Nature and Animals

The dragonfly’s life-cycle revolves around water, so it’s no surprise that Florida has more than 150 species. They come in many colors – black, blue, green and red being most common. Dragonflies don’t have a stinger, so they won’t sting you. They do, however, have teeth. So, a bite is possible. Dragonflies aren’t an aggressive […]

June is the month when afternoon thunderstorms start appearing. Rain, humidity, heat and lots of sun change the way plants grow. Everything speeds up, including diseases and pests. Keep a sharp eye out for odd leaf growth patterns and yellow veining on leaves. June brings glorious flowers to plumeria/frangipani, crape myrtle and royal poinciana. This […]

While spin cast equipment is still the number one piece of fishing equipment for Florida Anglers, a trip to the lake region of central Florida shows heavy use of bait casting equipment. For many of our visitors from the Great Lakes region of our country, you will see many excellent anglers using the conventional rod […]

The hawk I see most often around BSM is the Red-shouldered Hawk. The back, wings, and tail are black with white streaks, while the breast is rust colored. It gets its name from the rust-colored shoulders shown in this photo of an Eastern subspecies taken in Indiana. The Florida subspecies is lighter colored than those […]

I’ve written before in The Beacon about various invasive species within our community (e.g. Florida Pursley; Tree Frogs and the Brown Anole, all blamed on Cuba). This month I direct our attention to an invader from Australia and other parts of southeast Asia. Earleaf Acacia, not to be confused with the beneficial native Sweet Acacia, […]

During May about 3 to 4 inches of rainfall is anticipated…and definitely hoped for. If you’re on the irrigation system, the water level in the aquifer will have dropped to its lowest and salts become an even bigger problem in May. They also accumulate in the soil. We count on the rains to not only […]

OLEANDER CATERPILLAR Have you seen wasp-like insects on your oleanders? They are dark metallic blue, with a couple of white polka-dots dotting the wings and abdomen, with the tip of the abdomen bright red. They are called polka-dot wasp moths, and sometimes Uncle Sam moths because they are red, white and blue. They look like […]

Beginning April 1, all cats get in free. However, dogs must demonstrate at least one of the following skills before entering the park: • Sit and stay while a squirrel passes by you • Drop a tennis ball on command (no negotiations) • Politely ignore treats even when offered (Just kidding-no obedience test required. Happy […]

One of the biggest complaints of anglers, during fishing trips during the cold-water season, is fish are not on the bite. To try and solve this age-old problem, I set about making radical changes to my rigging set up. Usually, I use a standard float leader hook combo during the winter months, when the harbor […]