"Wow! Look at that old place."

"I'll be darned. That's a pump house, Jake. It's been a while since I last saw one of these."

I pulled the car onto the shoulder and we piled out to take a better look. Fond memories came flooding back. Pump houses, you see, were the rat snake meccas of a formative and much enjoyed yesteryear.



Occasional cars and trucks traveled Route US27 south from Clewiston, Florida to Miami. Then a two lane thoroughfare, US27 was lined for miles along the east shoulder and to a somewhat lesser extent along the west shoulder with Australian pines, willows and some Brazilian pepper.

Sod fields and sugar cane were just coming into their own and these crops were irrigated by immense gasoline pumps that were protected from the elements by roofing tin and 2x4 or cinderblock structures termed pump houses. And to these structures, seeking shelter, came the rat patrols of the crops, the Everglades rat snakes, the corn snakes, the peninsula and scarlet kingsnakes and the occasional barn owls. And, of course, to the pump houses and snakes came the seekers of snakes, both hobbyist and commercial. This seemingly normal progression of events continued for years, but eventually all things changed - modernized, if you will.

Route US27 is a now huge four to six lane road with traffic streaming steadily in both directions. In the widening (and return to native species) process, 95% of the Australian pines have been removed. Sod and cane fields have expanded exponentially, redesigning much of the south-central Florida land corridor.

Irrigation techniques have modernized and pump houses - the snake meccas - are no longer needed. Those that stood and acted as snake refuges for decades have, often with the help of careless snake hunters, toppled or disintegrated. They have become things of the past, merely memories to the elder snake seekers and totally unknown entities to the newer herpers.

It was little wonder that I was surprised to find this pump house still standing and in relatively good shape. Neither it nor the several others we found that afternoon contained snakes, but being as modernized as the surroundings they contained herpetological newcomers: Cuban treefrogs and African agamas. We were, however, saddened to find a fresh DOR corn snake on the road in front of one.

In those "old days" when traffic was light and when you could look westward from Route US27 and see waving sawgrass rather than waving sugarcane, when there were more snakes and far more snake habitat both natural and artificial, the many pump houses reigned supreme.

More photos below...