The next time your dog starts digging a hole in the yard, you might want to get a shovel and help out ‒ there are many interesting artifacts buried in the Jungle and you might find something valuable.
The Jungle was underwater during the Jurassic period, so don't expect to discover any dinosaur bones ‒ Florida is one of the few states that has no history of dinosaur traffic. You might find some shark teeth or ancient tortoise shells, though. The swimming reptiles that were once here are deep beneath the surface now ‒ it will take heavy machinery and a lot of time to reach the fossilized remains.
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| Swimming reptiles from the Jurassic period ‒ sewhappyfabrics.com |
It's possible to discover mastodon fossils in the area, as these teachers from Admiral Farragut did while exploring local lakes. Click here to view the full story.
About 500 years ago, explorers from the Narváez expedition crossed the Jungle on their way to the Tocobaga capitol at Safety Harbor, so be alert for Spanish beads and trinkets while digging.
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| Spanish glass trade beads. Citation: http://archeologyink.com/spanish-artifacts/ |
The Tocobaga people lived in the Jungle from around 900 AD to 1700 AD, so they probably left some stone tools on your property.
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| A collection of arrowheads found at the Jungle Prada Site. Citation: State Archives of Florida |
Babe Ruth lost many golf balls in the Jungle. He played on the Jungle course over 100 times and was known for his wild hooks and slices. A sportswriter once said that the perfect golf hole for Babe Ruth would have fairways to the left and right and rough down the middle. On a whim, he might drive a practice ball in any direction and he was known to go through an entire box of balls during a round of golf, so there might be hundreds of his golf balls buried in the Jungle.
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| Citation: Kennedy Brothers Antique & Estate Auction (colorized) |
How will you know that you found one of Babe Ruth's golf balls? It looks like this:
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| Value at auction: about $2000 |
In addition to your yard, another good place to dig for golf balls would be along Golf Creek ‒ there are many balls that accidentally landed there. Digging on public land is probably illegal, so you should do this after dark. 😉
There are rumors of buried gold somewhere along the Boca Ciega Bay coastline, near Jungle Prada. The first Jungle land owner, John Levique, harvested turtles and sailed his schooner to New Orleans to sell them. Turtle soup is a classic New Orleans delicacy and Levique was paid handsomely for his effort ‒ in gold coins. When he returned to his Jungle cabin he buried his gold in secret places. Levique died penniless, but it's thought that he was unable to locate some of his gold after a hurricane rearranged the landscape.
Caution: My dog Laney thoroughly excavated the backyard and nothing of value was found. It took quite an effort ‒ without any help from Laney ‒ to put the everything back in place.
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| Laney excavates the back yard, looking for buried treasure. |
