The Big Cypress Swamp has lots of shallow water but unlike the everglades, this water doesn't flow from Lake Okeechobee.

Big (bad) Cypress Swamp

The Big (bad) Cypress Swamp is a very wild place. In most areas not only are you knee-deep in water without any dry land but you are always surrounded by plenty of wildlife. Most of the big wildlife is able to kill you. Some of the small wildlife is also able to kill you (mosquitos to name one). Thankfully nearly all the big wildlife would rather avoid you. We avoided most of the mosquitos by visiting in the winter.

Right next door to the everglades is the Big Cypress Swamp. Just to the north and west of the Big Cypress National Preserve is the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and the Picayune Stand Forest. Combined the preserve, refuge, and the Everglades National Park cover an area nearly the size of Delaware.

Cypress Trees

Cypress trees flare out at the bottom. Unlike most trees grow well standing in water.

Cypress trees flare out at the bottom. Unlike most trees, they grow well standing in water. These cypress trees are the namesake of the swamp but they are not the most common trees in the swamp. The mangrove forest along the shoreline to the south and west of the swamp comprise far more trees than the cypress trees.
Another nice picture in the Big Cypress Swamp
Another nice picture in the Big Cypress Swamp, you don’t really have to look for the water, it is everywhere, in every direction. Almost all the water we saw was less than knee-deep.

I found it very interesting that the water in the Big Cypress Swamp only falls from the sky (rain) in and north of the preserve. There are no rivers entering the basin. The exit point for the water is to the southwest where the swamp turns into a mangrove choked wetland where it mixes with saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico. The east-west division point between the everglades and the Big Cypress Swamp is the Shark Valley. Shark Valley is so named because this water flows into the Shark River. This river is named because it is salty well inland and of course, with the salt water, you can have sharks.

The undergrowth in the Big Cypress Swamp isn't as dense as many thickets in the everglades.
The undergrowth in the Big Cypress Swamp isn’t as dense as many thickets in the everglades. The swamp, however, unlike the everglades next door, is way too thick to allow airboats to navigate among the trees.
Cypress Trees standing in shallow water.
Picture of cypress trees in the Big Cypress Swamp.

Just like the everglades, the most commonly seen animal is birds. Unlike the everglades (which may have more alligators than the Big Cypress Swamp) we saw lots of alligators.

Great Blue Heron in the Big Cypress Swamp
Great Blue Heron in the Big Cypress Swamp
Great Egret in the Big Cypress Swamp
Great Egret in the Big Cypress Swamp

Big Cypress Swamp is the real Gatorland

We have been on a gator sighting kick since we were in South Carolina, but didn’t see any until we got to Florida. This includes our stay in Georgia where we were staying right across a lake that had alligator warning signs all around the lake.

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It wasn’t until we got to the Big Cypress Swamp that we started seeing lots of alligators.

On our first day in the Big Cypress Swamp, we saw more gators than we saw since we were in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida combined.

The Great Egret and the Great Blue Heron are the most obvious birds we have seen and have been able to get pictures to show you. We also saw a few buzzards. We didn’t take pictures of buzzards mostly because they are creepy.

Great Blue Heron in the Big Cypress Swamp
Great Blue Heron in the Big Cypress Swamp.

Gators

We have lots of pictures of gators mostly because they are so good at modeling for our pictures. They don’t care about us and hold motionless for hours and hours. They also do nearly the same thing underwater and hold their breath for hours. When underwater they can go up to eight hours without coming to the surface to breathe. Some reports name that they can hold their breath for twenty-four hours. Of course, this means that if you don’t see a gator on the surface it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a gator.

This big gator has this rock all to himself.
This big gator has this rock all to himself. When you are a big gator, you sleep anywhere you want.

Gators don’t seem to care where they sleep. I am always surprised that animals don’t adjust their behavior based on comfort. Behavior changes are based on food. For a gator, life is best when laying in the sun.

Big Gators

We are fascinated by big alligators. Actually, I am fascinated by all alligators. Mostly because they are completely outside my experience. Big gators, like grizzly bears, don’t actively try to avoid us. There is also the fact that crocodiles and alligators are the only large animals that lived alongside the dinosaurs. For the blog, I take pictures of as many gators as possible and then sort them by pictures that I find interesting.

This gator seems quite well fed.
This gator seems quite well fed.
Here is a nice gator shot with a Great Egret watching him slowly float by.
Here is a nice gator shot with a Great Egret watching him slowly float by.
The water here is perfectly still and it makes this gator look like he is floating along the treetops in the clouds.
The water here is perfectly still and it makes this gator look like he is floating along the treetops in the clouds.

Last week I included another, even better picture of this gator in the clouds but you will have to go back to the previous post to see it. As a bonus, if you follow this link, you will get our story about the big gator that decided to visit our campground. The middle of the swamp

I am ready to get off the gator kick as we move north through Florida. But, they are such an easy subject to photograph. The other occupants of the Big Cypress Swamp are not easy to photograph. Included on the list is a large population of bears.

Turtles and Snakes

Turtles are common and we did get a few pictures of turtles. They are not as good at posing for photographs as are the alligators. Probably because they are worried about being food for alligators.

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I can’t explain why this picture looks this way. I didn’t do any adjustments. Not that I have that ability or am above that sort of thing.

We didn’t see any snakes in southern Florida. I take that back, there was one. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t there. Perhaps if we wandered through the swamp on foot (wading) we would have had a better chance to see a big one. One of the newest problems is that invasive pythons and boas are living in the swamps.

The big cypress swamp also has a large deer population and is one of the last refuges of the Florida Panther. This is the first sign we have seen anywhere in the country warning about big cats crossing the road. Florida panthers (cougars, pumas, and mountain lions by other names) live in the Big Cypress Swamp.

Florida Panthers (cougars, pumas and mountain lions by other names) live in the Big Cypress Swamp.
Big (bad) Cypress Swamp 17

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Links to places mentioned in this article.

Big Cypress National Preserve

Everglades National Park

3 thoughts on “Big (bad) Cypress Swamp”

  1. Always interesting. Fun fact about Cypress trees and mosquito control in Charleston TN. The Tennessee Valley Authority planted Cypress trees as part of a plan to limit mosquitos.

  2. Scott and Tami – you two took these pictures? It’s phenomenal you saw this wildlife and equally were able to take pictures of them. I think another endeavor for you is to assemble the pictures and create some kind of book of America from the road. America could use something like this – right now especially.

  3. Thanks for the tour of these parks. The variety of wildlife, and the fact you can get so close to everything, is just astounding. Love the photo of the one alligator maxin and relaxin on the rock. He looks like he just ate way too much at Thanksgiving dinner. The cloud photo is great too!

    Safe travels as you head north!!

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