A Florida Cat-tastrophe

When my wife and I moved to the Orlando area in 2010 there was one thing we didn't like about our condo -- cats. We had a small feral cat colony near us that had free rein of the complex grounds at night. They fought at night and the wails would frequently wake us even with the windows closed. And feral cats take a toll on the local small animal population. Small mammals, reptiles, and birds are all on the menu. Even well fed cats still have the biological imperative to hunt and kill.

But over time the cats disappeared. Not all at once but gradually the feral cats that regularly hid in the woods near our house were no more. By 2013 we never saw feral cats.

Debary Coyotes

I thought about that when I read this piece about coyotes in DeBary, FL. At the time I didn't realize that the disappearance of cats in my neighborhood coincided with an increase in the number of coyotes. But coyotes numbers are still increasing throughout Florida.

Coyotes don't only prey on cats for food. They also kill them as a way of reducing competition. This is called intraguild predation. Most predators will attack a slightly smaller predator because it helps keep the number of prey animals high.

Fluffy and Tasty

My neighborhood wasn't the only place this was happening. Here's a story from Pinellas County about coyotes moving into a neighborhood. A feral cat colony there completely disappeared after the coyotes showed up. They've also been tough on housecats that occasionally roam outside.

So what are the wildlife implications? Probably generally good. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FFWC) says of cats in Florida:

The adverse impacts of cats in Florida are best documented for threatened and endangered species, especially endangered or already extinct subspecies of beach mice and cotton mice and the endangered Lower Keys marsh rabbit. However, predation by cats also has been documented for the Florida scrub-jay and for shorebirds, terns, and other ground-nesting species of birds, as well as for sea turtles.

Of course, this was written all the way back in 2003. That was a time when spotting a coyote in Florida was a memorable event.

The probable impact of the increase of the number of coyotes and the reduction in feral and owned outside cats differ by prey species. Small birds and mammals that live near people will probably see less of a predator threat as outside cats become a thing of the past. Larger animals that rarely see themselves under threat from cats will probably be more threatened as the number of coyotes increase. In particular the number of sea turtle nests destroyed by coyotes is now far above any threat they had from cats.

Now the FFWC says that the coyote is a naturalized species. They're here to stay and the FFWC won't take steps to eradicate them in Florida. So doing things like making sure your cat or small dog never goes out alone is something you have to do now. Feeding stray cats only brings them together so they're easier for coyotes to kill.

So I'll end with a small clip of video that I shot in about a year ago. I was standing beside a trail under a tree when a coyote started toward me. I could tell he couldn't see me clearly because I was partially hidden under the tree. Coyotes don't have particularly good eyesight. They depend on a keen sense of hearing and smell and you can tell exactly when he caught my scent.

Canoeing in Norris Dead River

My wife and I canoed the Norris Dead River this week. We used our 16' Mad River canoe.

We put in at Ed Stone Park which is located where FL Route 44 crosses the St. John's River. Ed Stone Park has 10 or so boat ramps so there's rarely a wait to launch. It has a quick outlet to the river. We saw a couple of bald eagles shortly after setting out. Norris Dead River is about 1.1 miles downriver (northwest) from the park.

Why is it called Norris Dead River?

A dead river is a natural waterway with almost no permanent current in either direction. The Norris Dead River connects Lake Woodruff to the St John's River. But the elevation difference between them is almost zero. The river flows very slowly to Lake Woodruff, but most of the time you can't really tell which way it's going. As you enter Norris Dead River you are entering Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge.

The goal of the trip was to make it to Lake Woodruff, about 15 miles round trip. We've made it all the way to Lake Woodruff exactly once and have stopped short several times. This was our first trip this year and the temperatures were hotter than we usually attempt this one. We knew the odds of making it all the way to the lake weren't good.

My what a big nose you have

We saw several alligators on the river. A couple were pretty good size. With experience we've gotten pretty good at spotting alligators. We see many more than most people see. However there's no doubt that we only see a small percentage of what's actually there.

We also saw an incredible number of little blue herons. We usually see a large number of the usual Florida wading birds but this time we saw very few of other waders. We only saw 1 great blue heron, a couple of egrets, a few ibises, but it seemed the little blue herons were everywhere. We probably saw 20 of them. I'm not sure why there were so many compared to the other birds. Probably just caught a good day for them.

