Deep In the Woods

When we moved here, friends said good-bye and wished us well in our new life at the beach. We would be living just a mile from one of the most beautiful beaches in Florida, after all. But in the Panhandle, you’re really living in the woods. Communities are surrounded by acres and acres of woods that have yet to be developed, and by lots of forest preserves that will hopefully remain in a natural state.

Thus, the bears. And thus, coyotes and rumors of mountain lions and lots of snakes and eagles and bugs that bite, hard. Pine trees stretch for miles, and the forest floor is covered in palmettos. These forests are managed by local agencies that conduct controlled burns now and then to prevent wildfires, and mulch for landscaping is generally dried pine needles that come in bales.

A little story about how these forests might not always be benevolent: a few weeks ago, two people stole a car in Tennessee and drove it to the Panhandle. As the result of a police pursuit on the highway, the car crashed into the edge of the woods, and the thieves foolishly climbed out and ran into the woods. Inexplicably, they weren’t wearing shoes. 

Sheriff’s deputies were on hand with bloodhounds who sniffed out the woman involved, and she was quickly arrested. The man, on the other hand, after ditching his weapon, ran deeper into the woods to hide. I assume he didn’t know where he was exactly or what he was getting himself into, but the forest he chose to hide in was soon surrounded by deputies with dogs to wait him out.

Locals made lots of jokes about how he would manage in there with the bears and the snakes and particularly with yellow flies. They’re big flies that bite and leave welts, and they can be a real plague certain times of year.

After five days, the car thief gave up, and bitten up, dehydrated, and malnourished, he walked out of the woods to walk along the highway, basically asking to be rescued. Don’t mess with the forest. It is not your sanctuary.

So, to the question of “what’s it like to live here?” I point out that the beach is beautiful, but here in the Panhandle, it’s really just the hem of a very large forest, so expect all that comes with living in the woods.

#Panhandle #EmeraldCoast #30A