Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-01-08
A WEIRD FLORIDA FOREST.
Hundreds of Miles of Swamp Land
Astounding with Trees and Animals.

Astounding with Trees and Animals.
One of the widest and werdest regions
thus far discovered in Florida is the lake
known as the Jane Green swamp, or Saw
grass lake, which has an area of at least
300 square miles and contains the finest
body of cypress trees on this planet.
! This is u genuine sportsmens paradise,
wild animals being numerous and so fear
less through their unacquaintance with
man that hunter has actually to kick
pme of them out of his way before they
/ will move.
Parokeets scream on almost every bough
and move in dense 1ocks like our common
blaclSbrds; flamingoes, ibises roseate
spoonbills, pelicans and other aquatic and
wading birds haunt the margins of the
lake at all times, and raccoons and oppos-
sums, bay lynXes, offers, foxes and marsh
hares are abundant enough to arouse the
avarice of even an amateur trapper
/ Deer, bears and pumas are numerous on
the uplands, and turkeys haunt the con
tiguUus forests, where mast is abundant.
Slnkes are also unusually common, every
water hole and clump of bushes seeming
to have its own colony. One is likely to
see over hundred within IN hour or two,
and probably three times that number in
a day. The most numerous species are the
snakes are also very abundant, and king,
whip, chicken and black snakes are fire.
quently encountered. When the ophidians
are thick they eNhae II sickening odor
which produces vomiting in some persons,
this being particularly true of rattlesnakes
and mocassns
The lake has lost much of it's water ow-
ing to extremely warm weather and a
scarcity of rain, and this forced the fish to
seek refuge i'm shallow pools, where they
furnished IL feast to owls, buzzards, 'coors
and 'possums, snakes and saurians. Thou
sands of fish could be seen luttering about
in the last stages of exhaustion, while
thousands more lay pu,rcfying on the mar
gins of t like or vcIc being dcvOurcd by
foxes, 'coons or 'possums
The latter creatures had probably never
seen n man until they met Judge Harri-
sons party, ana t!,y wee s., different 20
the hunters of this expedition that they
scarcely deigned to glance at them as they
passed ly
All animals in the region displayed the
same fea,lcssAcss the deer merely sclrlti
nizing them with fatuous curiosity, the
bears snullin;y t c air, as if tryiH5 20 decide
to what class Of creatures they belonged
and the hugest alligatOrs in Florida pay
ing no attention to their presence.
The conelike nests of the saurians are one
Of the most marked features of the land
scape, as they are extraordinarily abundant
and seem to have been in existence fol
many years. Young reptiles are, as a con
sequence, very common and as they are
always ready for fight, person must bC
careful not to approach them too closely.
The wild hogs so common on the gull
coast of Florida have not yet migrated a:
far toward the interior as Sawgrass lake
but some hunters hope they may soon fine
their way toward it in order to destroy thu
numerous snakes that make its borders
scene of Lorror.
: Mosquitoes fly in swarms there during
the rainy season, and are so persistent il
their attacks that explorers are compelled
to make their bed between two or NOR
| fires if they would get any sleep. Thes
winged plaques, like the snakes and sau
rians, are in Il state Of Information durin!
the winter and do not appear in seriousl
! annoying numbers until May or June.
! Sportsmen can therefore safely visit thi
r region between December and April ant
| revcl in such venatic adventures as the
never thought of in their widest dreams
They must take guides with them or the
are likely to wander for days among tn
broad savannas, which seem to be IA vast
, mohotonous level of grass and water or
, jungle of cypress. Cor. Washington Star