Oscar (Astronotus ocellatus) - The Anhinga Trail, Royal Palms, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida

When I was a kid, my mother would sometimes call me "Oscar" when I was misbehaving. As I grew older (and became a bit more edja-muckated) I thought she may have been referring to Oscar Wilde (since the name was mostly used when I was a being wild), but now I'm thinkin' it coulda been the fish, since they're not that well behaved either!

Bad fish! And yet another escapee (this one from fish tanks), that has taken hold in Florida. God forbid, people who no longer want there pets, would do the "right thing" and/or give them back to the store where they bought them.

Hey you lawmakers out there, how's about a law that requires businesses that sell pets, be required (by law) to take them back and resell or dispose of them properly!

Tags:   KH0831 Florida macro 300mm+1.4xTC 300mm Nature

© All Rights Reserved

Tilapia (a.k.a. Israeli tilapia, Israelse tilapia, or Oreochromis aureus) - The Anhinga Trail, Royal Palms, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida

Yet another invasive species in Florida!
These guys (tilapia) were originally raised in “fish farms”, and don’t-cha-know they escaped when a hurricane flooded their “farm” and released them into the “wild”.
Who coulda saw that coming???
Apparently, not the government agencies that approved those fish farms. Though I’m sure the government will do a whole lot better if/when they take over healthcare . . .
With any luck, I’ll be dead by then.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida 300mm+1.4xTC 300mm macro Nature

© All Rights Reserved

Female Water Strider apterous (a.k.a. Water Spider; Neogerris hesione) - The Main Park road (State Highway 9336) where it intersects with Rock Reef Pass, Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, Florida

Back in small-town Jersey, we called these guys "Water Spiders", and to be honest, I was a bit surprised when I found out their actual common name was "Water Strider".
Water Strider is certainly descriptive of how they opperate, but I think I'm gonna continue to call them "Water Spiders", in that they make their living much the same as a free roaming Wolf Spider.

Link to BugGuide
Or,
click on the following link to view pics of them with wings

Tags:   KH0831 Florida Macro Nature

© All Rights Reserved

Cardinal air plant - (Tillandsia fasciculata) - The Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida

A 14 capture 13,000 x 17,000 pixel composite image,
stitched together with Adobe's PhotoMerge.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida Flora Macro Nature

© All Rights Reserved

Florida Gar (most likely a Spotted Gar; Lepisosteus platyrhincus) - The Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida

Many folks think every gar they see in Florida is an Alligator Gar, but truth be told, you need to be on the Florida panhandle west of the Apalachicola River to find an Alligator Gar in Florida. So this gar I spotted in the Everglades on the Anhinga Trail was most likely a Spotted Gar.

BTW - Spotted Gar can grow to be the size of Alligators,
which only adds to the confusion.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida Macro Nature

© All Rights Reserved