Perfect Day for Sarasota Ecotour

Ideal Conditions for an April Ecotour

April is a great month for ecotours in Sarasota, Florida because the weather is perfect! Cool mornings, warm afternoons, low humidity, and gorgeous late sunsets! That means the parks stay open later, and you can watch the evening show in the sky surrounded by nature. Early evenings are also a great time to watch the wildlife. Certainly mornings are ripe for close encounters with animals, and just before sunset they come out again to start foraging. 

All Creatures Enjoy a Brisk Walkabout

Today’s hike was in Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey Florida, located in Sarasota County. The dominant energy of the day came from the Echo Moth caterpillars. Their population explodes in Spring and they like to hike too! They make themselves known by crawling around in chaotic patterns. They act a little confused in their unpredictable patterns. They are active and brightly colored with fuzzy orange bodies and black spikes. Those are typical characteristics of poisonous or venomous animals, but they won’t severely harm you; just irritate your skin. But I don’t recommend trying to pick them up. We never want to touch wildlife in any setting. That would NOT be ethical ecotourism.

Their tiny bodies inch across the trail and up the pine trees, and even cross roads where they often meet their demise. I tried to tune into them on an energy level but it wasn’t clear what they were doing or why. So I turned to written sources to learn about this insect. They get the name Echo from scientist’s understanding that the walkabout behavior is just mimicking other animals, like an echo. The intentions behind their behaviors remain a mystery. Maybe you can help demystify the behavior in your vortex journey. On a vortex tour, we stop often to interpret the signs nature is giving us. On this ecotour specifically, it felt like nature was telling us to get walking and have fun! Maybe a last hurrah before the hot humid summer sets in.

Snakes on the Trail

I seem to often encounter snakes on the segment of trail between the grass vortex and the legacy trail. This one was a magnificent red color, which I later learned is a Coral Snake. Harmless, and very cool looking. Videos of the snakes are on my social channels. https://www.facebook.com/SRQvortex and https://www.facebook.com/SRQvortex and https://www.youtube.com/@srqvortex 

The funny thing is, they seem to love being models for the camera and freeze in the middle of the trail. I’m sure they are scared, just like I feel sometimes. As an ethical ecotour operator, I won’t do anything to harass wildlife like scare it off the trail. Afterall, it’s their home first. So we pause and observe them. It’s a great addition to a tour because snakes are powerful medicine for spiritual transformation. That's probably why they like to stop us on the trail and give us the opportunity to learn their wisdom. If you get frustrated by animals taking priority on trails, this vortex tour is not for you.

When your Neighbor is a Deer

On this day in early April, as I made my way to the final vortex for sunset integration at Oscar Scherer State Park, I saw one of the largest doe deer I’ve ever seen in Sarasota! I consider Oscar Scherer an ‘urban’ park because it is bordered by two major highways, US-41 and I-75, and residential development. Whereas, Myakka State Park is a rural park because it borders other parks and farmland, with residential enclaves encroaching on the edges. Me and the deer locked eyes for some time. She was standing in the low scrub watching me approach on the sandy yellow trail. When I felt her presence, I paused my movement and held the space for her to make her next move. Just like the snakes, it’s our responsibility as guests in their home to defer to their guidance and leadership.

Oscar Scherer Vortex Tour

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