Swamp Tour

A local young man took us on an air boat for a tour of the swamp. The tour guide told us he paid his way through college by trapping Nutria, a invasive introduced species, akin to a beaver. He got $5 for a tail and $3 for the skin. 

Winter is not the best time to see 'Gators, as the adults hibernate. However, we were able to see an approximately three year old alligator. 

We were able to see many birds - egrets, blue herons, sea gulls, pelicans, vultures and bald eagles. The egret we stopped near did not seem to be scared of us. He continued to fish. 

Bald cypress trees are the tree native to the swamp area. Now there are other trees growing due to dredging and piling up of dirt. The dredging was done to allow big boats to get in to retrieve the cypress trees for lumber. And later for gating oil. 

The cypress trees looked dead and were covered with Spanish Moss. Later in the spring the cypress trees will get leaves again and choke out the Spanish moss.