Back in January, my Dad, the boys and I were in the woods on
Eglin Reservation and we came across this.
A long, low fence stretched around a wetland area with wire
traps attached to the fence.
Inside each trap was a sponge.
Hmm.
We checked each trap but didn’t see anything and of course
left there wondering what that was all about.
I posted a picture in our local geocaching group on Facebook
and it wasn’t long before I was contacted by the man who hid the geocaches we
were hunting when we ran across the traps.
While he was out hiding the caches he saw the fence and
traps being put up so he asked the guys what they were doing.
They were part of one of the environmental groups that study
critters on Eglin and were putting out the traps in hopes of catching a certain
kind of snake and a potentially rare lizard. The sponges inside each trap were a kind of bait.
Thank goodness there were no snakes or lizards in the traps
when we checked them.
I don’t like lizards and we all know how I feel about snakes
so either way, it wouldn’t have gone well.
Fast forward to last week.
The Island King and I were driving through the woods in Point Washington
State Forest
and something way out in the woods caught his eye.
We backed up and could see something white and obviously man
made out there so we parked and walked out to see what it was.
Well I’ll be.
It’s one of those snake/lizard traps – a lot like the one I saw up on the Reservation. The materials are a little different and these traps are clipped to the top of the fence instead of the bottom but the set up and the point are the same.
The Island King walked along the fence, looking into each
trap but because I knew what he would find, I chose to wait at the edge of the
fence.
He was disappointed to find the traps were empty.
Seeing these traps really makes me wonder what is it exactly
that they’re trying so hard to catch and just how bad am I going to freak out
if I run into whatever it is?
It almost makes me want to stop taking those hikes out into
fields with knee high weeds.
But not quite.
Labels: Done
