Frogs

Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)

If you visit after a rain storm you may hear a boisterous chorus from the Preserve’s frogs. Sixteen of Florida’s 27 native species of frogs can be found in Central Florida.

Frog species are grouped by the habitat where they live: terrestrial, arboreal, aquatic. Arboreal frogs, like the Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea) shown above, live in trees or bushes, and have enlarged toepads for climbing. Terrestrial frog species live on the ground, under logs, and plants. Many species burrow in loose soil. Aquatic frog species spend the majority of their time in the water, and usually have well-developed toe webbing.

Frogs and other amphibians absorb oxygen, water, and other substances through their skin. Consequently, amphibians are excellent ecological barometers (“canary in the coal mine”) for overall environmental health. The continuing worldwide decline in amphibian populations should be of much concern.

Florida Black Bears

The Florida black bear, Ursus americanus floridanus, can be found throughout Florida, including Yankeetown! This subspecies of the American black bear was listed as threatened in the 1970’s, with a population in the low hundreds. Today biologists estimate the black bear population in Florida to be above 4,000. This is a tenfold increase from the historic low.

With this success comes an increase in people and bear encounters. In the Big Bend region sightings are not uncommon. If you see a bear from a distance, feel fortunate and enjoy the experience. If you encounter a bear at close range, avoid eye contact and back away slowly, while speaking to the bear in a calm assertive voice. Hold your ground if a bear huffs or snorts, paws the ground, or charges toward you. If you do the bear will likely stop and move away.

Florida bears generally have black fur with a tan muzzle. Adult bears range in weight from 150 to 400 pounds (68 to 181 kg), with males often twice the size of females.

The bear breeding season in Florida runs from June to August. Bear cubs weight about 12 oz. (350 g) at birth, with litter size between 1 and 5. The gestation period lasts 235 days, and litters are usually born in late January to early February.

Bears are omnivores and range over a large area to forage: 15 square miles for female and 62 square miles for males. Their diet is derived 80% from plants (fruits, berries, nuts), 15% from insects, and 5% from meat such as opossums, armadillos, and carrion.

The Friend’s would like to thank Vic Doig, Wildlife Biologist & Fire Management Officer at the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Brian Scheick, Bear Research Program Coordinator at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) for several great presentations at the WGP Education Center. For more information about Florida black bears visit FWC at: myfwc.com/research/wildlife/terrestrial-mammals/bear/.

Lichens

If you have walked the trails at the Preserve you may not have given lichens a second thought. Or perhaps mistaken them for another organism, like a moss. If this is the case, then you have missed out on wonders of the natural world.

A lichen is not a single organism, but rather a mutualistic community of at least two different species: a fungus and a photosynthetic alga or cyanobacterium. Lichens can be divided into three principal body categories. 

  • Fruticose lichens are highly branched and can grow like shrubs. 
  • Crustose (crustlike) lichens adhere tightly to their substrate. 
  • Foliose (leafy) lichens are loosely attached and grow parallel to their substrate.

On a January 2020 Citrus Native Plant Society field trip lichenologists Ann DeBolt and Roger Rosentreter pointed out that all three lichen categories can be found on many substrates at the Preserve: on tree bark, on open soil, and on bare rock. 

To learn more about lichens:

Florida Wildflower App

This App helps find and identify plants. When you give the App information about a plant, such as its location, flower color and the time of year, the App will quickly show you which plants match your selections.

The App includes 2,746 species of plants found in Florida. Overall, 1,426 are “Wildflowers”, 263 are shrubs, 276 are trees, 106 are vines, 5 are a cactus, 461 are grass-like, 59 are fern-like, 139 are moss-like, 20 are seaweed and 156 are lichen.

iOS App Store
Google Play Store

Invasive Plant Survey

The WGP management plan calls for the periodic survey of the Preserve for invasive plants. Yankeetown was fortunate to have Marc Frank (Extension Botanist, UF/IFAS), Lucas Majure (Curator at UF Herbarium), and several of their colleague and students conduct a survey on October 5, 2018.

Accompanied by several of Friends of the WGP and local Master Gardeners the survey team broke into groups and explored the Preserve. The survey found just seven invasive plant species: Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), Chinese tallow tree (Triadica sebifera), Smooth rattlebox (Crotalaria pallida), Lantana (Lantana strigocamara), Springer’s Asparagus Fern (Asparagus aethiopicus), Hairy indigo (Indigofera hirsuta), and Camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora). None of the invasive plant species were widespread and in several cases consisted of just a single plant. The invasive plant species found were flagged for removal.

