Neighborhood Questions and Answers

Answers to my questions:
1. Why does the water level change so often throughout the year?
In Southwest Florida there are only two seasons. Both seasons blend into each other subtly. The two seasons are the wet and dry season. The wet season begins in the spring, in April or sometimes late May. The rainy season can last all summer. During the wet season rain pours over all the land; therefore, causing the water level to be high. Then there is the dry season when it will not rain at all or very little. The dry season usually starts in late August, or sometimes even September. This causes the water levels in Florida to decline greatly.
2. How long does it take for a bottle to decompose in nature?
"According to Penn State University, a plastic bag takes 10 to 20 years to decompose, where as a plastic container takes 50 to 80 years to decompose. The worst though is a plastic soda bottle. A plastic soda bottle takes 450 years to decompose!"
3. Why do alligator flag plants dominate the surrounding are of the pond?
Alligator flag plants are found in ponds, swamps, and marshes. Surprisingly, it is not widely distributed, but it is locally common due to the amount of ponds, swamps, and marshes in Southwest Florida.
4. Why was there so much litter in the pond?
Many people are inconsiderate towards the environment, and they do not realize the effect littering has on nature.
5. What kind of animal did this used to be?
While on my nature walk in the beginning of the semester I found a dead animal that had been eaten up. I found its vertebra, and after examining it for a little and more in the pictures I realized it was once a raccoon.