Country life nice😊

I love the countryside. Country areas anywhere in the world. 

Maybe its my love of animals which causes me to find these parts so attractive. Problem is, this love only exists in the daytime, as being in the country at night is quite scary.  

When you live there, I mean, not when visiting with lots of friends around.

Phoebe Snow

It never used to be this way with me before I had a traumatic break-in and had no neighbors with lights to illuminate the darkness outside.

 Not a little light anywhere. 

So now if I can’t see a neighbor’s light outside, such places are not for me to live in.

Even driving in the country areas alone at night is quite discombobulating. For I always think that if I get a puncture or some other problem, some serial killer is going to come along and make my live miserable.

That’s what happens when you are addicted to shows like Criminal Minds, CSI, Forensic Files, Dateline etc.  

These programs I enjoy but they can be hazardous to your peace of mind.😊

Sandy

Why am I rambling so much, you may very well ask?😏

I just had another few wonderful days with friends in the country- side, that’s why.

This was in Sebring, Northern Florida, where a friend and I drove to for three hours, to surprise another friend on her birthday. (22/10/). 

When I go to places like that in the USA, I always hope to see a black bear or two, but never have such luck. On this trip, my disapointment was made even worse, when another friend showed me that her security camera had picked one up a few days before, right across the street.

There's a black bear behind the SUV!

Well, I saw no bears, but I met two very nice horses. 

The white one is Phoebe Snow and the darker one Sandy.

They are so friendly that when my host Cardiff called them and just held out his hand with some grass, they came trotting rapidly towards him. 

They even allow his grandson to ride them, I hear.

 Lovely horses. Pity I can’t ride, as the last time I mounted a horse, the saddle was slack, I slid off and he nearly stepped in my head.

Now I play with them but resist the temptation to mount!

It was good to see that Sebring escaped the devastation of hurricane Ian. It did pass through but only tore down some branches and added some water to the creeks and lakes.

Where I stayed with friends, I had previously avoided going down to the creek on the property because it is a hangout for wild boars, rattle snakes and other unfriendly types. 

Since my host recently acquired an ATV though, we got a proper tour of the back of his large, forested property, and all was well.

There were fallen trees and others were missing branches, but nothing serious and the creek actually had a good amount of water in it this time.

Yup, those few days in the countryside with friends around were really refreshing.

Occasions like this always make me want to move from the city.

Then night falls. 😊

A PICTORIAL TOUR

 

My friend Yogi

I had always hated snakes. Not because any had done me any harm but I guess because the Bible had been drilled into my head as a child and you know, the snake and poor Eve had been blamed for all the 

troubles in the world.

In reality though, many snakes are very dangerous and should be carefully avoided.

However, around ten years ago, I met a wonderful young man named

Mark.                                                                                                               

                Mark and I pose with his scarlet macaw.

He is not only an extremely talented artist, but also the most interesting animal lover I had ever encountered.

At the time, among his pets were an iguana and a snake. Well, I hate lizards and would never consider going within ten miles of any, (thank god he got rid of it!) but he had such intriguing snake tales that I became curious.

He had actually bred them and soon convinced me that they were not cold and yucky as I had always imagined but rather the skin is more velvety.

My first encounter with Yogi

So he brought Yogi, a Colombian red-tailed Boa, to my home, wearing him around his neck as if he were  decoration.

At first, I was horrified but after finally touching him, I too took the next step, a bit tepidly I will admit.

 Soon Yogi, the snake was in my home slithering all over me and the furniture curiously.   

At that time he weighed around 20 lbs. and was being fed with one white mouse MONTHLY, for that’s how long it takes a boa to digest its meal. 

He had bought this much maligned pet when it was a baby, only about one foot long. 

Soon, he even learnt to breed them and had on occasion appeared on the local television, then JBCTV, to talk to kids about caring for snakes.

Mark the snakeman

 As we became closer over the years, it was not surprising that on returning home for vacation recently, one of the first persons I had to see was Mark and on learning that he had now added birds to his collection, I had to visit his mini zoo.

Mark with birds Stitch and Coco

Yogi has grown considerably since I last saw him, weighing 60 lbs. now and now digesting a rabbit instead a mouse monthly.

Soon I was introduced to the birds, Stitch, a scarlet Macaw, Coco an Amazon Parrot, Goldie an Indian Ringlet, and Sunshine a Sun conure.

To tell the truth, although I loved all the birds, only Coco loved me back.

For when Stitch was taken out of his cage, he tried to pick me when I touched him. And when he was put on the ground, he immediately attacked my toes with his sharp beak.

                                            

It was a similar story with Goldie and Sunshine, but Coco was super friendly, even doing a dance for me later on, although he refused to speak when I was there. 

                                        

However, Mark’s mom told me that as soon as his owner arrives from work in the afternoons and opens the gate, Coco would start shouting "Mark" until he is inside.                                                                                                    LOVELY PETS.    

   

Yogi explores

 

Everglades et al.

Since we do not believe that the China virus should restrict our movement and luckily being in Florida which is not locked down, we headed to South beach with the hope of also visiting Key West to celebrate Michelle's birthday. 

Unfortunagely for us, despite the limited tourism activity everywhere, the KeyWest visit was frustrated as the tour was sold out.

We however had a nice time exploring South beach and while it is great for those wanting to tan, it was no big deal for me. For, I go to the beach to swim and am accustomed to warm water. But that water was very cold, so no swimming there for me. 

On day 2, since we could not go to Key West we decided to take in a trip to the Everglades. I had done one before but Michelle had never been. 

This time, I actually held a live gator. Yes it was a baby and the mouth was taped up but I don't even like little lizards, so before, it was quite a stretch that I would hold a gator!

An airboat in port

This bus tour took me to another park from the one I had visited before, so I did not mind, The food available for sale at this park was really lousy though. 

They had on sale alligator tail, fried chicken wings, and spring chicken. Having tried the gator twice before and never being in the mood for frogs, I opted for chicken wings.

 They were awful and unseasoned but I was too hungry to realize it until I had finished!

😋

Would you believe though that one of the blackbirds that hang around the place, swooped down and stole a wing out of my hand when I was eating? Damn cannibal. For aren't birds and chickens family?

The trip into the river was on locally made airboats that just skim the surface of the water. The one we traveled on this time had two large cadillac engines, a top speed of 35 mph, and was extremely loud when at full speed. Most importantly though, it skimmed the water well. 

Actually, I think I learned far more about the everglades on this trip than I did the first time, so it was great. 

An added attraction was the one-man show with gators by a member of Proud Boys.

These Proud Boys are not the same as the racist ones aligned to Trump. These fellows collect gators that stray into people's yards, pools, etc in Florida. 

They capture them humanely and take them back into the wild. It is some of these same gators that they use in their shows too.

  I have to admit that the one who did our show seemed absolutely fearless among those monstrous creatures and one lady on the team had quite an active snake around her neck too!

  This is a recap of some of the information I got on this trip given; 

The Everglades were formed when lake Okeechobee overflowed. It is the world's shallowest river, being only 9 feet at the deepest point. It consists of around 400,000 square miles of wetlands. The name Okeechobee is a Seminal Indian name meaning endless grass and the glades are now 90% grass. The grass filters the water on which 8 million Floridians depend for drinking. There are around half a million gators in that river but the Burmese python is an invasive species that prey on the gators. A large python can eat an 8-foot gator easily. It takes about a month to digest this size reptile. 

There are also Florida Panthers in these wilds as well as numerous bird species. The largest bird is the great white heron which eats any and everything including baby gators. There are no crocs in the everglades as they are salt water reptiles.