Take a Ride on the Wild Side
Five years ago, Matherne began hunting, frogging and fishing alligators to supplement his income.
Matherne bought his first airboat as a new toy. When he decided to get another larger one, he had to come up with a way to pay for it. Consequently, he began his new business Airboat Tours two years ago. Now a U.S.C.G. licensed captain, Matherne enjoys describing the airboat and his trip to the dealership in Cocoa, Florida. "After he took me for a ride, I told the dealer, 'you're gonna have to show me more than this,'" Matherne said. "In Florida, they always have two or three feet of water. There are no other marshes like this one we have here."
After hearing the praises of the Teflon-coated underbelly and 425+ horsepower motor that will enable us to go 70 miles per hour, Matherne, my friend Frank and I don ear protectors and take off.
"Some people come out for the thrill of the ride, not just to see marsh, Matherne says as the boat skims the top of the marsh grass, dragonflies skipping off my head and chest.
It's just before sunset, and as the light plays around the edges of a cluster of clouds, I admire the moss-strewn cypress and inhale deeply the scents of the marsh. I'm inspired again by the beauty of Louisiana. My mouth would be agape, but certain insects at that speed would surely cause asphyxiation.
The release form we signed said to gesture to Matherne when we want to ask Matherne a question or to stop. However, he periodically shouts little tidbits of information above the roar of the motor, caught up in the thrill of the ride or perhaps just the boisterous sound of his own voice.
Our first stop is rather sudden, when Matherne spies an alligator a year or two old. He kills the engine and leaps from the boat in rubber boots, bounding after the creature.
Before climbing back in the boat with the alligator in tow, he has begun his litany of facts about alligators, their habits and an angry nine-foot female he saw the other day. After instructing Frank in the proper holding technique, Matherne taps the gator to elicit a bark.
While Frank and I take turns holding and touching this marvel, Matherne explains the difference between wild and farm-raised gators, alligator trappers and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries regulations.
With the gator set back in its habitat, we take off again -- Matherne promising to show us a huge nest he spied the other day.
He stops a couple of more times, once to point out some flora and then again to talk about the boat. "In the morning it takes half the effort to run because of the dew on the grass," he says. "After the sun beats down on the grass all day, it makes a lot of sap. The bottom of the boat gets sticky and it takes more power to go in the evening."
At the alligator nest, Matherne warns us to keep an eye out for the mother while he shows us the eggs. As he carefully replaces an egg, he tells about habits of a mother with her eggs, how many of these eggs he sells each year to hatcheries which in turn sell them to farms, which eventually release 17 to 27 percent back in the wild. This of course, leads to a description of an alligator's natural enemies, federal regulations, and amount of rainfall this year and more.
As Matherne so casually imparts volumes of information, it is increasingly apparent how he has found his niche as a tour guide. He is naturally garrulous, with a colorful story to highlight every fact, and his knowledge of the marsh is almost second nature.
"I guarantee you no other tour will take you this deep in the woods," Matherne says proudly. "You can tell people to come and take a ride on the wild side with a wild captain and some wildlife. This is more of an adventure ride than a tour."
He talks about the wildlife we may see: coons, rabbits, otters, minks, nutria, swamp chickens, deer and possum. He takes us to a special spot where, when the irises are blooming, "they stretch out like a purple carpet."
He brings us to an area eroded by the non-indigenous nutria and tell many stories of how they've affected the wetlands.
Listening to him speak, I realize how much he loves this area and that appreciation is imparted along with all of the information.
As we break free of the water hyacinth, speeding into an open stretch of water toward Lake Salvador, we pass a great blue heron in flight.
After nightfall, Matherne takes pleasure in "shining" alligators for us, pointing out the red eyes again and again in the distance.
