The critters are so different here. I say critters because
that is what they are! In Illinois we didn’t have critters, we had squirrels
and pigeons. For starters, in Florida there are those little lizard things
EVERYWHERE. I will see five of them on my trip from my car to my front door.
Then there are those bugs that people aren’t really sure if they are some
random insect that looks like a roach or if they are indeed cockroaches… then,
working from smallest to largest (yes, the bugs are BIGGER than the lizards),
we have the snakes. I’ve only seen a handful of them and they are usually just
slithering across the sidewalk, but I think the only time I ever saw a snake in
Illinois was in a reptile store. I’ve only seen the “friendly” snakes so far,
but I’ve been told that grumpy snakes do slither across the sidewalk as well
sometimes… eek!
Have you ever seen an armadillo? You know, like Arthur from
the kid’s tv show on PBS. Yes, apparently that is a real animal, and that show
was based in Florida. I’m not sure what I expected them to look like in real
life, but that wasn’t it. The proportions were off or something. One day, I
just came across three of them digging around in the rose garden at the
village. They were just inches away from one of the busiest sidewalks and roads
in the village. It didn’t bother them any, they just kept on digging like it
was no big thing. One thing is for sure, they look like they can roll right up
into a perfect ball.
The cranes are all sorts of crazy here. Well, there are
those tall white ones that are really pretty, you usually see them on
postcards. I’ve never really seen one up close yet because they always seem to
be on the opposite side of the pond, no matter which side of the pond I am on.
But then there are these other cranes. They are just slightly larger than the
white ones and they are a brownish gray. These, I have seen up close and they
are hostile! Someone forgot to tell them that they are birds and not bulldogs.
When I was jogging was day I came up to a pack of four of them chomping on some
grass along the sidewalk. I figured I would just jog on by and we would go our
separate ways. Well apparently they are not fans of sharing the road. It didn’t
chase me or anything, but he kept a very stern eye on my the whole time. And as
I approached he took one step towards me and he somehow scared me into running
the long way around with his stare alone. And then for some reason, all the way
home I kept looking over my shoulder. I felt like I stumbled into a drug deal
and now I had to wonder if they were after me because I knew too much.
And of course there are the alligators. Of all the critters,
these are the ones that I am most excited about. Everyone tells stories that
you can’t go into the lakes because you’ll get eaten by the gators. Or that
you’ll see one here or there. Well, since arriving, I have only seen one, and I
didn’t even notice it on my own. But the search continues…
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