Florida eco travel guide - birds mammals reptiles

Report Fox Squirrel Sightings In Florida

Report Fox Squirrel SIghtings in Florida

Photo Fiona Sunquist ©

A new research project being conducted by the University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation is asking members of the public across the state to report their recent fox squirrel sightings. The fox squirrel, named for its striking fox-like tail, is a charismatic mammal approximately twice the size of the common gray squirrel.

Mercury causing Male Ibis to choose other males as mates

Mercury and white Ibis in Florida

Photo Fiona Sunquist ©

Mercury contamination has always been suspected as being one of the causes of the massive wading bird decline in Florida’s Everglades. But when scientists conducted a five year controlled study of ibis in captivity, even they were surprised by the results.

Pocket Gophers in Florida

Photo Travis Blunden ©

Ever wondered what causes these sand mounds that appear overnight in the yard? The culprit is a small burrowing rodent known as a pocket gopher. Locals call them sandy mounders, a name which is occasionally corrupted to salamander.

Vultures Attack Cars in Florida

Black Vultures attacking cars

Photo Fiona Sunquist ©

Vultures in South Florida have a new bad habit. They have started peeling windscreen wipers off vehicles and shredding the rubber weather stripping from car doors and sunroofs. The problem has become so bad that Everglades National Park Authorities have installed signs warning people about the avian vandals.

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.