Collecting Southwest Florida

[rayrard]

I know Florida is a nightmare for collecting due to the abundance of protected land and state parks, but I was going to bring a mercury vapor light down there on vacation and I was wondering if there were any areas that it would be allowed to run a light at night. I know running around with a net might be frowned upon but do they care if people go into areas and run lights? I can imagine someone running a light to photograph moths and I can't see how attracting them would be a issue even in public or state land. Would it be possible to go to a ranger and ask permission to collect at a sheet?

It would be great if the rental house was right up on a forested area and I could run the setup at the house, but something tells me that it is in a crowded development and I'd need to go elsewhere. Is there any land in the Fort Meyers or Naples area where no one will bother you for setting up a sheet?

[coloradeo]

A question I've been thinking of asking myself as I go to Sanibel/Ft Myers each year. Been wondering if trekking off of Sanibel with a light would work anywhere. Also love to know if anyone has had success that way... - Eric

[rayrard]

I will have access to a boat but I assume dragging a boat onto an uninhabited barrier island is difficult if not illegal at night! I assume this is a small pleasure boat and not something big or a little john-boat. There are many parks around there but none of the State Forests or WMA's that are legal to collect in. I tried Fatkahatchee with a school group last year with a permit and the night collecting sucked. This was October and it would be nice to try that again but I assume they need permits.