False charged by pair of Coyotes in Everglades National Park - Jan 2024
On a gorgeous late January South Florida morning with feels like temperatures somewhere in the high 50s to low 60s, I decided to take advantage of the cool weather and windy conditions to explore typically mosquito infested tropical hardwood hammocks for rare orchids in the Long Pine Key area of Everglades National Park.
I enjoyed a cold and peaceful sunrise beside the water and began a solo hike through one of my favorite hammocks at around 7:15am, as the sun just barely poked over the horizon.
Although the filtered light creeping through the top of the dense canopy was sufficient to navigate the labyrinthine floor of this hammock, it was not enough to safely identify hazards. Yet, I carried on knowing that it was only a matter of time before the hammock would receive the full embrace of the morning sun and become thoroughly lit.
In fact, the lighting was so poor during the time of day that I had to turn on a headlamp because I could not stop running into spiderwebs without my light! Headlamp on, I continued my solo hike in what would later turn out to be an unsuccessful search for Beloglottis, but that provided a shockingly uncommon encounter - almost unheard of.
Tropical hardwood hammocks have always fascinated me since I was young because growing up I had access to many coastal hammocks near my childhood home that I could endlessly wander around, climb trees, and get lost in. I have always been particularly fond of this habitat. Here, the air hums with the melodious symphony of chirping birds, buzzing insects, and the occasional rustle of a hidden creature. The chaotic rhythm of life gradually softens, and you are invited to engage all your senses to their maximum extent.
While down on one knee taking photos of blooming Eltroplectris at around 7:45am (headlamp still on), I began to hear a quickly approaching clamorous rustle through the leaves getting louder and louder that was noisy and obnoxious, snapping branches and crumbling thick leaf litter left and right. The approaching steps sounded very familiar and humanlike, but obscured by thick vegetation I could not see more than probably 50 yards in any direction. Seconds before the encounter, I recall thinking it was a human based on the sound and pattern of the steps, but during this whole time I was alone and I knew no other persons should've been inside the hammock since my vehicle was the only one parked in the parking area when I arrived.
Confused and a bit spooked by this unsettling sound, I quickly turned around to find myself confronted and locked into a stare down with two large coyotes at about 30 yards - one of them significantly larger than the other comparable to the size of a mature Golden Retriever.
Never having seen Coyotes in Florida from so close, I was shocked and mesmerized by their beauty. Perfectly groomed faces, ears pointed up at the sky with big deep brown eyes and developed muscular builds. I was like a deer in the headlights and could not believe what I was seeing as this is such an unusual and rare encounter in the Florida Everglades.
After a few seconds of being locked in a stare down at about 30 yards, led by the larger Coyote the pair slowly began to creep in on me with aggressive and intimidating body language and it seemed clear they had no friendly intentions. They momentarily hid behind a large Gumbo Limbo about 25 yards away and the smaller one flew out at me, abruptly stopping about 20 yards away while the larger one stayed in hiding just behind.
Having gone from a mesmerizing encounter to quite a terrifying and hair-raising one in a matter of seconds, standing my ground I raised my arms and yelled at them as loud as I could and they darted off into the hammock disappearing behind the flora. It all happened so fast, and I never saw them again.
Later that day, I came inches from stepping on what I estimate to have been a 5 foot Eastern Diamondback that never rattled while searching for Trichocentrums near Flamingo, and I also ran into a Bobcat gracefully walking along Rowdy Bend. One of my most scarily exciting and memorable days I have experienced within the vast and wild expanse of Everglades National Park.
All my observations from that day: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2024-01-28&place_id=any&user_id=andresvila&verifiable=any
A few orchids I saw in January: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2024-01-01&d2=2024-01-31&place_id=any&taxon_id=47217&user_id=andresvila&verifiable=any