One of many little blue herons

And that's one thing that makes hiking or canoeing over a well-known track interesting. The wildlife will be similar each time but also different. Next time we may see lots of great blue herons and only a few little blue herons.

Probably the most interesting thing we saw were the manatees. We a group of about 5 manatees munching on some spatterdock along the river. There was a mom and small baby as well as about 3 other adults. We were never sure exactly of the count. But it was interesting to watch them eating.

Manatee at a spatterdock buffet

We made it as far as Blue Peter Lake, about 2.5 miles short of Lake Woodruff. It's very shallow and covered with spatterdock and a few other plants. I looked on the internet to find how Blue Peter Lake got its name but didn't find anything. If anybody has any word on the history of that name I'd be interested. At that point we decided to turn around and head back. Lake Woodruff will have to wait until next time.

The other interesting thing we saw was when we were almost back to Ed Stone Park. A huge, dilapidated riverboat was trying to dock at St. John's Marina. It looked like it was a tour boat back in better days. Somebody told us it was bought in Palatka and driven down to the St. John's Marina to be refurbished. It was large enough it stopped traffic on the St. John's River as it tried to maneuver to the dock. But they finally made it.

A very nice day on the river.  A little hotter than we like, especially considering there's little shade along the Norris Dead River, but still a nice day out. 

Lake George Part 2

Part of a continuing series on Florida's Lakes.

This is Lake George Part 2, the current environmental condition and challenges of Lake George. Here's a link to Lake George Part 1, the history of the lake. If you haven't read it you may want to start there. The history of Lake George is inextricably intertwined with its current condition.

Lake George's Most Famous Resident

I want to look at 2 different measures of water quality in Lake George – the trophic index and turbidity. These measures are related can give us a picture of the lake’s health. I also want to look at a few other threats out there today.

The first piece of data is how trophic the lake is. The term refers to how high the nutrient level is in the lake. The amount of nutrients, especially phosphorus, is related to the amount of algae can grow in a lake. The number graphed is the trophic state index, an easy way of looking at how easily algae blooms can start in the lake. Anything below 60 is considered good and between 60 and 70 is fair.

Nutrient Load

The numbers don’t look to bad over most of the last 10 years. You can see elevated nutrient loads during the drought times in 2007-2008 and also in 2011, but other than that the numbers stay consistently in the good or fair range.  The latest numbers available from the Lake Water Atlas is through 2015.

This is better than most large lakes in Florida. The fact that the St John’s River flows through the lake helps keep the nutrient load at a reasonably low level. The water doesn’t flow through most lakes in Florida nearly as fast as Lake George.

I included the full 10 years of data here because it shows a sustained drop from roughly the year 2012. For several years the lake had been on a Total Maximum Daily Load program through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) concerning the nutrient load. The FDEP kept the program active through 2014. It’s since ceased, but it seems to have brought Lake George into a relatively good place.

Another parameter to look at is the turbidity. Turbidity is the level of suspended particles in the water. Turbidity changes a lot over the course of the year. Rains can cause the amount of solids to increase and turbidity also increases during summer when algae and other plants bloom.

Turbidity for 2 Years

A turbidity value of 10 or less is pretty good for a Florida Lake. Compare this to Lake Apopka (one of the worst in the state) where the turbidity averages around 40 with spikes to 80. Most of the time the turbidity is stayed below 10 over the last few years. Again, the latest data available is through 2015.

The turbidity does spike occasionally. However turbidity can be affected by a recent storm or even high winds. I think the peaks in 2015 are probably just that. But the average values look relatively good.

One last parameter to examine is the mercury content. Mercury gets into the environment due to industrial and waste output. Coal fired power plants are large emitters as are wastewater disposal systems. One problem with mercury is that it's a non-point source. Mercury goes into the water cycle and there doesn't have to be a local source that puts it in the water. A coal plant in India is nearly as bad for Florida water as one in Tallahassee.

Mercury Cycle

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has been tracking the mercury levels in Lake George since 2014. There has never been a reading of mercury in Lake George over allowable limits. However some of the areas draining to the lake have seen elevated levels. This happens in most of Florida in areas with water that don't drain well. Here's a map of the area around Lake George that have had elevated mercury readings.

