Sweet Combustion - The Orange Blossom

Hanging from the vent on my car’s console is an air “freshener”. It’s empty. The artificially scented liquid that once sloshed around inside and slowly emitted itself into my contained atmosphere merely “masked” the scent of swamp and who knows what else I’ve been dragging from here to there.

Tonight as I make a beeline through the quiet, barren roads of the Everglades I am soothed by the most majestic of natural perfumes. It wafts through every pore of my vehicle and fills my lungs with a sweet delicious aroma.

As I drive north out of the Everglades I make my way through cattle ranches and orange groves where billions of oranges weigh heavily on sturdy, pliable limbs. I am mesmerized by a seemingly endless array of groves. My headlights remain focused ahead but I am convinced I can see brilliant oranges in my peripheral view in an otherwise black and white landscape.

A lone truck passes me heading south bound. A bitter whiff of diesel is smothered by an engulfing gust of the aromatic blooms. The sweet combustion fades into the night with the taillights.

Sable Palms, the State Tree of Florida, wave their fan-shaped fronds, helping to spread the enchanting scent of orange blossoms, the State Flower of Florida, across pastures and prairies.

For a few short weeks in March, the air will be inundated with the most blissful scent – enticing bees to pollinate the trees and making the low-humidity, mosquito free nights the most enjoyable time to sit on the porch, gaze at the stars, listen to the crickets and let your lungs fill with nature’s perfect scent.

Keep Your Enemies Closer - Alligators and Turtles

Alligators eat turtles. It’s not their number one choice on the menu but they have no qualms about eating them. Sliders, cooters, softshells, snappers. If they can chomp them and swallow them – down they go. But that doesn’t mean they can’t tolerate each other.

Alligators have one of the most powerful bites in the natural world. Their teeth are not sharp, nor can they chew, but an adult alligator can exert more than 2000 lbs of pressure per square inch of their jaw. With 80 concrete-like pegs for teeth they can snap that jaw shut with lightning speed and make a delicious meal out of the crunchiest turtle. The problem with turtles is not that they have shells but the style of the shell. Florida Softshell Turtles (Apalone ferox) are quick and pliable. Normally they can squeeze into the narrowest crevices to avoid danger. The tenacious turtle in the bottom right photo went for a ride in the jaws of the alligator but eventually escaped. Yes that’s the poor thing’s snout.

Sliders and Cooters can grow well-rounded carapaces (the upper half of their shell) which makes eating them all the more problematic. Imagine trying to eat a baseball-sized walnut. In the shell. Your mouth is too small and your jaw is not strong enough. A turtle with a high shell might get captured in the jaws of an alligator but it may be difficult for the gator to chomp down. Often a large turtle will escape with a slightly cracked shell or a tooth mark or two.

Alligators have a seemingly unending supply of teeth. Beneath each of the 80 conical teeth is another tooth ready to go, so if one is lost in a turtle-eating attempt, the alligator has plenty more where that came from.

In the top photo, the turtles were polite enough to allow the alligator the choicest of basking spots on the log. “You go first. We’ve got your back.” This alligator is far too small to sample any of the four turtles relaxing behind it. Plus feeding time for alligators is usually after sundown. Of course, there’s nothing keeping another bigger alligator from clearing the log of all occupants.