teeming with mosquitoes.  Years ago (1890s) the town of Cutler dredged this creek (so named Cutler Creek) through the mangrove to improve drainage to minimize the mosquito population.   

Lynda gets the credit for this image. As a Floridian, she is accustomed to BiiiiiG!

No mosquitoes the day of our visit, although the mangrove forest was crawling with (no, not crocodiles, but a close creepy second) BiiiiG GOLDEN ORB WEAVERS. Pick your poison (pun intended); this is, after all, subtropical Florida, a wonderfully warm and occasionally spooky place to be in the dead of winter.         

I think Jimmy was hoping for a bit more excitement, as in a few crocodiles.

Alas, I'll still take my walks any way I can get them; most certainly any where my Indiana Jones is willing to lead the way.   

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