Florida eco travel guide - birds mammals reptiles

Longspurred Mint Florida Endangered Plant Travis Blunden

Photo Travis Blunden

The Longspurred Mint is found in open areas in scrub and sandhill and along roadsides. This highly aromatic is known from only 15 sites in Central Florida.

Butterfly Season in Florida

Zebra longwing butterfly Madan Oli Florida

Photo Madan Oli ©

Late summer and fall is the best time to see Florida’s butterflies on the wing. The state has the highest butterfly diversity any state east of the Mississippi River—more than 180 species have been recorded.

Black Coyotes in Florida

Black Coyotes in Florida Jim Armstrong

Photo Jim Armstrong ©

These two black coyotes were photographed on a Wildlife Management Area in Florida. Black coyotes are uncommon everywhere and hardly ever seen in Florida—hunters occasionally post photos of dead animals, but photos of live black coyotes are extremely rare.

Florida Residents can now hunt pythons!

Burmese Pythons in Florida Hunting pythons

Photo Courtesy FWC

You can now buy a permit to hunt Burmese Pythons in Florida. For $26 any Florida resident with a hunting license can kill pythons on four areas of state-managed lands around the Everglades. Florida Fish and Wildlife authorities estimate there are thousands of Burmese pythons in the wild in South Florida.

Recent Sightings of Florida Panthers

Recent sightings of Florida panthers Mike Barnes
Photo Mike Barnes ©

If you plan to walk a boardwalk in Florida’s Parks and Reserves any early morning or late afternoon, you might be lucky enough to see a Florida Panther. They seem to like these elevated pathways for ease of travel and the view into the grass that they afford.
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Wild Capybara return to Florida

capybara weird animals Florida

Strange sheep-sized rodents with webbed feet are showing up in Florida’s rivers and canals. These weird looking animals are capybara – a 100-lb guinea-pig-like creature.

Sheepshead - A fish with human teeth.

Sheepshead teeth a fish with human teeth

Looking into the mouth of a sheepshead is a bit like looking into the mouth of a person. This fish has human-like incisors and strange looking molar teeth on the roof and bottom of its mouth. Sheepshead use these heavy-duty teeth to grind up blue crabs, oysters, and small fish.