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View Full Version : Wild life i have seen here in Florida



frkelly74
05-06-2015, 07:55 AM
Been seeing some animals that I was not used to seeing in Michigan. I have seen my first wild pig streaking across the road in front of me. I have seen a 5 lined Skink. Bald Eagle hawks and an owl and black buzzards all over the place. White ibis flock like chickens in the neighborhood. Alligators of course. Sea Turtles. Geccos out the ying yang. I almost stepped on a black racer snake yesterday, It was laying right by the yard hose which is black also, gave me a funny reaction. I am sure it would have been funny to see. Quite a few deer standing by the road. Armadillos. The crows here say uh-oh instead of caw. There is a woodpecker or something that hammers on the diecast street light in front of the house. I guess it likes the sound. We had a small gopher tortoise in the yard. Little ants that you can't hardly see but can only feel when they bite you. Manatees and Tiapia in the river at blue springs. Alligator gars 5' long. Keeping my eyes open here.

Kent Fowler
05-06-2015, 09:40 AM
Don't know about Florida, but we went to one of the local dance halls a while back. I spotted 4 girls who I knew or had dated for a while. All 4 of these girls are/were crazy as a hoot owl and pretty tough to handle. In my book they qualify as Texas wild life.

Snow ninja
05-06-2015, 09:45 AM
^^^ I'll take my luck with the gators...^^^

shaper
05-06-2015, 10:47 AM
If you slow down and look close where you step you just might see a pygmy rattler snake. About 6 inches long and as poisonous as the big guys. When I was young laying in bed at night I could hear the panther calling down by the lake. makes you pull the covers up higher. I guess they have all gone now.

Beagle333
05-06-2015, 12:50 PM
When I was young laying in bed at night I could hear the panther calling down by the lake. makes you pull the covers up higher. I guess they have all gone now.

That's what they say about here too. Any warden will tell you that we don't have them. I guess this critter on the game cam (Aug 21 last summer, Clay County) was a stray Labrador?
http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/shutupandjump/ClayCo_zpsd7b5fc3d.jpg

DR Owl Creek
05-06-2015, 01:03 PM
Nice KITTIE...


Dave

Snow ninja
05-06-2015, 01:28 PM
Yeah, conservation dept has been saying for years we don't have any cougars or bears...

Multigunner
05-06-2015, 01:43 PM
Some sort of very large cat came over my fence last night, and it apparently has been invading my back yard on a regular basis for at least a week. Last night was the first time I caught a glimpse of it.

I had been hearing noises like a prowler testing my side gate. Last night I was ready at the window with a maglite and shined a light on the gate just as the cat flowed over the fence.
It had to be pretty heavy because the fencing is heavy duty double thick panels I put up after a Black Bear strolled through my old fence some years ago and this booger shook the fence.

It was black spotted and yellowish tan. I did not get a look at its head and did not see a tail. It was at least three to four times the size of a large house cat.
By the time I got to the back porch it was no where to be seen.

Finster101
05-06-2015, 04:19 PM
There is no problem spotting fire ants, you pretty much have to be standing in or near a mound to get bitten. The "no-seeums" are a flying critter of some kind that most screens won't even keep out. Multigunner, I'm guessing you may have a bobcat.

timspawn
05-06-2015, 04:32 PM
I don't see iguanas on the list. Wait until you see one of them about four feet long on the seawall or in a tree.

starmac
05-06-2015, 05:26 PM
You apparently haven't been to the wildwood truckstop. lol

starnbar
05-06-2015, 05:39 PM
I have seen 3 panthers in my life one was in our backyard outside Dunnellon florida he was trying to get the minnows in the bait well out of the bass boat I opened the back door and he growled so I shut the door>

pressonregardless
05-06-2015, 06:56 PM
You apparently haven't been to the wildwood truckstop. lol

Having lived in the Ocala area for quite a few years, I know all about the Wildwood truck stop. I don't know about anymore, but the Game & Freshwater Fish Dept. used to have a gar gigging contest on Lake Panasoffkee. Poking one of those big 'gator gars is something that you won't soon forget.

Snow ninja
05-06-2015, 06:59 PM
It was black spotted and yellowish tan. I did not get a look at its head and did not see a tail. It was at least three to four times the size of a large house cat.
By the time I got to the back porch it was no where to be seen.
Sounds like you have a bobcat, sir.

garym1a2
05-06-2015, 07:04 PM
I saw a big cat once out in south groveland. Once for about 2 seconds and he was gone. Coyotes are much more common.

firefly1957
05-06-2015, 07:56 PM
FrKelly74 I moved UP NORTH when i retired to Harrison Michigan i was surprised i have those 5 lined skinks here as well as golden and bald eagles , sand hill cranes ,Lynx, Bear, wild pigs are a county east. I do think me & the wife would have liked going to Florida better that white stuff up here lasts to long!

