Citrus County caves (post by George)

Here are some links about the caves of Citrus County. The first one has a map showing all the dry caves knows to caves.org, it's a big document but the map is on page 66, page 77.
http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V68/v68n2-Florea.pdf

http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=geog_fac_pub
This one is interesting. Newly discovered bad ass caves, nearby!

I just think it would be neat to find some of these caves. The cave Tim and I visited is actually called Vandal Cave. There are many. I've been in all the Dames caves entrences. Or have I? They are still discovering caves in Citrus.
I am just facinated by this. Any thoughts anyone?
George

Tim Fasano on top of Myakka tower

Looking for Bigfoot or just a sightseeing tourist, you have got to check out the observatiib tower at Myakka River State Park. It is seven stories tall and affords a view of the entire park.

Headed to the Florida swamp

Those that have followed this blog know that I am involved in my own "Finding Bigfoot" project. We explore the deep swamps and look with our cameras for anything that may be moving. We also use a secret weapon.

Today kevin and I went out to deploy a Reconyx RC60 covert trail cam. With fresh batteries this camera should be good until November. The media card capacity is over 14,000 images at 3.1 Mega pixels. The motion activated cam fires an infrared strobe for great nighttime images.

As the rainy season sets in, it will become more difficult for anyone to compromise this area. We do know there are poachers in the area. That is the only thing I am worried about.

I read recently were Matt Moneymaker of the BFRO was in Torreya State park in the Florida Panhandle. That was last week. A good time of year to do this with the rainy season and the heat soon on its way. With its high bluffs overlooking the Apalachicola River it one of the most beautiful parts of Florida with actual elevation that is rare in the Sunshine State.

Pam Callahan Nature Trail Is Closed because of toxic hazards

Pam Callahan Memorial park Town & Country

I have enjoyed the Pam Callahan nature trail for years. I never knew that it was once part of an old Army Corp. bombing range and that there were toxic chemical in the ground. That may explain why I got very sick the last time I went when I took these photographs. 


Between 1940 and 1947 it was part of the Drew Field bombing range. According to the Army corps of engineers the surface water and soil sediment now pose a "human health and ecological risk." In fact, test show there may be unexploded ordinance in the park! I never knew that while I was enjoying a very peaceful fall day on the hiking tail.


The trial head in on Memorial Highway but it is not easy to see. Many people live and commute for years and never know it is there. I have never seen anyone else out there. 


You have to park on the side of the road and there is a gate that is locked but you can easily go around it. This seemed to be a maintained trail. It looked freshly mowed. The trail goes strait into the wet lands that are along the bay. One thing you notice is after only a few hundred feet off the main road, you think you are in the middle of nowhere. There is an apartment complex to the right and a major airport nearby, but you still have that isolated feel.degrees, a very nice day. I took a lot of pictures on the 0.7 mile hike out to a plaque the memorializes the lady that the trail is named after. It is posted on a large granite rock and points out that she spearheaded a grass roots efforts to save this part of Tampa from the land developers. She was able to "Fight city hall." Unfortunately she passed away in 1993 and did not live to see this trail named in her honor. I could look around from the end of the trail and still could not believe how close I was to civilization.

Taxi parked at the trail head

I noticed fiddler crabs on the path (I am glad I had on hiking boots). I also saw a hawk swoop down, but I did not have my camera ready to take his photo.  There are several side trails that expose hardwood pine areas. I got some photos of some interesting flora. I have no real idea what it is. I am sure there is poison ivy out there. so be careful.

If you are driving by and have some time. This is a real peaceful hike. Just watch out for the fiddler crabs!

I have made a new photo album of this shoot. You can go below and see the images of the trail.

"Searching For Bigfoot" Comes To Florida

Saga Magazine 1973

I recently got the opportunity to work with Tom Biscardi - the worlds self-proclaimed best Bigfoot hunter - in the Green Swamp of central Florida. (Many of you may remember in 2008 when those two law enforcement officers in Georgia claimed to have a Bigfoot in a freezer and swindled Biscardi out of $50,000 for something that turned out to be a monkey suit frozen in ice). Tom has been looking for Bigfoot since he was a young man and I remember an old Saga Magazine article about him when I was a teenager. He is still at it, and has collected important DNA that is currently being analyzed to prove that an unknown primate exist on the North American continent.

Tom caught up with me at a meeting point at the north end of the Green Swamp which is part of Richloam track of the Withlacoochee State Forest, and I took him to an area that has been known as a Bigfoot active area for some time. Tom travels with his research team and a trailer full of all kinds of high tech gadgets such as thermal night vision cameras, sound microphones, and computer imaging radar. He does not play around. We went miles deep into the swamp looking for evidence of animal tracks that could be where the big guy is hanging out looking for a food source. We found such an area near a prairie with high grass and pigs running around and clear deer tracks. This is where we decided to do our 'night operation.'

Tom doing an introduction for his upcoming movie about Bigfoot

Tom and I checking out the target area

 About one hour before sunset we set out into the swamp and that is when Mitch saw something moving in the Palmettos and went searching. Since we had already set up the camera traps in the area where the thing was headed, our search yielded a possible print. We believe it was because it was in the area where we saw the movement.

A possible skunk ape footprint we found after we saw movement

One of the cool things about digital technology is the development of all kinds of high-tech gear. Tom has a thermal imaging camera which is used by the United States Military to see in the dark. We used this camera, and others, to peer into the dark in the Green Swamp to see what we could find. We did see several coyotes move across the plain, but on this night, no Bigfoot. That is how this kind of research goes. It is a waiting game, I did have a lot of fun and this was unlike anything I had ever done. 

A night optics camera that can see in the dark

Upper Hillsborough Preserve

I hike for exercise. I love hiking. What I do is find an exotic area in Central Florida, load up my backpack with supplies, and hit the trail. Sunday I was in the Upper Hillsborough Tract of the Zephyrhills Nature Preserve. There is a long series of trails that would take days to complete with much effort. What is great is the area is closed to hunting which helps photographers because the wildlife moves in here to avoid being shot! Can you blame them! This video is when I was taking a break in this early heat in the year. Earlier, I had found a human type foot print (bare print) 300 feet off trail in a cypress swamp. Unless there are feral people or a Florida skunk ape in the area, I don't know what left that print. I do want to get a photo of that creature.