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The Daily Bucket: Crossing The River Styx [1]
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Date: 2025-06-12
I have crossed the River Styx many times and even canoed down it. However I never saw a boatman. The tannin stained swamp water that flows south into Orange Lake certainly has given this part of Florida a unique atmosphere, or spirit of place. Unfortunately all is not well at Orange Lake (See: www.goldenimages-photo-scuba.com/...), but when I was living in Florida, all the lakes were full and the River Styx flowed without a break, carrying its tea-colored water into the lake.
Orange Lake was a lifeline to the inhabitants of Cross Creek when Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (See: en.wikipedia.org/...), the author of The Yearling, South Moon Under and Cross Creek, lived there. Catfishing was their livelihood and they set numerous trap lines and caught catfish by the hundreds every year. See:
The whole area from Cross Creek, Orange Lake, Lake Lochloosa, and the River Styx intrigued me and I was happy for every opportunity to visit the area. The swamp around the river was swarming with life from Longnose Gar, Bowfins, Amphiuma, Cottonmouths, Alligators, dozens of species of spiders, carrion beetles, and numerous dragonflies and damselflies. A nearby area of Saw Palmetto had the largest population of Ogre-faced Spiders (Deinopis spinosa) that I ever encountered. The spiders hunt by spinning a net that is held by their front legs and cast at perceived prey. They are nocturnal and they hang out under Saw Palmetto fronds during the day. I was thus able to find many of these unusual spiders in a short time.
After I sort of learned to paddle a canoe at Ichetucknee Spring (See:www.dailykos.com/... ) I was sent a couple of times to canoe down the River Styx with another assistant or grad student to sample insects associated with Water Hyacinth. One time, with a grad student, our canoe was passed under by a relatively small Alligator, but one big enough to tip the canoe. Another time with a female assistant in a bikini (this is Florida! I once ran into a woman in a bikini coming out of a photo shop in downtown Gainesville!) I had to contend the fact that, while my companion was attractive, she was also allergic to bee and wasp sting and refused to carry her kit with her. If she had been stung by any of the wasps flying over the river I would never be able to get her to a hospital in time to keep her from anaphylactic shock and likely death!
A friend and I tried fishing in the River Styx once, but found the log we wanted to use occupied by an adult Cottonmouth. I would have given up at that point but my companion chased the snake off the log. The surprised Cottonmouth could only gap at us as it swam around the log. Needless to say we had no luck, but if we had it would have likely been a Bowfin, a primitive bony fish that is not a prize catch, but can be eaten if prepared properly
Some people were obviously more successful than we were, but still left the fish to rot on the bank. It was there I made the acquaintance of the American Carrion Beetle (Necrophila americana) and several other silphid beetles. The River Styx was a paradise for a biologist!
Aside from this, being on the River Styx was almost hypnotic. The tannin stained tea-colored water flowing, the slight buzz of dragonflies and wasps, the lazy feeling of a warm Florida afternoon all led to a sort of lazy stuper. Looking down into the water from the bridge I could often slowly become aware that a Longnose Gar was within my sight, its body blending almost perfectly with the brown water! I was in love with the Florida backcountry and at that time I would have given anything to get a job at one of the universities, small colleges or research stations and spend the rest of my life researching the biota of this unique peninsula. This was reinforced by my becoming involved with a Gainesville born grad student and the resulting wedding in a cypress swamp. However, a life in Florida was not to be. Instead I wound up back in the Southwest deserts where I grew up, and considering the political and environmental mess Florida is these days, that was a good thing! I did go back to Florida for a while to work on a second postdoc with Willard Whitcomb, but the Borderlands eventually claimed me and I well loved the desert as I had the swamps. From catfish fries, with hush puppies and coleslaw, plus boiled peanuts and fried mullet, I rediscovered chile, refried beans, enchiladas and tortillas!
The River Styx on its way to Orange Lake, Florida.
Despite all, I still find Florida fascinating from a biological point of view and I returned there several years ago. I asked our host, my former major professor, to take my older daughter and me to Cross Creek for a meal at the locally famous restaurant, The Yearling. While this time Cooter (freshwater turtle) was no longer on the menu, the place was pretty much the same. Of course to get to Cross Creek we had to pass over the River Styx, as I had, many times before.
Still no boatman!
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