Living so close to the Withlacoochee River is such a blessing and it offers an opportunity to see such a wide variety of
Floridian nature. Nothing says Florida better than the knotty roots of the Cyprus tree. The
bald cypress,
often overgrown with Spanish moss, is the tree that gives the Louisiana
bayous and the Florida everglades their exotic atmosphere. Despite its
association with the South, the bald cypress is hardy and adaptable to
many parts of the continent. The bald cypress has a pyramidal shape
similar to other conifers, with a broad buttressed base. It reaches up
to 100 feet in height in its native environment, but rarely more than 70
feet in culture. In wet situations it develops 'cypress knees': curious
growths which rise out of the ground or water and are believed to help
the tree breathe in swampy conditions. The short green needles turn
brown and drop off in the fall. Its bark is fibrous and an attractive
reddish brown. The small, rounded cones are of little decorative effect.
The Withlacoochee River which is one of the few rivers that flows north,originates originates in central
Florida's Green Swamp, east
of Polk City. It flows west, then north, and then turns northwest and
finally west again before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico near
Yankeetown. The river is 86 miles long and has a drainage basin of
1,170 square miles. "Withlacoochee" probably stems from a Muskhogean
dialect. It is compounded of Creek
we (water),
thlako (big), and
chee (little), or
little big water.
This word combination signifies
little river in the Creek
language, and as
we-lako or
wethlako may also refer to a
lake, it may signify a river of lakes, or lake river.
A wide variety of wildlife lives along the shore or in the Withlacoochee River including the short tailed hawk seen here. The
Short-tailed Hawk is a small
hawk of grass and woodland habitat in Florida and it occurs in two color
morphs. The light phase is dark above and white below; the dark phase
(more common in Florida) is black above and below except for the light
bases of the primaries. Both phases have banded, black-and-white tail,
yellow cere, and yellow legs and feet. Immatures are like adults, but
with more numerous tail bands. The rare and wary short-tailed hawk is
easily identified in either color phase, as it is the only hawk in the
area that is pure black or pure white below. Although not designed for
speed, the Short-tailed Hawk is a habitual bird hunter, preying on
medium-sized birds of open country, such as Eastern Meadowlarks and
Red-Winged Blackbirds.
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