Huge ice sheets covered most of Canada and spread southward into the northern United States. Wide lakes formed in the west and Florida grew to over twice it's size. Water sources in the interior of this state dried up. The Florida scrub spread across the landscape in a thorny tangle. An amazing variety of animals began to arrived. The Short-faced bear (below), the biggest bear which ever lived, prowled the scrub for nuts, berries, and prey. The few rivers which still ran were edged in forest. At night, in the moon's glow, Chuckwills widows sang their lonely song from a perch high in a dead pine. Below them, jaguars haunted the inky wilderness shadows.

Short-faced Bear

All over Florida the fossil evidence of this story remains. When I was a kid, I hunted that story. I remember searching the end of the southern most island supporting the Skyway bridge on Tampa Bay. The rippling, cool, bay waters reflected the blue sky all the way to the shores of distant keys and the surrounding coast. A comfortable breeze rattled the fronds of a cabbage palm. Through the crystal-green water I spotted a stony lump about as large as a baby's fist.