Day in the Swamp

As the land manager at Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest, no two days are the same. This is an account for a recent day of boundary line painting.

With over 110 miles of exterior boundary and another 31 miles of interior boundary, there is always plenty of boundary to paint in any year. Some lines are easy to paint as they run parallel to a road or fire break, but some lines run through the swamp. The majority of the in-swamp lines are painted most easily when the water level is lower.  Therefore, before the last bout of rain, a long-neglected in-swamp line was attacked with bright orange paint.

Work in the swamp is a tough sell for most individuals. There are mosquitoes, snakes, alligators, ticks, chiggers, poison ivy, thorny vines, mud, it is hot and humid, one is required to carry all food and water (never enough), restroom options are limited, and there are only lat/long coordinates to give the 911 operator (if there is cell service) should the need arise. Oh, and then EMS needs to find their way to the spot in the swamp (see obstacles and hazards above), which is seldom near an address their system will recognize. For example, the address for lunch in the image below was N33.29782, W80.49187.

Lunch in the swamp - Image by Mark Musselman

Just prior to lunch, one of the swamp's residents moved away from the paint bucket. Wearing safety orange paint would run counter to its attempts to remain camouflaged.

Eastern Cottonmouth - Image by Mark Musselman

Farther east down the boundary line, a large, unseen gator dramatically thrashed the water in annoyance less than fifteen feet from the tree being painted. The alligator, in aptly named Alligator Lake, had obviously heard the less-than-stealthy painting patrol and had slipped quietly into the deeper water to watch. As it became clear that the man with the orange paint was preparing to cross directly atop it, the alligator made its move to the depths (less than three feet) and swam upstream. Approaching the deeper water, the question, "Do I try to wade across deep water to continue painting the line?" was asked aloud. The beast beneath the surface helped make the decision to find a detour crossing downstream

While walking the water's edge to find the downstream crossing, the basking site of the big alligator was encountered.

Alligator tail impression in mud - Image by Mark Musselman

Alligator skin impression in mud - Image by Mark Musselman

Alligator skin impression in mud - Image by Mark Musselman

Alligator foot impression in mud - Image by Mark Musselman

Downstream detour, good choice...not a bad band name either.

Not all encounters in the swamp have the potential to be painful or dangerous to painters, but they can be equally upsetting and do pose a threat to wildlife. Balloons, like the one found below, are an all-to-common discovery in the swamp. As @BalloonsBlow states, "Balloons blow, don't let them go!"

 

Unintended Habitat Enhancement

If you have ever been a property owner outside of town or know someone who is, you have likely seen surveyor's blazes and boundary line painting.  The blazes, surveyor chops in the tree trunk forming a distinctive scar, point to the boundary line or a corner (change of direction) and are painted by us to make them visual apparent.

Boundary marker - Mark Musselman

Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest has over 100 miles of exterior boundary lines in addition to internal boundary lines and all of them need to be painted to ensure that there is no confusion as to their location.  For example, a logger working a neighboring property needs to know when to stop cutting or hunters need to know when they are about to cross into the sanctuary.

Yesterday, while doing some boundary line painting, we discovered that the surveyor's blazes have enhanced the habitat for some of the forest creatures.  The vast majority of the blazes were covered with spider webbing, but several held resting amphibians.  The first to be discovered was a small Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) that was nearly skewered with a web-clearing machete.

Green Treefrog - Ricky Covey

Green Treefrog - Ricky Covey

The next treefrog, possibly a Squirrel Treefrog (Hyla squirella), got a dab of white paint before it was discovered.  A quick rinse from a bottle of water got it back to its natural color and on its way.  After two treefrogs in blazes, we were alert to the possibility and spotted the Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) before it was in danger of being cut or painted.

Gray Treefrog - Ricky Covey

We also encountered some species that needed no habitat enhancement, but that caused us to enhance our own attire.  Although snake boots can get uncomfortable after a day of stomping through the forest, stepping on a Southern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix) could certainly ruin a beautiful walk in woods!

Southern Copperhead - Ricky Covey

Southern Copperhead - Ricky Covey

Good Walk Spoiled

Mark Twain referred to golf as a good walk spoiled, but today it was the rain that spoiled our good walk across the swamp in Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest.

Once again, we were trying to complete the painting of the cross-swamp internal boundary line. Previously, the futility of painting in the rain caused us to abandon our work. At least then, the swamp was relatively dry and the occasional creek channel was only ankle-deep. With the recent rains beginning to fill the swamp, we knew that we would encounter some deeper water in the creek channels. Additionally, today's high temperature was only forecast to be in the low 50Fs. Based on our wholly unscientific water depth equipment, we report the creek channels as being SOPRANO high!

Although we were unable to complete the boundary painting job, the final creek crossing was more distressing. It wasn't the cool air or the creek's depth, but the fact that we crossed the deep creek just before our lunch break and the rain began to fall steadily as we finished lunch. As paint won't dry in the rain and remain on the trees, we had to head back to the truck, which was on the other side of that deep creek.

As Maxwell Smart was wont to say, "Missed it by that much!"