Honeymoon Island

As a kid I went to Honeymoon Island every Halloween for their haunted houses and kid events. I loved it. Being able to go now and see a whole different side to the island was really something special. I was a bit late on my arrival, I had run into traffic, then while going over the bridge onto Honeymoon my back bumper fell off, obviously I as freaking out, but as I looked out over the bridge while throwing my bumper in the car I saw such amazing natural beauty. The water, beaches, plants, and weather took my breath away for a moment. I had never seen, or maybe just never noticed the beauty of the island. Once I got on the island I noticed how much bigger it was then just the bit I had traveled on as a child. I didn't know there were even nature trails before Dr. G had talked about it, but now I don’t know why there’s not more, or why it’s not more popular. The trail went through large pine trees, cabbage palms, mangroves, slash pines, and much more native, exotic, and invasive plants and animals.

The weather was perfect, only about one cloud in the sky, sun shining through the canopy. There was very little shade on the trail but when we found some we would listen the Biologist tell us about this amazing habitat. They preform prescribed fires in different sections within a 5 year cycle. These fires are needed because the slash pine Flat woods have evolved to thrive after fires. Pine cones need heat to pop out the seeds, and many other species need the fire for one reason or another. It may be for eliminating competition, spreading seeds, or making the soil full of nutrients. Many of the plants in the area had medical uses like the saw palmetto that is used for prostate treatment, or the Hercules club that helps tooth aces. The red cider tree is used as a bug repellent and was once used on sides of houses to keep bugs away. We also ran into some invasive species like the Brazilian pepper, often mistaken for a mangrove, it was brought over as a holiday decoration plant because of its red berries. Another invasive species is Cogon grass which is an Asian grass with a wind bearing seed that is hard and expensive to control.

We didn't see a lot of flowering plants, but some like the Snow Berry which smells like jasmine and honey suckle, added a beautiful yellow pop to the mostly green and brown habitat.

Honeymoon is also home to a Keystone species, the gopher tortoise. This land turtle digs burrows 30 ft. long underground with become home to over 300 species.

The last thing we looked at was the Rosary pea; this plant creates a little red berry that when chewed and digested can kill a man. In a case where two little boys ate the berries, one ate it whole and the other chewed it, unfortunately the boy who had chewed it died from the poison. When left whole it will go through your digestion track and come out whole and safely.

This field trip was very informative and fun, a couple of us even found armadillo bones!
I loved every second I was there and I made new friends along the way. I can’t wait for the next one!