Hot summers… extended periods of drought… plenty of exposed organic peat material… and a random but well-placed lightning strike; all … More
Author: William Wise
Well-trained Bear Hounds
Excerpt from Francis Harper’s Mammals of the Okefinokee Swamp, published March 1927: Hounds are generally used for locating and following a … More
Swamp Citizens – Drought Relief
As large, voracious predators at the top of the food chain, we might think that alligators do nothing but devour … More
Hot Okefenokee Afternoon Sun
An excerpt from my Okefenokee Journal from March, 2015: Wednesday, 3:30 PM – After our hike on Billy’s Island, we … More
Beautiful Leaf-Green Lizard
An excerpt from A Florida Sketch-Book, by naturalist Bradford Torrey, written in 1895: “The morning is cloudless and warm, till suddenly, … More
Navigating The Narrows
A passage from my Okefenokee nature journal dated March 5, 2017: Sunday, 9:37 AM – By advantage of the trolling … More
Where the Wandering Seminole Lives
Excerpt from Travels by William Bartram, published in 1791: “HOW happily situated is this retired spot of earth! What an elisium it … More
Take it Slowly
An excerpt from my March 2017 Okefenokee Nature Journal: Our desire was to reach Big Water, a lake several miles … More
Weird Hobgoblin World
AN EXCERPT FROM SUWANNEE RIVER, STRANGE GREEN LAND BY CECILE HULSE MATSCHAT, 1938. “In the weird, hobgoblin world of the bays there … More
Guardian Mother Gator
Thursday, 2:20 PM – Trying not to disturb the exhilarating, tense moment, I whispered to my daughter Amanda in a … More