Journal Entry #4

By taking this Colloquium course, I have found that I have learned so much about our local species. Prior to this class, I never knew some of the things that I do now which makes me feel really happy that I was required to take Colloquium.

Some of them include the animals...

                American Alligator: Seen at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary; their babies have a yellowish color.

               Lubber Grasshopper: Seen at Corkscrew; they make loud noises.

                Woodpecker: Seen (and heard) at Corkscrew; they have sticky tongues that can get the bugs out of the holes they drill in the trees.

(found at animals.nationalgeographic.com)

                Golden orb weaver: Spiders at Corkscrew that create webs that are stabilized by white zigzags.

(found at wikipedia.org)

Others are trees, plants, and flowers...

                Banyan trees: Seen in Downtown Fort Myers in front of the courthouse; they are exotic trees that become invasive, and their roots can grow down and crack water pipes.

                Red mangroves: Seen on Fort Myers Beach; they are the mangroves that are always closest to the water and have pointed leaves and smooth bark.

                Sea grapes: Seen on Fort Myers Beach; they can be used to make jelly.

(found at tradewindsfruit.com)

                Marsh sunflower: Seen at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary; they bloom every other year.

                Strangler figs: At Corkscrew; they are vines that live on bald cypress trees and can grow from the ground up to another tree.

 

                Strap fern: Ferns seen at Corkscrew that resemble the straps on a purse.

                Resurrection fern: Ferns at both Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and on Estero Island; they "die" when it's dry and come back to life once they get water from rain.

(found at biosurvey.ou.edu)

                Alligator flags: At Corkscrew; they are plants that go up to 12 feet and shake when alligators go through the water and touch the stems.

 

                Miracle Fruit: Fruit that is at ECHO that, when eaten, can make everything taste sweet.

(found at tropicalfruitnursery.com)

                Cabbage (sabal) palm: Can be found on the FGCU campus and Downtown Fort Myers; they have boots that stick out where little animals can live in and also, there is a festival called the Swamp Cabbage Festival in Labelle each February for these types of trees.

 

                Slash pines: Can be seen both on campus and at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary; when the pinecones on the trees become hot, they explode.

Word count: 375