With all the modern improvements in roads and infrastructure, the Big Thicket
has become more of an attitude and state of mind than a specific location. In the 1800s eastern Texas along the Louisiana border was an impenetrable wilderness and the last refuge for criminals, escaped slaves, and scoundrels of all varieties. It also bred a strong, independent, self reliant people who feel too much of that book larnin' interferes with actually making a living. After Hurricane Rita in 2005 they basically told FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) to manage themselves back to Washington. One waitress explained she had 17 trees down with 11 on the house and her family had just got her moved back in all by themselves thank you very much.
Based out of Martin Dies Jr. SP covered on another page, we explored a small part of the 40 plus miles of trails maintained by the National Park Service as the Big Thicket National Preserve. The total extent of the Big Thicket ecosystem either historically or currently remains hotly debated in academic circles so here I'll just get on with showing some of the things we saw and not worry about that book larnin'.
While we were camping, Lori kept trying to rescue all the caterpillars falling out of the trees. I kept trying to explain that they are bird food as shown here with one enjoying a light snack. I don't really know my birds but the Big Thicket area is in the middle of the North American Central Flyway and a lot of birds were just passing through here in the Spring.
The open areas of the Big Thicket allow wild flowers to thrive. More unusual is a vine wrapped so tight it is starting to distort the tree. Then there is the National Geographic moment of only the vine remaining after the tree died and rotted away. We sort of expect this in a jungle, and in many respects that is the Big Thicket
And with the wild flowers it is natural to expect the butterflies to be close.
With the wet boggy conditions the soil tends to be nutrient poor and many of these areas are covered with the carnivorous pitcher plants that attract insects they can capture and digest. Here is a rather unusual case of a wasp crawling around the lip of the cup apparently blissfully unaware of the danger but never slipping inside to be captured. The pitcher plant lost a meal, but I am not sure what the wasp got out of the deal. In the reports I've seen the wasp always lost but this guy crawled all the way inside with only one leg on the edge and then crawled out again. Maybe he was using the plant to attract his meal.
In any sunny location we could find a variety of small lizards, skinks, geckos, or whatever you want to call them. Never claimed to be a reptile expert but I figured out they ain't snakes. These tend to change colors to match their environment and the one guy was puffing out his neck and making sounds to attract a mate.
Apparently magnolias are ancient plants that developed flowers before bees evolved as pollinators. Some authorities suspect beetles filled this role causing them to develop robust leaves and petals. They also seem to be covered in ants which attract these little lizards so I'm not sure who fills what role.
At least I got these guys figured out. The little lizard fellow is called a skink. Unlike the true lizards they do not have a pronounced neck and their short legs are more suited to burrowing rather than running. The big guy is a toad, not a frog, and spends most of his life away from the water hunting bugs of course.
And there are certainly a whole lot of bugs to hunt.
And everywhere we went we found Lori's ever present caterpillars (bird food). We also saw a wide variety of shelf fungus and I now understand some are even good to eat. Don't think I mentioned the mushroom complaining when he was not admitted to the bar What's the matter, I'm a fun guy.
And here I'll just wrap things up with a variety of flowers.
