Monday Morning Nature Walks Brings Park Landscape To Visitors

The Wild Orange Grove Trail at Highlands Hammock State Park runs for only about three-fifths of a mile but goes through three distinct ecological areas.

Fourteen campers and local visitors learned why the forest landscape changes so quickly on that trail Monday morning as Dorothy Harris, park services specialist, led the group on the park's Monday morning nature walk.

Free for campers and with park admission for visitors, the walks, led by Harris or one of the rangers, start at 10 a.m. every Monday from November through April.

Topics and the walking routes change every week. One week may feature a tour through a burned area to show how prescribed fire keeps scrub areas healthy. The next week's topic can be anything from a bird walk to an up-close look at the Hammock's birds or reptiles, mammals or insects or unique plant communities.

"I come out for the walks nearly every week," said Carol First, a Highlands County resident. "I've been doing them for years now, and I find I learn something new every week."

Through the first part of the walk on Monday, Harris explained that the thick tangle of plants that clogged the forest floor on both sides of the trail came from invasive species. She pointed out the dianella or hemp lily, which came from Australia and had taken over most of the ground area, and the vines of the air potato, a native of Asia, that covered many of the trees.

Both species were brought here in the 1930s by the now long-gone Florida Botanical Gardens and Arboretum as exotic plants.

The dianella lily is an attractive plant that produces bright, metallic purple berries. But, Harris said, as an invasive species it "spreads and overtakes a whole area, pushes out the native vegetation, and reduces the native ground cover and food sources for wildlife."

"In the early years," Harris added, referring to the 1930s when the Hammock Park area was opened to the public, "just as we didn't understand prescribed burns, we didn't really understand the problem of invasive plants. It's only been in the last 30 years or so that we've come to understand what invasive species can do."

Several hundred yards down the trail the thick tangle of ground cover abruptly ended and the group crossed several small, clear streams running through a bay swamp. Harris pointed out many native species, from Virginia Tea and Florida Holly, to strap ferns and resurrection ferns, growing amidst the tall sweet gum, bay, and red maple trees in this low lying, seasonally wet area.

After making sure there were no water moccasins in one of the streams, Harris picked up a few handfuls of water and dropped them on a water plant called the golden club.

"You can see why it's also called the 'never wet' plant," she said, as the water immediately ran off the wax coated leaves. She then discovered a small six-spotted fishing spider, about the size of a quarter, and explained how it dives under water to catch minnows and other small aquatic life.

This particular spider has learned how to trap an air bubble and tuck it under its stomach, "using it like a little scuba tank" as it walks on the stream floor, Harris explained.

"Sometimes you can see them walking under water," she added. "If you go out on the cat walk (Cypress Swamp Trail) in the fall, you'll see these spiders on the sides of the cypress trees and, if they've had a good summer, they can be huge, almost as big as your hand."

Monday's 90-minute walk ended as the group walked through a wild orange grove, growing where the seasonal swamp area ended and a forest of sable and cabbage palms and a variety of hardwood trees began.

"This is a good spot to see the (wild) hogs in the evening," Harris told the group. "Wherever you see the fruit trees, you can pretty much guarantee you'll see the hogs in the evenings."

Jim and Sheila Sabo of Highland, Mich., were on the nature walk and said they've never been disappointed during the many walks they take every year on their annual winter camping trip to Highlands Hammock.

"No matter which ranger we get," Jim said, "you can't believe how much they know. It's amazing. And it's always fascinating."