wild animals in Florida

[happythoughts 0]

clicky

Click the link to see the pic. Interesting.

Every week there is a story of this type.

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updated 9:44 a.m. ET, Tues., April. 22, 2008

OLDSMAR, Fla. - And some people get jittery about mice in the kitchen.

Sandra Frosti, a 69-year-old central Floridian, found an 8-foot long alligator prowling in her kitchen late Monday night, authorities said.

Frosti said the gator must have pushed through the back porch screen door and then went inside through an open sliding glass door at her home in Oldsmar, just north of Tampa. It then apparently strolled through the living room, down a hall and into the kitchen.

A trapper with Animal Capture of Florida removed the alligator, which was cut by a plate that was knocked to the ground during the chaos. But no one inside the house was injured.

People don't understand that gators are not rare.
Every subdivision has a water retention pond.
It is guaranteed to have one.

Golf courses? Each hole has a water hazard. Gators give the word "hazard" a little reality. Just let the ball go.

Lots of small ones, 1 to 4 ft. Medium size ones, 4-8 ft, love a good snack-size yappy dog. 8-footers are pretty confident and you have to respect them.

We even had a small 18", and very traumatized, gator in the swoop pond for a while.

Screened patios are favorites for raccoons because people leave cat food out. Gators rarely find anything interesting there. They prefer to stay near the water where they are safe.

This winter, it got cold enough in the Keys to put the iquanas into hibernation. People would bring them into the house to warm them up. Then, you had a wide-awake, unhappy 4-ft iquana in your kitchen.
It is amazing what people think is a good idea.

[marcandalysse 0]

You mean besides the two legged ones at ZHills???

Someone was doing their laundry in the shed near the swoop pond when a gator swished its tail from under the washing machine! That was a 'welcome to Florida' moment!

Around the forests of zhills there are deer, fox, wild boar, eagles, wild turkeys and more.... And the swamps also have otters, storks, ibis, sandhill cranes, osprey and other hawks....Its nice to do 'crw' with a hawk around ZHills...

And of course the coastal waters have their manatees, dolphins and giant turtles etal. Today we were riding our bicycles by a canal and a dolphin followed alongside us for awhile. That was cool!

marc

"The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton

[LisaH 0]

Florida is busy.

http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=508633

Be yourself!
MooOOooOoo

[marcandalysse 0]

that was awesome!

"The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton

[beowulf 1]

Go up to Palatka and the Ocala National forest and you can add wild black bear to your list along with an assortment of venomous snakes.

[PLFXpert 0]

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Medium size ones, 4-8 ft, love a good snack-size yappy dog

So true! Billy actually saw one on the other side of a small lake nab a pup.

I prefer the coast & intracoastal. Zoe' likes the great outdoors and I would just die if I ever saw something like that. While I typically leave nature alone, I'm pretty sure I'd be wearing alligator boots the next day, if I saw one going after one of my precious angels.

I'll never forget spending countless hours on the lake waterskiing, kneeboarding and wakeboarding and riding near gators (who always promptly de-surface before you get too close) and unexpectedly wiping out.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[mamajumps 0]

And as the old Florida saying goes, for every gator that you see, there are 10 that you dont see...

I guess growing up in Florida tho has taught me to respect them and not fear them....

[stitch 0]

I want to get a pet gator and train it to only eat Turtles.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[PLFXpert 0]

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Go up to Palatka and the Ocala National forest and you can add wild black bear to your list along with an assortment of venomous snakes.

We've had several panther sightings near dog park. But, frankly I'm just happy for the sightings. They're endangered.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[happythoughts 0]

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Florida is busy.

http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=508633

That's pretty funny.

Whenever you hear a discussion about Darwinism, you always get people who can support their position on animal coloring from both opposing views.

When you say that animals are brown, they say it is to hide better.

When you say that their color is bright and showy, it is to attract a mate.

No matter which direction, there is an argument.

So, what about those ring-tailed jokers in the picture.
Black and white rings. Who are they trying to attract?
Lead singers from 80s hair-bands with platform clogs and ringed tights?


Just the pic cracks me up. Can you imagine chasing them through the brush with just their little tails bobbing like multi-colored pool floaties ?
I wouldn't be able to run an inch.

[happythoughts 0]

Usually, the gator lures the dog into wading out into the water and then grabs them by the leg under water.
Animals that stay out of the water are largely safe.

A few months ago, I was rollerblading at a local wilderness park and a deer almost took out another skater.
The deer came out of the brush and jumped the road just as the skater passed. Missed by less than 10 ft.

I see a lot of small hogs there too.

The deer annoy the park neighbors because they eat their hedges.

I started carrying a camera when I skate because of all the stuff I see.

[LisaH 0]

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Florida is busy.

http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=508633

That's pretty funny.

Whenever you hear a discussion about Darwinism, you always get people who can support their position on animal coloring from both opposing views.

When you say that animals are brown, they say it is to hide better.

When you say that their color is bright and showy, it is to attract a mate.

No matter which direction, there is an argument.

So, what about those ring-tailed jokers in the picture.
Black and white rings. Who are they trying to attract?
Lead singers from 80s hair-bands with platform clogs and ringed tights?


Just the pic cracks me up. Can you imagine chasing them through the brush with just their little tails bobbing like multi-colored pool floaties ?
I wouldn't be able to run an inch.

They look like lemurs to me.

Be yourself!
MooOOooOoo

[stitch 0]

Quote

Quote

Quote

Florida is busy.

http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=508633

That's pretty funny.

Whenever you hear a discussion about Darwinism, you always get people who can support their position on animal coloring from both opposing views.

When you say that animals are brown, they say it is to hide better.

When you say that their color is bright and showy, it is to attract a mate.

No matter which direction, there is an argument.

So, what about those ring-tailed jokers in the picture.
Black and white rings. Who are they trying to attract?
Lead singers from 80s hair-bands with platform clogs and ringed tights?


Just the pic cracks me up. Can you imagine chasing them through the brush with just their little tails bobbing like multi-colored pool floaties ?
I wouldn't be able to run an inch.

They look like lemurs to me.

I like to move it. I like to move it, move it.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[Amazon 7]

Salisbury says it could take days to catch them even though it took just a few minutes for the 12 monkeys to go on the lam.



Is Brad Pitt with them??

[happythoughts 0]

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Salisbury says it could take days to catch them even though it took just a few minutes for the 12 monkeys to go on the lam.



Is Brad Pitt with them??

Silver Springs used to be a film location for some of the Tarzan movie because the water is totally clear.

Some of the monkeys escaped and have gone on to reproduce a population. Since killing them was unacceptable, and trying to tranquilize all of them would be too expensive, they distributed birth-control laden food for a while. Not much of a solution.