Cattle, Citrus, Nature ... and Tourism
Story & Photos by: Larry Levey - News-Sun May 9, 2001 - Explorer Page Coordinator

Lake Placid - Manning the wheel of the custom ranch buggy, Silver Harbor Lodge co-owner Ray Royce starts off the tour by talking about the pair of young eagles on the property. "They had built a nest within 500 feet of the sporting clays course this spring, almost on the edge of the shotfall area - and that's where they're raising their chick. They're basically oblivious to what's going on.

"We were concerned that a hunting and shooting operation would disrupt the nesting habits of the eagles, so we had to have a survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department. they said, 'No problem - it won't have an impact.' And they were right."

As the buggy heads out to the cattle pastures and citrus groves, it stops off at that eagle's nest, starring a 2-month-old baby eagle. "The adults will leave the nest as we get close," explains Royce, "and if we don't leave in three or four minutes, they'll start to chirp at us."

Moving on to the pasture land, Royce says Florida is one of the top producers of cattle east of the Mississippi, with Highlands County ranking first or second in the production of beef cattle in the state. Riding by fenced-in pastures housing cattle of varying colors and sizes, passengers learn these "feeder calves" are raised to 300 or 400 pounds and to an age of six or seven months.

Then begins a journey west, with a first stop in Louisana or Texas or Mississippi, where they graze on a "highly nutritional plain of grass or hay or an old rice field or old wheat field." Next stop: a feed lot in another part of Texas, Colorado, Iowa or Nebraska.

"It's cheaper to take cattle to the feed than to bring feed to the cattle," he says. "So the steak you get at the Outback or Winn-Dixie or Publix, chances are good that calf was born within 100 miles of here. If you get something that says 'Black Angus Nebraska Beef,' it could have been born in Okeechobee or Sebring."

Royce describes the nuts-and-bolts of raising cattle, with some ranchers providing intensive supplemental nutrition and others, less intensive. But all need to maintain a good herd health program, with regular vaccinations and treatment for internal and external parasites.

Mixed in among these feeder cattle is a brood cow herd. "That cow's job in life is to produce a calf, hopefully, every single year."

At Silver Harbor Lodge, cows are impregnated naturally, with a bull for every 20 or 30 cows. Some ranches, says Royce, use artificial insemination. "This can probably improve the genetics of your herd - but this is more labor-and-cost-intensive."

On a ranch tour, visitors may spot a flock of wild turkeys, gopher tortoises, wild hogs and maybe even a Sherman's fox squirrel - also called a "monkey-faced squirrel" - once hunted to near extinction. And along with those eagles, osprey and crested caracaras and other varieties of birds are apt to fly into view.

The tour also includes driving along the shore of Lake Istokpoga to see firsthand some of the restoration currently under way. And you'll stop off at the lodge - rustic but with modern conveniences - and it's rentable. "It's usually booked every weekend from October to the first weekend in May."

Moving on to the citrus groves, visitors may see workers trimming the trees of dead limbs, with Royce pointing out the effects of this past winter's freezes. And the type of soil makes a difference in cold weather. "The white sandy soil does not retain heat as the heavier soil does. So there can be a four-or-five-degree difference in the same grove, depending on the soil, and this can make a difference in frost damage."

Tucked in between the groves is an elevated piece of land - "an 1800-year-old Indian burial ground" that has been excavated, in part, by archaeologists, with some of the finds, like pendants and pottery, sent on to the University of Florida.

On the way back to the office, Royce stops off at a scrub habitat. Within seconds, a Florida scrub jay lands on his hand and is promptly rewarded with a peanut. It flies off to bury the nut and returns for more, accompanied by friends and family.

At Silver Harbor Lodge, the main recreation consists of sporting clays (a clay-target course simulating a hunting environment) and quail hunting. Normally, says Royce, people come out for a day of sporting clays or hunting and a cookout and while there, they'll go on a ranch tour and airboat ride. "My brother, Steve, knows where all the alligators are. But if six-to-10 people want just a ranch tour, that can be arranged. A full ride to see everything takes about two hours or so, but if you only want an hour, we can do that. And most people want both time on the airboat and time on the buggy."

For more information, call Silver Harbor Lodge at 863-699-0035.