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Endangered Animals of Florida Series: Shinyrayed P LbNA #50601

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Sep 23, 2009
Location:
City:Sopchoppy
County:Wakulla
State:Florida
Boxes:2
Planted by:Moo Poo
Found by: RIFamily
Last found:Feb 26, 2017
Status:FFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Sep 23, 2009
ENDANGERED ANIMALS OF FLORIDA SERIES: SHINYRAYED POCKETBOOK and OCHLOCKONEE MOCCASINSHELL Letterbox

Created by: Moo Poo
Placed by: The Real Truth and Alekinda
Difficulty: Easy
Stamp: Hand-carved
Fee: $4 per vehicle (up to 8 people). You may have to use honor box to pay fees; $2 pedestrians, bicyclists
Note: Bring a camera! This place is absolutely beautiful! There was a good amount of wildlife- lots of deer and many albino squirrels. I bet if you stayed here a while, you are pretty likely to see some other wildlife. While driving in the area, we saw a bobcat, and what appeared to be a bear! Their campground is really nice. They play classical music inside the restroom!

Directions:
Ochlockonee River State Park (Hours: 8 am – Sunset)
429 State Park Rd, Sopchoppy, FL
From Interstate 10 east-bound, take Exit 196 for Capital Circle/ FL-263. Turn Right onto Capital Circle NW/ FL-263 and go 9.8 miles. Turn Right toward Crawfordville Rd/ FL-369/ FL-61/ US-319 and then take an immediate Right at Crawfordville Rd/ FL-369/ FL-61/ US-319. Drive on this road for a little over 20 miles. Turn Right at Coastal Hwy/ FL-30/ US-319/ US-98 and drive for 1.5 miles. Take a Slight Right at FL-377/ Sopchoppy Hwy/ US-319 and drive on this road for 10.8 miles. Turn Left at State Park Rd and drive for 1.2 miles. Ochlockonee River State Park will be on your Right.
From Interstate 10 west-bound, take Exit 209A to merge onto FL-10/ Mahan Dr/ US-90 toward Tallahassee. Drive on this road for 4.9 miles and then turn Left at Capital Circle NE/ US-319 S. Drive for 9.2 miles and then turn Left at Crawfordville Rd/ FL-369/ FL-61/ US-319 and follow it for 20.3 miles. Turn Right at Coastal Hwy/ FL-30/ US-319/ US-98 and drive for 1.5 miles. Take a Slight Right at FL-377/ Sopchoppy Hwy/ US-319 and drive on this road for 10.8 miles. Turn Left at State Park Rd and drive for 1.2 miles. Ochlockonee River State Park will be on your Right.

Clues:
1) Go to the parking lot at the Scenic Point/Tide Creek Picnic Shelter.
2) Walk along the sidewalk to the restrooms. When you reach the doors to the restroom, turn left.
3) The nearest pine tree is at the edge of the palmetto stand, and the black duct-tapped pouch is behind this pine.

Shinyrayed Pocketbook (Lampsilis subangulata)
The shinyrayed pocketbook is a medium-sized mussel that reaches approximately 3.3 inches in length. This species historically occurred in mainstems and tributaries throughout the ACF, Chipola, and Ochlockonee River systems. A 1940 study found this species to be generally rare but locally abundant. It now occurs at only 21% of the historical sites sampled, and is extirpated from the mainstems of the ACF rivers. Impoundments have permanently altered significant portions of the ACF system. The lower portions of many tributaries were permanently flooded because of these reservoirs.
The shinrayed pocketbook historically occurred in the ACF Basin and Ochlockonee River systems. This mussel continues to occur at scattered localities in tributary streams of the ACF Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system) and in the Ochlockonee River system, having apparently been extirpated from the primary main stems in the ACF Basin except for the Flint River.

4) When finished stamping in, please be sure to seal all bags completely. Be sure to put the baggie for the logbook and the baggie for the stamp in a 2nd bag, and then place back into the duct-taped bag.
5) Please re-hide the bag better than how you found it.
6) Go to the parking lot at the Scenic Point/Tide Creek Picnic Shelter. Near the historical marker about the park, there is a large pine tree with an oak forked around it.
7) From this pine, at the edge of this stand, walk 12 paces toward the Dead River.
8) You should find a fairly large oak on your left. There is a black duct-taped pouch behind this tree, concealed by a burnt log.

Ochlockonee Moccasinshell (Medionidus simpsonianus)
Adult Ochlockonee moccasinshells are sedentary as adults. They siphon streamwater and filter phytoplankton and organic detritus as food. The eggs hatch into larvae that are parasitic on fish. The larvae later metamorphose into sedentary adults. The Ochlockonee moccasinshell inhabits stable sandy and gravelly substrates in medium-sized streams to large rivers, often in areas swept free of silt by the current.
Talquin Reservoir flooded about 12% of the river-ine habitat in the middle portion of the Ochlokonee river and the lower end of its largest tributary (the Little River). Preimpoundment records exist for the Ochlockonee moccasinshell at the upstream end of Talquin Reservoir, now absent downstream of the dam. This indicates that potential host fish movements may have been blocked.
The Ochlockonee moccasinshell is a critically endangered species, with only three specimens being observed since 1974 in spite of a significant search effort. The most pressing conservation need of this rare mollusk is the protection of its surviving areas of critical habitat from impoundment. The habitat must also be protected from other damages, such as pollution.

9) When finished stamping in, please be sure to seal all bags completely. Be sure to put the baggie for the logbook and the baggie for the stamp in a 2nd bag, and then place back into the duct-taped bag.
10) Please re-hide the bag better than how you found it.
11) Please log your find in to either AtlasQuest.com or Letterboxing.org