Mercury Elevated Areas in Red

The red areas have occasionally seen elevated levels. But again the St. John's Rivers flows through the lake keeping the mercury levels within allowable limits. The wetlands around the lakes seem to be the areas that maintain the mercury. Here's a set of EPA maps that show Florida areas that have some mercury problems. Hint:  About all marshes and swamps.

But the overall evidence is that Lake George is in relatively good shape environmentally. The waters have cleared over the years and the nutrient load has dropped somewhat over the last 10 years. There are still challenges -- invasive species rank near the top of the list and nutrient load can still become a problem. But the overall geography and management practices have kept it relatively clean.

I'll quit there on Lake George. My final article on Lake George will be about ecotourism opportunities near the lake. 

Hiking at Hidden Waters Preserve

I went hiking this week at Hidden Waters Preserve in Eustis, a 90 acre preserve managed by the Lake County Water Authority. It's an interesting hiking experience in Florida because of this change in elevation. The parking lot is at about 155 feet above sea level. However the trail falls down to Lake Alfred at 75 feet for an 80 foot drop. Although an 80 foot drop isn't interesting to hikers in most of the US, an 80 foot drop over a half mile in Florida is considered precipitous.

Hidden Waters Preserve Map

Hidden Waters Preserve is a sinkhole. It was once known as Eichelberger Sink. Like a lot of sinkholes it was used as a trash dump for years. By the 1940’s it turned into a golf course. The golf course closed in the late 1950’s. Closed golf courses have been an interest of mine for a while now – how they can be repurposed after bankruptcy, etc. This one had the advantage of being a freestanding golf course, not part of a larger housing development. So when it went bankrupt it was easy to convert it into citrus groves. If anybody knows of any old pictures of the golf course at Hidden Waters I’d love to see them. 

But today there’s a golf course of sorts still there. A disc golf course has been installed. Interestingly it has 10 holes. When I saw the 10^th tee I thought maybe there was a full 18 holes, but I don’t think so. I guess there’s no law that courses need a number of holes divisible by 9. Or maybe that law just applies to regular golf. Instead of walking one of the established trails I decided to walk the disc golf course. I walked each hole from tee to "cup" plus wandered around the lake a little while at the bottom.

I saw several gopher tortoises. This was the most interesting, a virtual Usain Bolt sprinter of the tortoise class.

Near the top of the edge of the preserve plants and animals that prefer well drained, sandy soil predominate. Prickly pear cacti and gopher tortoises are easy to find. Going down the hill takes you to a longleaf pine and turkey oak forest. Then comes the wetlands around the sinkhole itself.

There seemed to be lots of beautyberries. I found them mostly near the bottom of the sinkhole between the forested area and marshy area. The beautyberries were pretty ripe, and about as good tasting as beautyberries get. They have a little taste if sufficiently ripe. Still not a lot of pulp or juice on each small berry. I’m not sure the rules on eating berries from a wildlife preserve, but it seemed the thing to do at the time.

 

Beautyberry

There were lots of passion flowers. I saw a few fruits around, but none looked ready to eat. Passion fruits are ready to eat when they start turning yellow. They taste like a sour, wild grape. It’s actually a very nice taste. Passion fruits are good to find on long hikes. The tartness and liquid pulp quenches a thirst nicely. Pick a few while hiking then spend a few minutes during a break separating the seeds from the pulp in your mouth. A great use of break time.

Passion Flower

The forest had an impressive amount of turkey tail mushrooms. They tend to be plentiful on rotting tree trunks. Turkey tail mushrooms have been heralded for their healing power for many years. Back in China’s Ming Dynasty of the 15th century they used turkey tail mushrooms to maintain health. And there could be a grain of truth there. The University of Minnesota Medical School and Bastyr University Research Institute randomly gave a tea of turkey tail mushrooms to breast cancer patients who were having trouble keeping up their white blood cell counts.  It seemed to help. Who knows? 

Turkey Tail Mushroom

A very nice hike. My total distance was about 4 miles. I stayed on the west side of Lake Alfred. I’ll go back and when I do I’ll try some of the trails on the east side. Or maybe since it’s a sinkhole lake I could go back when it’s dry and check out the lake bottom. In any case the many distinct environments caused by the elevation change makes it a worthwhile hike.

A couple of brochures:  Here's a brochure of the property and here's a picture of the disc golf course. The disc golf brochure is a good general overview, but the layout of the holes is outdated.