Category: Silver River Tour News

Most who come to see the Silver River want to be sure to see the Gators.  Your are sure to find them soaking up the sunshine.  As with all cold blooded animals, this sunning is intrinsic to their metabolism, and is as important as food to them.

One of the unique features of a spring fed river system is the constant 72 degree water temperature.  For our cold blooded animals, it creates the exception to the rule.  This environment creates a situation where they will breed year around.

This unique eco-system is also condusive to changing migratory behaviors in some of the wildlife that visits the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers.  Once they discover the abundance of food, and the constant water temperature, they are prone to staying where life is good.  An example of this is the Wood Ducks, a migratory bird.

We saw a huge Osprey this week.  These birds are also known as Fishing Eagles.  Well, there is plenty of fish to be found on these Rivers.

Large schools of Blue Shad and  Mullet have been spotted recently.  If you are curious about those beautiful blue fish you have been seeing, they are the Blue Shad, closely related to the Gizzard Shad.

The Silver River is one of the coolest places to be on a hot summer day.  Hot is the word though, and it is best to be on the Rivers very early in the day, or after the sun starts to set.

See you on the Rivers!

When it’s hot, it’s HOT!   The Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers are always a great place to get away from the heat, but be sure to go in the early morning or late afternoon.  An early morning departure is always best, with the Rivers and the wildlife totally undisturbed.

Our guests Saturday were in all the way from Holland! It was a mid- day tour, and was it hot!  Plenty of gators about,  from 14 inches to 14 feet.  The Rhesus Monkeys were easy to spot.  Apparently the gators and the monkeys do not mind the high temperatures. 

Our guests from Holland came to us through Ann Sternal with the Visitors and Convention Bureau.  Their web site, www.ocalamarion.com, has a comprehensive listing of all the many ways to enjoy the  outdoor and cultural activities in Marion County.    From boating to museums, the information is a click away.

It is always special when you get to show off the Silver River to guests who have traveled such great distances. Mother Nature always puts on a show, and the one along the Silver River is one of her best.

We have been boating the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers here in Ocala for many years.  This week was the first time that we can recall a incident on either River in which there has been a person bitten by an alligator.  When wildlife officials arrived to capture the gator, known as Floyd, the concensus was that his behavior was indicative that he had been fed by humans.   DON’T FEED THE GATORS!  

  Gators will not typically bother us humans unless we invade their nesting areas.  I had this lesson taught to me by a gator in south Florida. We were too close to her nest, among some fronds and such along the bank, and were chased half way home.  The exception here is if they have been fed by the forementioned humans.  DON’T FEED THE GATORS!

The gators do enjoy these hot temps and can be found basking in the sun.  It has been unusually hot in Ocala for this time of year, and the early mornings or late afternoons will give you the best temperatures for being on the Rivers.  These times also work well on the weekends when there is more boat and kayak traffic down the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers.

As always, all you have to do is turn your head to see the wildlife along the way.  Make sure that you keep an eye on those shaking limbs at the tops of the trees if you want to spot the Rhesus Monkeys.  Oh, by the way,  DON’T FEED THE MONKEYS!

It is going to be a beautiful weekend on the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers.  Many of Ocala boaters will be headed to the Rivers to enjoy this three day weekend.  Try to get on the Rivers by 8:30 or 9, it is absolutely the best time, just you and the Rivers, and Mother Nature.

Lots of hatchlings… in fact, if it came out of a shell, it hatched.  Baby gators, birds, turtles, and more, with the parents hustling to keep them fed.  The baby cormorants have hatched, and they are sqwaking up a storm…”Feed me, FEED ME!”

We interrupted some alligators that were mating the other day, a 12 foot male and a 7 foot female.  More hatchlings to come!

Blue Shad and Mullet adorn the bottom of the River. The pristine waters of the Silver River give a wonderful view of all beneath it’s surface.

A word of gratitude to all that serve our country on this weekend in which we honor those who gave their lives for our freedoms and rights.  May God Bess you all, and your families for your many sacrifices.