Creatures and Critters

Well, now you that have seen where we live, it is time for you to see some of the critters and creatures we live with. I'm not talking about Kujo, but the other animals that live around us. We have a very diverse group of animals to include snakes, of course. I have to admit, I have seen only one snake around our house and it was a black racer, which are very beneficial. There are certainly rattlesnakes, water moccasins, coral and other species across the canal but they don't seem to venture our way. We also have wild pigs, armadillos, black bear, and deer that live by us. We see the deer, armadillos, and pigs but the bear is very elusive. Also, I have not captured them on "film" as yet. The following are some of the more commonly seen creatures.

Pelicans in Flight

This is one of my favorite pictures. I took it while watching the waves breaking on the beach. Pelicans seem to fly in this formation frequently. There are many restaurants that look out over the beach and the pelicans fly by the windows this way. We have decided there are really only one flock of pelicans and the restaurants pay them with fish to keep circling for the patron's enjoyment

A flock of wild turkeys

Taken from my back deck. The turkey just ignored me while they continued to feed.

The Anhinga, commonly known as the "Snakebird"

You can understand how this bird acquired it's name. The head and neck look like a snake when it is hunting for food. This water bird has no oil in it's feathers so that's why it sinks so deep into the water and it can actually become water-logged. After it feeds, it stands with it's wings spread to let the sun dry it off.

Large Heron

This is George who lives in our village. Herons are great because one of it's main diet items is snakes. That is one reason we don't see to many on this side of the canal.

The Osprey

The namesake of our street. It is in the hawk family and builds nest high in the trees. They mate for life and continue to come back to the same nest year after year, always expanding it.

Alligators

Although these two pictures were not taken on Bulow Creek, but on the St Johns River, we still have 'gators in our canals and sunning themselves on the shore. the top picture is the biggest alligator we've seen. We were on the St Johns heading to Blue Springs Park when we saw it sunning itself on the shore. I maneuvered my boat to within about 20 feet before it slid into the river. We estimated it to be about 14 or 15 feet in length.

Manatee, or Sea Cow.

These gentle giants have been on the endangered species list for some time but are making a comeback due to conservation. These pictures were taken at Blue Springs but they do inhabit Bulow Creek also. Blue Springs is a natural deep earth spring and the water temperature coming from the spring is a constant 72 degrees. The manatees come to Blue Springs when the other rivers start getting cold in the winter. They have counted upwards of 200 manatees at the springs at one time.

Tomorrows blog. Your guess is as good as mine.