This corridor peaks in elevation on the west end near Hancock Park, about 275 feet above sea level. It is mostly grasslands on the western end, and becomes more wooded down toward Johns Lake. This high elevation provides perfect dry and sandy conditions for the gophers. They eat the local cactus. I have heard the term “highly permeable sand” before. That may be why the sand mines were here.
I have many colonies of native Florida ants. I have monitored a particular colony for over 20 years. There are many colonies all over, but I don’t know how old they are. They drive away the bad ants. They are not aggressive, but will sting. Their colonies go several feet underground in high and dry sandy areas. I saw a collection of lead casts of similar nests at the Orlando Science Center. Pretty cool, yet sad.
The carpenter ants are all over, too. They make their colonies in old wet wood. They don’t eat the wood, but will hollow out rotten wood for their nests. They don’t sting, but have a painful pinch. They eat termites.
I hate fire-ants. I spot-treat with Orthene. Sevin is better, but is much more persistent, and it kills the local honey bees. I usually don’t kill the other ant varieties, because they are not aggressive. Ants normally won’t come into your house if there is no food for them. Some may try to hide before a storm or when poisoned.
The lubbers are all around, and they are very attracted to caladiums. Very destructive. I spot treat the nymphs with Cygon and crush the adults.
There are 3 varieties of paper wasp that I know of here. Spray them at night, because they all return to their nest, and can’t fly at night. I only spray the ones on my house.
Lizards are everywhere in Florida. The 5 line skinks are common in the corridor. They burrow in the sand and are very secretive. The juveniles have brilliant blue tails. There are others, like the green anoles and invasive Cuban lizards. The gray ones with big eyes are night hunters.
The area has many snake varieties. Pine snakes are very common. The rat snakes are bigger. The corn snakes are excellent climbers, and love bird eggs. The black snakes are iridescent. King snakes can be mistaken for the coral snakes. The coral snakes are very shy and don’t bite if you leave them alone. The copperheads and cotton-mouths are down by the lake.
There are many local varieties of spider. The “widow” spider varies from black to gray, with the classic red hourglass on the belly. Roach spray only stuns them, so use a spider spray. Wolf spiders are common, and hunt mostly in the grass. If one is on your floor, cover it with a bowl, then slide stiff paper under it and carry it outside. The jumping spiders are fun to watch when they are hunting. Spiders are beneficial, eat other bugs, and feed the snakes and lizards.
more to come