Life's a Coast

If you do get caught in an area where there is a possiblity of lightning striking, some signs of potential danger to watch for are that if any of your hair "stands on end" (electrostatically) to any extent, or if you feel unusual tingling sensations (the video guy says he does ALL the time), or if you sense a buzzing sensation from nearby rocks or metal objects (especially wire fences), take immediate action. Some actions would be to get away from the buzzing objects (even if it is your partner -- seriously, if in a group spread out, away from the potentional strike zone) to a lower area if feasible, then crouch down (do NOT lie down flat on the ground NOR should you put your hands on the ground [maybe put them over your ears instead?]), close your eyes, and if you have any significant amount of metal on you get rid of it (before you put your hands over your ears of course...). In case you somehow arrived at this topic without first noting the previous topic on Florida being the lightning capital of the world, this is a link to a great online live lightning strike map of Florida which you can check before you go outside.

Florida is a strange place, and if you or anyone is allergic to stings of bees and wasps, remember this... Bees and wasps tend to hover over, roam around in, and even build small nests in grassy areas, like yards and parks. We have observed people walking through grassy areas getting stung as a result, so be careful, especially if you go about barefoot. Another peculiar observance is that we often see bees wallowing around in the sand on the beach, no joke; we think these might be "drones" flushed out of the hives going to the beach to die, or maybe they just get lost and decide to camp out in the sand for a while. Bee aware, as they say...

Florida is the certifiable capitol of wacko ants (and wacko Aunts). Surely most folks know about fire ants; but long story short, fire ants are really bad in Florida, so watch out for their hangs outs (which can be just about anywhere), or you will get "stung up bad" since they swarm and attack in unison, and their bite/sting is poisonous (fire ant venom contains a chemical called piperidine) and can remain painful for days with festering wounds that take a long time to heal properly. Be aware that too many fire ant bites at once are said to adversely affect the heart and respiration rates of the human body, possibly inducing death (averaging 12 deaths per year nationally); keep this in mind with children playing outside in wooded or grassy areas. Florida also has crazy ants, labeled so exactly because they act crazy, insane even, scattering wrecklessly about in hordes in all directions at once looking like a huge miniature demolition derby of insects, and the more they feel threatened, the more they skitter about wildly and reinforcements will be called up to join the foray. Note that crazy ants build nests in the structures of buildings, appear anywhere inside those buildings thru cracks and holes in the form of massive invasions, and not only will eat household food that might be out in the open, but are mostly carnivorous, killing and carrying "home" bees, wasps, even other larger ants, and any and all kinds of bugs up to the size of large cockroaches. The fact that crazy ants are carnivorous means that they will not hesitate to bite humans, and usually start doing so after a bunch of them stealthily stalk onto your foot or leg and then they all start biting in unison. The less pestilent carpenter ants will bite but are not nearly the persistent nuisance of crazy ants, not really much of a problem unless you step on a nest of them, but they do bite. There is another kind of bizarre ant in Florida, or it acts like and looks mostly like an ant, but it's backside/tail end is longer and more pointed resembling the tail of a scorpion but flatter, and their bite or sting is not venomous, but you will feel the pain for about a minute, kind of like a "sweat bee" sting; very irritating, and these small pests manage to crawl up on to your foot without your knowing it until they cut loose on you. Ghost ants are similar to crazy ants in that they manage to invade homes in search of food, but they don't act as maniacal, and are referred to as the cockroach of ants. Sugar ants are small, some species of them so small that they are difficult to see, and impossible to see if on a dark surface. As the name implies, sugar ants go mostly after sweet things, but will be attracted by any "food". The problem with sugar ants is that they are so difficult to see, and if you are dining on a dark table with a dark plate or dark food, you may be eating sugar ants, and remember that some of them are so small that they are hard to see on a light surface. Then too, Florida also has infestations of Acrobat Ants, Argentine Ants, Bi-colored Trailing Ants, Big Headed Ants, Destructive Trailing Ants, Elongate Twig Ants, Florida Harvester Ants, Pharaoh Ants, Pyramid Ants, Rover Ants, Thief Ants, Odorous House Ants, and White Footed Ants, but we are running out of time today, more later. But in closing, as for your Aunt Alice that retired here, well, you already know about her, just multiply her by a few hundred thousand and beware the entirety of Addled Aunts in Florida, especially when they are trying to drive a two ton vehicle while on prescription relaxants and mood altering drugs with poor eyesight and tendencies to space out and even doze off (be careful at green lights, Aunt Alices tend to not see red lights)...

This is just another "placemark" where we will post an initial blurb on the subject as a reminder to expand upon it down the road, so do not look at this as thorough. And we should first interject a disclaimer that the Everglades is a vast region with many entry points and we have not personally visited all areas encompassed by "The River of Grass", but we do have some knowledge of Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, and Fakahatchee Strand State Park. Of those, we recommend the latter, Fakahatchee Strand, known as “the Amazon of North America” (and is adjacent to Big Cypress Preserve). Fakahatchee is located in the southwestern corner of the Everglades and is at least a day-trip from the east coast but likely best as an over-nighter (accommodations of Marco Island, Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, and Everglades City are nearby). Shark Valley might be your choice if you want to bike, or walk, or take the tram to the observation tower, and maybe have your picture taken near live alligators (which are hopefully sedated or at least well fed?) in their natural surrounding (NOT fenced in). Outside of that Shark Valley is just an expanse of flat sawgrass prairie, not much to see or do (certainly no sharks), without the hardwood hammocks of the park or the strand. The national park might be less than anticipated also, altho they do have extensive boardwalks, canoeing, camping, a lodge, guided tours, all that... Lastly for now, since the 'Glades is just a big (but a one of a kind) swamp, if you visit during the peak of summer months you will encounter not only maximum heat (highs in the 90's) and humidity (ditto 90's), but mosquitoes and biting fly populations will be at their height (consequently, not many people).

Note that if you do take in the Everglades, invasive non-native Burmese pythons have grown to a significant population in the watery regions -- so if you let your pet out to potty, you might want to keep it on a short leash (pets are allowed in the park but they are NOT allowed on any park trails). Footnote: although the pythons are predatory to wildlife (even alligators) in the park, no humans (or pets) have been reported to be endangered. But, if you run across a tabloid headline that a child was killed by a python in Miami (FloriDUH), that report is true -- but it was a privately owned "pet" within the owners residence, not in the wild, not in the Everglades... Still, we would advise against wading through any deep waters of ANY part of the immense swamp (some people actually do that...). Update: add to snakes the emergence of a growing population of the Nile Monitor "Lizard", which are large prehistoric reptilian velociraptors, carnivorous pack predators, hunts on land or in water, that kill and eat animals as large as cows and horses (while still alive, their venomous bite stuns their victims first, and they then begin eating...), and are more vicious than gators and crocs -- see the next tip for more info about this growing danger...