I pulled the blanket up to my chin and watched the shadows on the bedroom wall as the seconds ticked toward midnight.
It’s been years since I’ve been too frightened to close my eyes and fall asleep, but the screaming at the end of episode five of “Midnight Mass” spooked me.
If we still gathered around water coolers at work, I’d be talking about the binge-worthy Netflix horror show that arrived for streaming the month before Halloween.
Curious?
The terror takes place on Crockett Island, a small, isolated island accessible only by ferry.
The characters include a charismatic priest, a religious fanatic, a host of fishing families, a disillusioned sheriff and an “angel” that looks a lot like the demonic vampire creatures of myth, with claws, fangs and massive batlike wings.
“Midnight Mass” is a supernatural tale influenced by nature, like so much we associate with Halloween — great pumpkins, a silvery full moon, crying ravens, howling wolves, blood-sucking bats and prowling black cats.
A couple of years ago, to celebrate Halloween, I took a road trip to the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge in Chiefland after reading about Swamp Ape sightings.
Florida’s answer to Bigfoot, the Swamp Ape, is a human-animal hybrid said to be about 8 feet tall, smelly and an inhabitant of Suwannee’s pine forests and swamps.
I didn’t come across the Swamp Ape, and, honestly, I need not travel any distance to find some of the state’s scarier critters and creatures.
They can be found here in Manatee County.
- Flesh-eating bacteria. Vibrio vulnificus is a naturally occurring bacteria found in warm salty waters such as the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding bays.
Concentrations of the bacteria are higher when the water is warmer.
Necrotizing fasciitis and severe infections with Vibrio vulnificus are rare, but they do occur and can be fatal in humans.
- Cane toad. Invasive cane toads are reddish-brown to grayish-brown with a light-yellow or beige belly.
They have enlarged glands behind the eyes, which angle downward on the shoulders. These glands secrete a potent milky-white toxin — bufotoxin.
The toxin can kill animals that bite or feed on the toads, including pets, as well as irritate the skin and burn the eyes of people who handle the animals.
- New Guinea flatworm. The nonnative New Guinea flatworm is a predatory, terrestrial flatworm that averages 1.5 to 5 inches in length and has a shiny, dark brown/black body with a pale stripe running down the middle.
They are a potential host for the rat lungworm parasite that can be transmitted to humans.
Also, the flatworms regurgitate stomach contents upon handling, causing skin irritation.
Ick.
- Vultures. I’m amused by turkey and black vultures — protected at the state and federal levels — but I know some people are afraid of the birds.
The vultures, bigger than raptors, can chew porch screens and shingles as easily as they can tear at carrion along the causeway.
They also can spew projectile vomit as a defense mechanism.
- Alligator. A sign at a stormwater retention area in Bradenton Beach warns of alligators, but you won’t find the reptiles on Anna Maria Island.
You will find the opportunistic feeders inland, especially at east county preserves and parks.
And, while you probably know about the alligator’s big bite and death roll, are you aware the alligator’s mouth is full of microorganisms that contain life-threatening bacteria?
Of course, the likelihood of being attacked is slim. We pose greater harm to the American alligator than the federally protected “threatened” species presents to people.
- Fire ant. My feet are scarred from an attack of red imported fire ants by the beach in Anna Maria about a decade ago.
The ants may nest under patio slabs, in lawns, under edges of sidewalks, foundations, concrete driveways and electrical boxes.
After a rain, the colony might move to higher ground to take refuge from saturated soil.
In my case, the ants moved from the soggy ground to my feet, delivering the bite and sting of a venom that exhibits potent necrotoxic activity.
Ask yourself: Would you rather come across a black cat under a full moon or fire ants at high noon?