Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and SWFL Before Humans

The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary appears as a respite from the concrete jungle of Naples showing the natural beauty of what Southwest Florida used to look like before the settling and building took over. This place shows many the different habitats of SWFL such as pine flatwoods, wet prairie, marshes, and swamp. Each one of these habitats are home to different types of wildlife and vegetation. The pine flatwoods are defined by their namesake, pine trees, and inhabited by fauna such as woodpeckers and squirrels. Natural wildfires occur here to spur the reproduction of these pine trees and to cull invasive species and dead vegetation. Where the wet prairie begins is indicated by the lack of trees that grow there. Long grass and wildflowers dominate the landscape and most wildlife is hidden beneath the sea of grass; deer also are found here using the long grass as cover and graze on the vegetation. As the elevation takes a slight dip the wet prairie ends and the trees begin along with the swamp. Towering bald cypress trees, hundreds of years old, their bottoms concealed by water are home to many different animals such as apple snails, alligators, and wading birds. At points the swamp gives way to marshes where there are no trees, but fields of alligator flag sway in the water in their place. All of these different places give us insight into how the terrain and landscape of SWFL used to be and how far it has changed with human interference and modernity.

Wet Praire

Swamp