Category Archives: Animals

Listed species – Blackwater River State Forest

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Gopher Tortoise

Blackwater River State Forest is home to many species on the federally endangered and threatened list.

  • 1 Fish
  • 5  Amphibians
  • 8 Reptiles
  • 5 Birds
  • 3 Mammals
  • 54 Invertebrates
  • 19 Plants and Lichens

The Nature Conservancy says of Blackwater River State Park:

“Considered by many as Florida’s premier state forest, Blackwater River State Forest — 209,571 acres and counting — is the bedrock of a conservation complex that hosts an amazing 300 species of birds and 2,500 species of plants.  One of the most biologically rich areas in the US, the forest is part of a vital nature corridor that gently rolls from Conecuh National Forest along the Florida-Alabama line to the Gulf of Mexico.”

“The state forest is a significant piece of the largest, continuous longleaf pine/wiregrass forest complex in the world. Once blanketing the entire southeastern United States, only 3 percent of that vast forest survives today. ”

For more:  see http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates.

Blackberries for Birds, Animals and Us, Tate’s Hell

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What blooms  bears fruit and Tate’s Hell State Forest has food for birds, deer, turkey, water fowl, insects, fish and humans. This year the wild muscadines were in full fruit, blackberries and blueberries for eating out of hand with enough left for the animals. If you ever want to see these working creatures all on their separate daily missions, but complementing and benefitting each other, even as they are prey and predator — come spend some quiet, observing time in Tate’s Hell.

Womack Creek leading to Womack Swamp, Tate’s Hell

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Womack Creek, Tate’s Hell, upstream from Nick’s Road Primitive Camp site. After heavy rains, this area is deep enough to paddle, with fallen trees to limbo under, brush to avoid, but you may be rewarded by an otter, a barred owl flying overhead and wildflowers which still manage to bloom in the patches of sun they have found. Nick’s Road Primitive Camp Site is another isolated site which makes you think you have the wilderness all to yourself. Mosquitoes and yellow flies in the summer months.

Gopher Tortoise, Tate’s Hell State Forest

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The gopher tortoise is on the threatened list and both the turtle and its burrow are protected by the state. (For regulation and penalties for destroying of burrows see Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website, Wildlife and Habitat Category.) Three hundred and fifty (350) species of animals depend on the burrows of the gopher tortoise. Because of this, the tortoise is considered a keystone species. They prefer upland forests, much more common in Blackwater River State Forest than Tate’s Hell.