In addition, three non-native plant species (Three-flower tick trefoil (Desmodium triflorum), Turk’s turban / Skyrocket (Clerodendrum indicum), and Creeping beggarweed (Desmodium incanum)) were found. While not native to Florida these plants are not currently regarded as invasive. Also observed were several plants (e.g., a cactus and an agave) that to date have not been vouchered in Levy County.

The Board of Trustees and the Friends want to thanks the survey team. We hope to see them again at the Preserve.

Local State Forests

Carl Duval Moore State Forest (Acreage: 335, Counties: Putnam)
https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Carl-Duval-Moore-State-Forest

Etoniah Creek State Forest (Acreage: 8,876, Counties: Putnam)
https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Etoniah-Creek-State-Forest

Goethe State Forest (Acreage: 53,587, Counties: Alachua, Levy)
https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Goethe-State-Forest

Indian Lake State Forest (Acreage: 4,466, Counties: Marion)
https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Indian-Lake-State-Forest

Ross Prairie State Forest (Acreage: 3,532, Counties: Marion)
https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Ross-Prairie-State-Forest

Newnans Lake State Forest (Acreage: 1,000, Counties: Alachua)
https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Newnans-Lake-State-Forest

Welaka State Forest (Acreage: 2,287, Counties: Putnam)
https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Welaka-State-Forest

The Friends want to thank Ludie Bond from the Waccasassa Forestry Center for coming to the Preserve on May 23, 2018. Ludie spoke about the above state forests in our area.

Florida’s Flora


We had a large turnout (March 30, 2018) for UF Herbarium Extension Botanist Marc Frank. Marc talked about plant identification and introduced Florida’s Top Six Plant Families:

  • Poaceae (the grass family)
  • Asteraceae (the aster family)
  • Fabaceae (the legume family)
  • Cyperaceae (the sedge family)
  • Orchidaceae (the orchid family)
  • Lamiaceae (the mint family)

You can view Marc’s presentation slides here: PDF of Presentation

Super Blue Blood Moon

A Super Blue Blood Moon as seen from the Preserve’s Observation Tower. This rare astronomical event triplet happened in the early morning of January 31, 2018.

A blue moon is the second full moon of a calendar month. The moon rotates around the Earth in a 28-day cycle. So a blue moon happens occasionally. Hence the phrase, “once in a blue moon.”

A super moon happens when the moon is especially close to the Earth, making it appear larger (up to 17%) and brighter than usual. This occurs because the moon’s orbit around the Earth is an ellipse. Which at times brings the moon thousands of miles closer.

Coinciding with the above two events was a total lunar eclipse. As the moon entered Earth’s shadow the reflected light had a reddish tint… a blood moon.

Friends’ Donations Support the WGP

Left to right: Ellen Klee FWGP, Ann Sayward FWGP, Debbie Weiss FWGP Jeff Bernstein FWGP, Jean Holbrook Town Council, Jennifer Molzen Town Council, Sherri McDonald Town Council, Kent Gardner FWGP, Eric Kuykendall Town Manager, Sally Douglass FWGP, Jack Schofield Mayor

The Friends of the Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization that works in partnership with Yankeetown to promote, develop and maintain the Preserve. The Friends raise money for the Preserve through T-Shirts sales, donations, memberships, AmazonSmile, and events like the annual Rubber Duck Race.

The WGP is a unique place that would not be possible without community involvement. Thank you to everyone for your contributions of time and financial support.

Heritage Monitoring Scouts

(Left to Right: Jeff Moates-FPAN, Ellen Klee-FWGP, Nigel Rudolph-FPAN, Sally Douglass-FWGP, Jamie Letendre & Kassie Kemp-FPAN​)

We had a great presentation on September 21, 2017 from the knowledgeable staff of the Florida Public Archaeology Network’s Central and West Central regional offices. The mission of the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) is to “…promote and facilitate the conservation, study and public understanding of Florida’s archaeological heritage.”

In their presentation Jeff, Nigel, Jamie, and Kassie introduced FPAN’s new Heritage Monitoring Scouts (HMS) program. The program is focused on monitoring at risk archaeological sites. Particularly those impacted by climate change in the form of erosion and sea level rise.

HMS is a great opportunity for Scouts (citizen scientists) to contribute to our understanding, and protect, Florida’s rich history. It is easy to become a Scout and the public is encouraged to apply to the program. For more information on HMS send FPAN an email at hmsflorida@fpan.us or click on the HMS link above.