I was doing some spontaneous exploring locally today on my way back from a certain nearby coffee shop and decided to stop in at Glenwood Park in Cinco Bayou. It’s a small neighborhood park tucked discreetly out of the way unless you know where to find it. It has a small parking lot near the trailhead and a boardwalk that allows visitors to take a stroll alongside a small creek and seasonal wetlands.
GlenWood Park
My initial impressions of taking a walk through a quaint nature setting were offset by the amount of trash I saw strewn everywhere; discarded soda bottles, plastic bags and potato chip bags were disturbingly abundant. I tried to focus on the numerous birds flitting through the trees and how they seemed to drown out the sound of traffic from nearby roadways. Minnows darted hither and yon in the creek and as I got to the end of the boardwalk I was rewarded with one of those rare moments in nature.
Boardwalk at Glenwood Park, Cinco Bayou, FL
Just at the end of the boardwalk was a mother raccoon with a very young baby. It squeaked and snuffled and peered at its surroundings with much curiosity. I pulled out my phone as quietly as I could and started taking pictures. Mother raccoon saw me and moved several feet backwards into the brush as if to flee, but the baby waddled closer as if trying to see me better. I talked softly to it and was rewarded with a couple of good photos of it.
Mother raccoon retrieving her youngster
A couple of minutes into our encounter the baby started to get nervous and cried out for its mother. She crept back and picked him up by the scruff of the neck and gave me a cautious stare. Then, almost as if the little one was saying “bye” he stuck up a paw. Mother scooted off several more feet and tucked the baby into a pile of brush and kept a steady eye on me. It was then that a second baby raccoon started mewling, surprising me because I hadn’t known it was there.
Baby raccoon waving bye
Mother strolled back, taking a different route through more undergrowth and gathered the second baby up to deposit it with the first. I quietly withdrew, thanking the three for letting me witness a tiny bit of their day, and made my way back to the parking lot. I sacrificed a bit of blood to a few mosquitoes but I figure it was a small price to pay for such a wonderful moment.
Glenwood Park is located on Opp Blvd off of Yacht Club Dr in Cinco Bayou, Fl. Park hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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That is one thing I’ve noticed about northwest FL since moving here… I’ve never before seen so much trash in public parks and on the beaches. I’ve lived in other cities that host monthly volunteer cleanups. Maybe it’s time for us to get that going here?
I agree that trash is a big problem. Sure, they have an Earth Day clean-up event at the beaches… once a year… but I don’t see anyone out trying to keep the local parks nice. And because the parks with the most trash seem to be the ones that the locals flock to, I don’t think it’s fair to blame it on the tourists. Even when I’m out kayaking I’ll see trash floating in the water or lying on the bottom of a river or creek bed. There is a powerful need for a community clean-up, and not only that, people need to remember the golden rule of living with nature… pack out what you take in.