Last Tuesday, we went on an excursion to Merritt Island with the G's. The purpose was to take a field trip for biology class that Caleb and I were doing together this year with my Mom teaching (Thank You Mom!!!) and we were trying to see a variety of reptiles, birds, and mammals. I enjoyed every moment that I got to spend with my friends and family!



After crossing the bridge that takes you to Merritt Island, we visited the refuge's visitor center and took the boardwalk trail which leads you over two of the small ponds that they have there. We also noticed that they had some pretty big largemouth bass, but unfortunately you can't fish in the ponds so there was a bit of grumbling from me and Caleb. No we didn't say anything bad, just somthing that went like this "Dude, that fish was huge" (Me after sighting the largemouth Bass) "I Know" (Caleb, who saw the fish as well) "I wish they would at least let you buy a special permit so we could fish in here" (Me), some indistinct chatter, then "Uhhhhhhhh!" (Caleb, really wanting to fish in the pond), "Oh man, I really want to fish in there!" (Me, really wishing that we could go fishing in the pond). Well, that was only the gist of the conversation. There was more grunts and wishing to go fishing not only in the ponds, but in other places.



This is the first pond that you would see coming out of the building, and it was quite weedy, but
we enjoyed watching the turtles and fish swim in their natural habitats, and seeing birds, and butterflies.

Caleb and Jacob and I have been friends since we were like.... well I don't really remember. A long time anyway! And we continue to be good friends and I really enjoyed having them come along (Thanks Guys!).

We also went on a hike that was about a mile long so it wasn't too much for anyone (Especially for us big guys!), and we found an area that had apparently dried up recently so it was still muddy and the mud was cracking and opening up all over. But it still had water in certain places.

We found tracks in the mud - some were dogs and some were something smaller like a cat. And we also found gator tracks leading to the water, and they were huge!

For some reason unknown (maybe from being in the sun too long?) I kept offering everyone horseshoe crab souvenirs (dead of course) and when they rejected it, I would set it down and carry on. In the picture above, I was offering one to Hannah while she was walking in the mud, as you can see, I am standing right were most people would call it dry (the lighter color mud) and beyond that, well lets just say it wasn't pretty.

Oh and by the way, on that hike we ran into the endangered Scrub Jay! And we were able to get really close to them because we think that somone had fed them food, so they weren't really scared of us. But still it was pretty neat to see them that close, and one even landed on Mr. Gs head!

Then when we were done with the that we went and did one of my favorites, what else, FISHING!!! And boy did we have results!! Caleb caught several small fish and I caught two bigger fish! And we all had fun, it had been decided earlier that Me, Caleb and our Dads would go in the boats, while the rest went swimming at the beach. Now I like the beach, but personally, I find the lagoon funner to fish.

This is one of the fish that Caleb caught, sure they were small, but he had a good time, and the best kind of fisherman is one who can have a good time whether he has good results or not!



This is the Crevalle Jack that I caught, after I found a calm spot. Earlier I caught a stingray but the camera man was nowhere around, so I don't have a picture (I'm working on a plan so that doesn't happen any more). It was really windy so it was hard to find calm water where we could control the kayaks. And I did some searching and found an area that was surrounded by mangroves and they blocked the wind making it an ease to fish from the kayak, and I got results!



We also saw an alligator in one of the impoundments along the road, and we saw a boar in the woods, I guess we saw all that we needed to see for biology, birds, reptiles, and mammals. And if you haven't been to Merritt Island, then you really should see it there! And if you don't want to go alone, well no problem, just call the Rigelzoo and ask us to take you! And you are guaranteed to have fun because something exciting always happens when we go there - one time we saw four Bald Eagles flying together while birding, and another time we were in the lagoon and a manetee came and nibbled on Hannah's foot, and also while in the lagoon there were a few Dolphin swimming right beside us while we were in the kayaks and canoes in about three or four feet of water, and this time we saw more than six endangered Scrub Jays!! So if you want to hear more just ask us and we will be glad to tell you about Merritt Island!! Or maybe someone will post some more on the blog.

Special post by the Z-Man

(Zach)