Florida eco travel guide - birds mammals reptiles

Longleaf Pine: Life Underground

Gopher Tortoise in burrow Longleaf pine Florida

Photo Fiona Sunquist ©

A flurry of sand flies out of the ground beneath a sparse canopy of longleaf pines. At 10:30 in the morning, the ground is hot enough to fry an egg, but an ancient toothless digger works on, unperturbed. The animal is a female gopher tortoise.

A New Exotic Lizard is on the loose in Florida

Tegu Lizard in Florida Black and White Lizards

Photo Fiona Sunquist ©

On April 30th 2010 an exotic black-and-white tegu lizard was captured at the entrance to Everglades National Park. A week later, another tegu was sighted 200 miles north, in the Ocala National Forest, just north of State Road 40.

Snowy Plovers are hatching in the Florida Panhandle

Snow Plover Chick Florida Panhandle

Photo Raya Pruner ©

Some 250 pairs of Snowy Plovers breed each year on the beaches of Florida’s Panhandle.

World's Largest Bat House gets an annex

World's largest bat house UF bat house and bat Barn Florida

Photo Claire Sunquist ©

In August 2009, 100 bats were killed and tens of thousands were left homeless after the collapse of the roosting fins inside the lower level of the University of Florida’s bat house. Officials moved quickly to repair and remodel the inside of the broken house and drew up plans to build a new, safer building beside the old structure.

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

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.