Here’s a terrific map that demarcates the area under consideration for a 150,000 acre wildlife preserve in the greater Everglades watershed. Creek Ranch is located between the Disney Wildnerness Preserve and Catfish Creek State Park. To learn more take a look at this well-written article on the many issues involved in this complex project: http://www.dailyyonder.com/eveglades-refuge/2011/03/25/3246

Whether you’re afraid of spiders or not, it’s hard to deny that this spider web at the Ranch is visually beautiful. It’s also an amazing substance.

You’ve likely read how strong spider silk is. Just a few amazing facts. Its tensile strength is comparable to high-grade steel with only one-fifth the density of steel. A strand long enough to encircle the earth would weigh less than 18 ounces. Spider silk is also flexible: you can stretch it 1.5 times its relaxed length.

This week we were privileged to have Elam Stoltzfus as a guest at the ranch filming scenes for his documentary “Kissimmee Basin: The Northern Everglades.” Along with Joe, his multi-talented assistant, Elam captured magical sunrises, sunsets, turkeys, white-tailed deer, eagles and much more. He also filmed our cowboys out on the Ranch with the cattle from the 12-foot high platform of, yes, our brand new swamp buggy. We can’t wait to see the final product. To learn much more about this terrific, upcoming film: http://www.northerneverglades.com

Sometimes at Creek Ranch it’s best to stop talking and let the magic unfold.

Last Friday night at dusk we were touring the pastures on our new swamp buggy when a rocket launched from Cape Canaveral. What a gorgeous sight as we watched the rocket move higher & higher in the red sky as the plume created a meandering trail, like a river in the sky. We all were aware of the intersection of the modern rocket and the ancient pasture, where Seminole Indians camped, orange trees once grew and Black Angus cows (see the specks in the field) now graze.

Saturday down by the Cracker Cabin we found this remarkable visual combination of ripe oranges surrounded by resurrection ferns.

The fern is an air plant, which means it attaches itself to other plants and gets its nutrients from the air, water and nutrients that collect on the outer surface of bark. Resurrection ferns can be found throughout the ranch, living on the branches of large trees such as cypresses and live oaks (like this one).

If the Grand Canyon was a breathtaking painting, The Everglades was a complex drama, and everything had a role. The American alligator, the original Everglades engineer, dug muck out of shallow depressions in the marsh during droughts, creating oases for fish and wildlife like the watering holes of the Arfrican bush. The red mangrove, the original Everglades developer, trapped sediments in its spidery prop roots until they formed new spits of swampland, while providing shelter for all kinds of estuarine species. Cauliflower clouds, the mountains of The Everglades printed their reflections on glittering sloughs as they drifted over the marsh, then funneled and blackened into thunderheads that unleashed spectacular torrents of rain. And that clean, fresh shallow water was the lifeblood of the Everglades, fueling its flora and fauna, recharging its undergroud aquifers, keeping its wetlands wet. “A certain kind of lure began to dawn on me,” wrote Zane Grey, the best-selling western adventure novelist. “This is a country that must be understood.” …”The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise.” by Michael Grunwald.

Here’s an excellent video that contains 30 of the 92 species of birds, we’ve seen found throughout the course of the years, at the Ranch. (Don’t mind the “Big Bird” style narration—the video is very helpful.) You’ll find many of these birds here if you visit–and devote some time during your trip to birding.