A Walk Through The Swamp

I live near the Congaree Swamp National Park. It's fun to hike on the trails and take pictures.

The swamp isn't covered with water. How wet it is depends on how recently it rained.

There are high spots and low spots and the highest places are always dry while the lowest places are always wet. In between gets periodically saturated.

The only trees that can tolerate being wet so much are tupelo and cypress. They have wide, flared out bases to help them grip the wet soil.

Cypress trees often have lots of "knees" growing from their roots. No one knows why.

The largest mammals in the swamp are deer, wild pig, bobcat, possum, squirrel, and racoon.

There are lots of smaller critters, like snails...

and giant millipedes that crawl everywhere.

I like the butterflies.

Wherever a fallen tree makes a break in the canopy to create a sunny spot...

...sun-loving plants spring up and insects congregate there.

I think this black-and-white butterfly is the most beautiful of them all.

And there are lizards.
The American Chameleon is very common and can change its skin color from green to tan to grey.

This striped lizard has a bright blue tail when it is young but the color fades as it ages.

This spider is more colorful than most (and big!)

Danger in the swamp! The water moccasin. You know the word: he won't bother you if you don't bother him.

Is there a fungus among us? You bet!

And they are easy to photograph. They stand still!

That's why I take so many pics of them.

I hope you enjoyed your walk through Congaree National Park.

Y'all come back now!