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Jungle Pete's Earthbound

• Deck the Palm With Shells and Snail Kites

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  In the middle of Estero Bay, half way between the Fort Myers mainland and Fort Myers Beach in Florida is Mound Key, a 140-acre island comprised primarily of the discarded remains of shellfish. Centuries ago, the Calusa lived along the gulf coast of Florida from Tampa south to the Everglades. [...]
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• How To Check A Bear's Prostate

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  If you have never seen a black bear at the urologist’s waiting to get a prostate exam there are two good reasons why. A) I would imagine most doctors have a “no bears” policy and B) from late summer through fall, American Black Bears (Ursus americanus) in the southeastern United States are [...]
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• Invisible Threat - The Atlantic Bottle-nosed Dolphin

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  While bobbing in the ocean recently I heard a young boy scream “TIBURON!” I know some Spanish, but it was the frantic tone in his voice that helped me quickly translate a word that I normally associate with a local golf course or a Hyundai coup. In this case – [...]
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• What is Wrong With This Picture?

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  I was driving north on SR-29 in the Everglades when a pair of Limpkin (Aramus guarauna) caught my eye as they surveyed the canal for Apple Snails. I pulled onto a bridge spanning the waterway and took a few pictures. If the water in the canal beneath me was clean and [...]
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• The Fly and I

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  Life is short. Enjoy every moment. Clearly that is what this Common Housefly (Musca domestica) was thinking when it lit upon the radiant, pinkish-purple, rain-kissed Glades Morning Glory (Ipomoea sagittata). Right?With only 2-4 weeks to enjoy life as a winged adult, there is so much to see and do! There’s the perfect mate [...]
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• Small Bites - The Yellow Rat Snake

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  You know you’ve done it. You ate the whole thing. And you can’t believe it. Now you’re trying to digest the 32 ounce steak and a double serving of apple pie (with a slice of cheese) along with the side of vanilla ice cream. You couldn’t help yourself. I do [...]
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• Chew Your Food - The Swallow-tailed Kite

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  How long does it take to eat a few cheeseburgers and a shake? If you’re going to eat junk food you should eat least take the time to savor the grade D beef and triple-thick, corn syrup shake that requires a ¼ inch wide straw to drink it through. I [...]
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• Everglades Airshow

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  After an exhausting six hour swamp walk in search of Ghost Orchids, my friends and I emerged from the blazing, sweltering sawgrass prairie and arrived back at our vehicles. The desolate dirt road they were parked on paralleled a drainage canal in the Everglades that carried the life blood of [...]
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• Ghost Hunters, Part II

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  There is no shortage of danger in the Everglades. Our quest to find the rare and endangered Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) in the swamps of South Florida has led us to a tiny slough in a remote area of the Big Cypress National Preserve. I have seen one Ghost Orchid [...]
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• Ghost Hunters, Part I

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  The exact location of my whereabouts on this Sunday morning shall remain a mystery. A map to Shangri-la would only entice a stampede of curious explorers, whom however well-intentioned could cause the downfall of this subtropical Floridian utopia. Our quest is the rare and endangered Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii), an epiphytic [...]
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