To the uninitiated, “yes” –
And who could blame them, they are wooded, dark, and watery.
Alligators lurk, and panthers too – but those worries are misguided:
The animal you really have to watch out for are water moccasins.
Not that they chase you – they won’t!
Nor do they spook – they don’t!
Rather, it’s because they don’t spook when they hear you that causes the real fright. If you walk without caution in their path, you can expect a strike when you least expect it – and yes, that could bite.
There are giant spiders too!
But even worse is a trunk-to-trunk spanning web on your face (and in your hands as you try to remove it after the fact),
Is a spider there too, in my hair or crawling down my neck?
It rarely the case, but the thought certainly spooks!
Hollywood-inspired legends of a Swamp Thing and local lore of a Skunk Ape may have you fearing knee-deep cypress forests alone at night the same way Jaws kept you in the knee-deep shallows of breaking saltwater waves in a crowd at the beach with the sun at its peak.
The truth is that humans evolved to fear the swamps.
They are virtually uninhabitable by modern day standards, and efforts to inhabit them quite literally ruin whatever swamp was once there … by way of digging, draining, filling, cutting, and building;
Not to mention the real Frankensteins of the quagmire – Maleleuca trees, Brazilian Pepper, Old World Climbing Fern, pythons;
Plus every other invader on the rapidly-spreading list of non-native invasive species!
I’m here to tell you it’s not we who should fear the swamps.
They are a misunderstood beauty in need of love instead.
The truth in actuality is quite the opposite:
It’s the swamps that should fear us!
So tread lightly in a swamp near you, and trust in me whenever you do – by sun or night or nearing twilight – its liquid realm is a beautiful sight, from top to bottom and start to end, it’s silence is the comfort of your oldest friend.
Happy Halloween!
4 comments:
Love this post:-)
Humans ruin too much of the world - it will be our undoing.
I keep waiting for water to surge to $1,300 per ounce like gold, until then, you're right, we don't account for the true cost of losing our natural resources.
Man, I wouldn't be caught dead in a swamp at night. That being said we need to be better stewards of our resources, swamps included.
I love Nature so much but I still can't get over my fear of swamps, I'm better than when I was little. I don't like the fact that you can't see the bottom and spiders too, not my thing but would never kill one and fight for more swamp land. I just couldn't be near one.
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