Hiking is one of my very favorite ways to spend my leisure time. Between the Ocala National Forest, the Seminole State Forest, several State parks, an abundance of wildlife management areas, and a beautiful variety of local parks, I am fairly certain I could spend every weekend in the woods and still not discover all that Central Florida has to offer.
My Australian Shepherd, Annabelle, is my trusty hiking partner and provides equal parts entertainment and companionship on these weekend adventures. A couple of weeks ago Annabelle and I were exploring a wildlife management area near the St. Johns River when we had a close encounter of the slithery kind. I, being a somewhat oblivious human, would have had a far closer encounter had it not been for Annabelle’s barking, which alerted me to the presence of a well-camouflaged Pygmy Rattlesnake.