Logo
Prev
Bookmark
Rotate
Print
Next
Contents
All Pages
Related Articles
Browse Issues
Help
Search
Home
'
National Geographic : 1934 May
Contents
THE OKEFINOKEE WILDERNESS S* *.* i LIKE A WHISTLING TOY BALLOON, THE SOUTHERN TOAD ROARS LUSTILY No place for a person who demands quiet puddles in the cultivated fields. This little fellow to his size. When one considers that the lake is barely a quarter of a mile long, with an average width of perhaps 30 yards, a year's catch of more than 40,000 fish (recorded in 1925) is astounding. Such a catch, repeated year after year, seems possible only through con stant replenishment from the wide-spread waters of the swamp. HOOK-AND-LINE FISHERMEN IN LUCK Men, women, and children, mostly from near-by farms and towns, flock to the lake with homely tackle. A "fish fry," topped off with a feast of watermelon, is one of the principal enjoyments of life for these Georgia country folk. Farther within the swamp, at Billys, Minnes, and Buzzard Roost Lakes, or on the Big Water or the Suwannee Canal, there is likewise rare fishing. The bulk of a day's catch with hook and line is made up of such basses as the warmouth, the "stump knocker," and the "sand-flirter," with a goodly proportion of mudfish and catfish. Those who elect trolling are more apt to land jackfish and large-mouthed bass (here called "trout"). Of the latter I have seen for sleep is Chesser Island after rain has left made a noise at 10 p. m . out of all proportion a 12-pound specimen. Now and then a jackfish will make a startling leap into one's boat, especially if a light is carried in it at night. The Okefinokee shelters one of the tiniest fishes in the world-the rain-water fish, Leptolucania ommata. At full size it is close to an inch in length and very slender. It was formerly known only in Florida and was considered rare there; but it exists in untold thousands in the coffee-colored waters of the Okefinokee. With it are found a number of other dainty species that would grace any aqua rium: the pygmy sunfish; the black-banded sunfish, formerly known no farther south than North Carolina; the spotted sunfish, the green killy, and the star-headed min now. Some of the smaller species are par ticularly common in the shallow waters of the prairies and in the numerous cypress ponds on islands and mainland. The great State of Texas can boast of 30 species of frogs and toads; the Okefino kee region, with one-two-hundredths the area of Texas, has 20. With varied habi tats to suit the requirements of different 605
Links
Archive
1934 Jun
1934 Apr
Navigation
Previous Page
Next Page
