Little Manatee River State Park

Trip Start Nov 19, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of United States  , Florida,
Friday, January 23, 2009

This entry is being made a few weeks late for a few reasons. First off, we had it all done ... and Maudie ate it. Then my computer crashed (really) and after taking the time to order the parts via Ebay and "fix" the problem, it only lasted for 3 days. Then we got a new computer, stayed busy visiting with friends and family and then finally, stayed in the Everglades without phone or internet for the last week.

January 18th - 22nd, 2009

Little Manatee River State Park is in a quiet setting with the river running through it. Unfortunately, we were visiting during the dry season and following a drought, so the river lacked the water we needed to do any kayaking. The biking was limited, but the hiking was OK, so we biked a few miles over to a walking trail and headed out for a 4 mile hike along the river.

When Jodie and I hike, she likes to stay behind a number of yards and take photos (she's very keen on pix of people's backs). At one point, I passed by a tree with moist ground surrounding it when Jodie said..."Stop and turn around to see what you just stepped over". To my surprise, it was a 3-4 foot coral snake with its tail in the path and its head against the tree trunk (probably hunting). Quite wisely, Jodie took shots from a bit of a distance and didn't get down for the face to face close up. Weeks later, we found out that the coral snake is not only poisonous (we knew that), it is the MOST poisonous snake in Florida. It has a neuro-toxin, rather than a poison that works against the muscles. It amazed us that this red, yellow and black snake could blend in so well.

Having done all of the hiking that the park had to offer, we decided to head over to the Gulf to do some beach walking. Even though it was only about 25 miles, it took us around an hour each time we ventured over to the towns on the Gulf. The beaches were good, including Anna Maria, Cocina and Long Boat Key, but the water was too cold to swim on the days we visited.
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Comments

bobdavis
bobdavis on Feb 12, 2009 at 04:03PM

Sure-Blame it on Maudie
Maudie must have eaten it because that's such a fishy story!

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