February, 2014
Edgar Rice Burroughs sure knew how to write an adventure story!
Born in Chicago in 1875, he led an adventurous early life as a cowboy, gold miner, railroad bull, and US Cavalryman. In his thirties he found himself full of experience but lacking in financial rewards. He determined to enter the business world, he rapidly found failure in multiple endeavors.
At the age of 35, in desperation, he tried writing stories for the pulps – cheap magazines filled with stories selected for excitement, not for quality writing. He sold a few stories – then hit the jackpot in 1912 with his invention of a noble savage, an orphaned child of British nobility raised by Great Apes in the jungle. Tarzan of the Apes was an immediate success.
The original Tarzan is a sophisticated fellow… while in the jungle he learned to speak “Great Ape” from his foster-mother, taught himself to read English from children’s books and learned to speak French with an interesting accent from a Belgian soldier. He moved to Paris and studied at the Sorbonne. The first novel ends with Tarzan traveling to America to reveal to Jane that he is actually Lord Greystoke and, finding her engaged to his cousin, rescues them from a forest fire in Wisconsin… then does a Beau Geste, pretending to be a nobody, so Jane can save her father from bankruptcy by marrying the cousin who has inherited the Greystoke title and fortunes.
One might think Burroughs would be upset when people loved the first silent movies that portrayed Tarzan as a noble-but-simple jungle man. Actually, it didn't matter too much to him. Burroughs had a bellyful of being poor, so he marketed Tarzan in every way possible.
And in fact, Burroughs wasn’t too concerned about accuracy. For example, Tarzan has a relationship with a tiger in the first book. He didn’t know that there were no tigers in Africa. He later changed the character to a panther. Nobody seemed to care. America was in love with the guy swinging through the jungle on vines. Burroughs wrote over 20 Tarzan "novels" - often serialized in magazines first - and more than 100 books. He used some of the first real money from the Ape Man franchise to buy a large ranch in California which eventually became the town of Tarzana... Burroughs burial place.
Which brings the Idiots to Wakula Springs in northern Florida. When Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmueller was picked to portray Tarzan, voicing that often-imitated cry as he swung on vines from tree to tree – there was no way the movie company was going to fly to Africa to film. They turned to one of America’s most exotic ecosystems – Florida’s big cypress swamp.
Wakula Springs pumps immense amounts of fresh water from deep in the limestone bedrock. Amounts up to an astonishing 1.2 million gallons of water per day have been recorded. It is one of Florida’s deepest springs – divers have explored it down to 350 feet. The emerging water varies in clarity – some years boaters can see a mastodon skeleton in the depths.
The spring feeds a river and the environment around it supports a diverse, dense forest including ancient cypress trees. The forest, in turn, supports abundant wildlife. Many films used Wakula as a setting. After Tarzan, probably the best known is a favorite from the Idiots’ childhood years – The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Today, Wakula is a pretty tame state park. Concessionaires run the old lodge where nostalgic visitors can get a taste of 1930s luxury. There are also boat rides that provide access to wildlife viewing along the river.
Though the swamp supports a variety of trees and shrubs, the cypress trees dominate the landscape. Often covered in Spanish Moss, the cypress develop a fascinating root system. The roots emerge around the trunk of the tree, forming “knees” that buttress the tree in its watery location and allow for additional oxygen absorption when much of the root system is under water.
The clear spring water and plant life provide the photographer with endless interplay of color, shape, and pattern.
The Wakula River is excellent habitat for alligators of all sizes… excited cries of “look – an alligator” rapidly fade into “there’s another one…” as the prehistoric-looking reptiles appear around each bend, sunning themselves.
Great birding along the river…
Egrets and Ibis…
Moorhen and Merganser
Little Blue Heron…
The Anhinga looks a lot like a cormorant, but has distinct white markings on its wings. Both birds provide “poses” for photographers as they dry their wings…
There are lots of Turkey Vultures in Florida, but the Black Vulture dominates along the Wakula…
Somewhere there is probably a scientific study explaining how turtles decide who gets to sit where as they sun themselves on logs…
As much as they enjoyed all the other wildlife, the Idiots were most excited about their first opportunity to see manatees in the wild. The first view was through the life preserver of the good ship “Alligator”. It is difficult to photograph these gentle “sea cows”… they swim, grazing, consuming large quantities of foliage every day. Every once in a while they stick up their snout for some air, but then they are back in the brown, tannin-filled water, moving on. A careful observer will be able to pick out the eye of a baby swimming with its mother.
It is easy to get lost in all the color and life in the cypress swamp. Now and then it is a good idea to switch to black and white to truly appreciate the interplay of shape and texture…
