Kayaking with Sonja

It is that time of year when Sonja and I find that we have a lot of time on our hands, no work, and no money! Our busy season coincides with WINTER up north. People come here to get out of the cold, so, it is during the winter months that we are busy! In fact, we work 6 to 7 days a week and have little time to do things that we enjoy! With no income during these slow times of the year, we have to do things that don't cost too much money and yet provide us with entertainment. We are easily bored and must keep busy.

We go to the gym almost everyday, have memberships to the zoo so it does not cost anything to get in there, we can walk the beach for free, and we have our kayaks! We can kayak in many different places close to our home on Ft. Myers Beach, and, for the most part, do it for free!

So today, we decided to go kayaking on the Estero River. This is one of our favorite kayaking rivers because it is "Old Florida", and full of turtles, oak trees with Spanish moss hanging from them, and, if we are lucky, an occasional gator or two!

I began the day's activities by heading down to load up the Jeep. We have two kayaks, which of course require seats, life vests and paddles. We have done this so many times that it usually does not take long at all to get the yaks strapped to the top, and throw in the rest of the gear. We planned to have a picnic lunch at Koreshan State Park, which is along side of the Estero River, so we had an additional piece of gear in a small collapsible cooler that would carry our water, diet cokes and lunch.

The last time I used the kayaks was for a kayak tour and when I brought the kayaks back home I neglected to take the seats off of them. The seats connect to the kayak with four buckles and give us much more comfort then paddling "bareback". In addition to comfort, the seat has two water bottle holders, and a zipper pocket for snacks, sunscreen, etc.

When I hoisted the first kayak, which had been setting out on our back patio for about 2 weeks unused, I noticed a foul smell coming from the seat but did not really pay much attention to it although the smell was one that seemed familiar and yet it did not touch off any kind of recognition on my part. So, carrying the 11 foot, 38 pound kayak over head, I placed it, seat installed, upside down on the Jeep. As I began to situate the yak on the Jeep I quickly realized that the seat was not going to be able to be left on so I reached up and began to unbuckle it from the kayak. The stench of the seat was real strong and I thought that I may have left a banana or something in there the last time I used it so once I got the seat off the kayak I planned on looking in the zipper compartment, which by the was was not zipped up. With my hands and arms still extended above my head, attempting to disconnect the buckles of the seat, suddenly something jumped out of the unzipped pocket of the seat, slithered down my shoulder and chest and as it passed by my face I realized it was a SNAKE!

Now, I am GATOR D! Gator D is not really afraid of ANYTHING, at least not so you can tell, especially if I can see it, identify it, and am able to steer clear of it! HOWEVER, this happened so fast, identification was impossible, size was also hard to judge (however it looked to be about 20 feet long at that particular moment and had 737 teeth about 10" long). So, needless to say, GATOR D almost messed up his pants! As the the snake slithered further down my leg, instinctively, I kicked out against it, just in case it was a black mamba or cobra! As I kicked, the poor snake flew through the air and landed, safely, against the side of our garage.

To be honest, my heart stopped for a moment. Yes, I was dead. Well, maybe not so you could tell, in fact if you had seen my knees shaking, and the contorted look upon my face, you may have thought I was in some kind of "electrocution mode". However, if a man's heart stops, he's dead, technically! So, here I was DEAD, but glad the snake was safely on the ground!

After I began to regain life, I sauntered over, ever so gently, to the vicious creature to survey the situation and determine if I needed to call the "venomous creature collection agency" or some other type of organization because I was most certainly sure it was gonna be out of our yard if it was as big and mean as I had envisioned in those split seconds that it almost took my life.

Upon closer inspection, I determined this creature to simply be a black snake. Yep, a common old black snake. However, it was 5 and a half feet long-- rather long for a common black snake! And, it did not have 737 teeth. I don't really know how many it did have, but as I was playing around with him, he struck at me several times and I got a good close look in his mouth, and although constrictors like this one have many teeth, this one did not seem so toothed! Oh, and by the way, they were not 10 inches long either. In fact, my guess is that they may have been about 1/32 of an inch. I don't really know, just a guess on my part!

Now for a few minutes, it seemed that both of us was eyeing each other and calming down from the previous few seconds of shock and rush of adrenaline.

In fact, I began to rethink the situation a little and try to look at it from the snakes point of view. My guess is that this snake had been very happy spending some quiet time in that seat, undisturbed for several weeks, coming and going as he pleased. My guess is that this snake, at best, weighed in at maybe 2.5 pounds. On the other hand, I weigh 180 (yeah I'm going to the gym but I am big boned and stocky!). So, here is a 5'6" snake weighing 2.5 pounds, and there is a 5'6", 180lb, big eyed human suddenly rocking his world! My guess is that the snake himself, may have messed himself! BINGO! YES, now I remember! YES NOW I REMEMBER WHY THAT SMELL WAS FAMILIAR! SNAKE SCAT! Yes, it was the smell of SNAKE SCAT! I REMEMBER NOW WHAT SNAKE SCAT SMELLS LIKE!

Oh, and by the way, as I was playing around with my new friend laughing at what I must have looked like in this situation, that smell, that familiar smell, was a little closer than I remember and as I looked down on my leg, there it was! The scat, of a snake! My friend, yes another friend of mine, had pooped on me! Go Figure!

Well, I hope you enjoy the pics and vids of our travels on the Estero River today. We had fun. I got to relax after my morning rush. So I bid you farewell and hope you are gainfully employed and happily working! Until season comes, maybe I can find more snakes to play with!

Oak Trees and Airplants! Old Florida at it's finest!

Nature is very artistic and my wife has a good eye for it!

Color on the river!

Sonja leading! AGAIN!

Always the "Model" paddler!

Lunch! 7-11 food is cheap!

"Estero River Outfitters" on the river! We bought our kayaks there 8 years ago.

This is like our "rain forest"!

Such a lovely creature!

Oh, yep, she let me lead a little this time! Don't happen much!

Well, got to run. I do have a Sunset Cruise tonight. It is the first work I have had all week. Very bored and ready to ride! GOODNIGHT AND GOD BLESS! Gator D OUT!