Paynes
Prairie State Preserve is a 21000 acre natural area in northern Florida. It is
just south of
Gainesville. It is roughly 45 minutes north of the Silver Springs
tourist attraction. The preserve has
many different natural habitats so in turn; there is quite the variety of
animal life. The environment ranges from pine forest to open swamp. There is a
huge variety of birds. From wading birds to songbirds and birds of prey it is a
birders dream. It also has some animals not normally associated with Florida.
There is a bison (buffalo) herd on the prairie. Four herds of wild horses for a
total of 36 individuals.
My cousin
Mark dropped me off before 8 am with my bike. I paid my admission and rode my
bike to the Visitor Center. The VC didn’t open until 9 am. There is a fifty
foot observation tower behind it. From the top I immediately saw the bison herd
to my 2 o’clock. I got down from the tower and rode my bike on the Cones Dike
Trail in the direction of the bison. I couldn’t see them from the trail.
 |
| Bobcat |
After two
miles of bike riding I decided to walk. I locked my bike to a tree. Almost
immediately I spotted a bobcat. It was the first bobcat I ever saw. On the trail I saw two gators. Both were in
mudholes with bushes and reeds between the gators and me. I really couldn’t get any pictures. Further
along I came across four river otters playing on the trail. As I got closer
they gracefully slid into the water. I turned around at the end of trail.On my way back to my bike, I was thinking about how lucky I was. I already saw 2 deer (on bike ride to visitor center), bobcat, 2 gators, and four otters along with hundreds if not thousands of warblers. At the last turn just before my bike, a huge gator was out of the water sunning itself. It was at least 10 feet if not twelve. Unfortunately for me, it was blocking the trail between me and my bike. I thought for a minute and came up with three options. Sit and wait it out, try to get around the gator by skirting the far side of the trail. The third option was to wait a few minutes and if the gator didn’t leave, try to get by it. Since I had no plans on being eaten, I chose option number one and waited it out.
I sat about
twenty five feet from the gator. I took a ton of pictures. I would try to get
pics of it from different angles from my side of the trail. Truthfully, I
marveled at being so close to such an incredible apex predator. I just lived in
the moment and soaked it in. After about 45 minutes it finally moved back into
the water.
I got back
to my bike and peddled the two miles back to the trailhead. On the way back I spooked another gator that
was sunning. It took off into the water before I got close to it. This one was
a little more pedestrian, going about seven feet. After I got back to the
trailhead I went inside the visitor center. I talked to the two rangers for a
few minutes. I showed them the picture of the bobcat. They told me about a
trail that was to far for me to get too (25 minute ride by car). |
| Turkey Vultures |
If you go…
Paynes
Prairie is in northern Florida near the town of Micanopy. It is easily reached
from I-75. It costs six dollars for a
car. It cost me $2 on my bike. There is a campground for both tents and RVs.
The campground cost $18 plus tax. The preserve does have poisonous snakes. I
did not see snakes of any kind, but they would be more active during warmer
weather. Obviously, there are alligators. The trail the ranger told me about
was the LaChua Trail. You have to leave the main entrance and drive north on
Route 441. It is 25 minute drive to reach.
The ranger told me horses are regularly seen from that trail. One ranger
told me he hears Feral pigs in that area all the time. Grab a map at the
entrance for all trails including the ones on the north side
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