Riverpigusmc
05-06-2015, 08:08 PM
I live in Archer west of Gainesville. Had possum, coon, fox and skunk on my porch. Other night wife said "look at that mangy dog". It was a yote running through the yard ( I live in the woods). Just had two cars wrecked near Hawthorne...reason for the crash? They hit a 560 pound black bear. Hogs run across 121 between Gainesville and Williston in broad daylight...packs of 'em

Hardcast416taylor
05-06-2015, 08:17 PM
FrKelly, You should have visited me up here in the "thumb" area of Mi. I could have maybe helped you see some of the critters you are seeing in Fl. There have been mountain lion spottings here in the "thumb" that DNR opfficers isn`t possible. I have buzzards circle me when I am out in my barn. Blue racer snakes are fairly common in areas up here, they will play a game of "tag" with you if you let them. A good friend lives in Gainesville and teaches at the college. He claims there are very few stray cats and dogs around some parts of Gainsevillle due to gators. His neighbor took out a 9 1/2 ft diamonback rattler on a lawn nearby 2 yrs. back using a "Big Bertha" golf club driver.Robert

Multigunner
05-06-2015, 08:43 PM
He claims there are very few stray cats and dogs around some parts of Gainsevillle due to gators. His neighbor took out a 9 1/2 ft diamonback rattler on a lawn nearby 2 yrs. back using a "Big Bertha" golf club driver.Robert
A friend of a friend in Coco Fl killed a 6+ ft rattler with a golf club back in the early 70's. First time I'd eaten rattler meat, it was not that bad, More like fish sticks than chicken though. tried some gator a couple of years ago, not much taste and a bit too chewy for my taste. I might have liked it better when my teeth were younger and sharper.

I started across Alligator alley once near sunset and a gator the size of a road grater was laying all the way across both lanes on my side of the road, so I turned right around and went north along the coast before cutting back west again. The hundreds of snakes I saw didn't help my confidence any and the old Mustang was not in such good shape that I was sure it wouldn't quit on me at the wrong moment.

A six foot gator was caught in the lake near here when I was a teenager, never found out how it got here.

When I was a youngster my aunt had a very large cat with very short ears, a round fist shaped head and a tail longer than its very long slim body. I was told the cat had lost its ears fighting dogs, and it had blinded a large German shepard in a fight. Other dogs ran from it.
While looking through some sites on wild cats I found a picture that looked exactly like that old cat. Turns out it was one of a South American species of jungle cats called a Jaguarundi that actually aren't related to other felines. The short ragged cropped looking ears are natural for the breed. A number of these cats showed up in Florida in the 50's and 60's and spread as far as North Carolina and Tennessee.
They apparently still show up in the South Eastern US now and then. They can't breed with domestic cats or North American Wildcats so unless they have a mate they don't take over any territory here.
People mistake them or their kittens for large odd looking house cats and they will stick around for awhile but quickly turn feral again.

leeggen
05-06-2015, 08:52 PM
Starmac I beleive those are know as lot lizzards!LOL
Wait til you step next to a log or stump and that cottonmouth is looking at ya. It will give a new meaning to life.
CD

MaryB
05-06-2015, 09:12 PM
They claim no cougars in my part of MN but along the river in the rocky areas people see them fairly often. Coyotes are very common, bobcats, oddball moose that is lost... supposedly in the west end of my county we have some wild hogs.

johniv
05-06-2015, 09:23 PM
Was going to Charlottsville Va, on Monday. Saw a nice black bear , almost in the Front Royal city limits on rt522 , just south of town.
John

osteodoc08
05-06-2015, 09:30 PM
I ran over a few iguanas when living in SW FLA. I miss the fishing opportunities for sure. The crowds and inflated prices I'd rather soon forget.

SeabeeMan
05-06-2015, 09:36 PM
Yeah, conservation dept has been saying for years we don't have any cougars or bears...

Us to in Wisconsin. I believe they FINALLY acknowledged that there might possibly be a single cougar who is probably now gone after bear hunters tree'd it with dogs last fall.

Geraldo
05-07-2015, 08:52 AM
Been seeing some animals that I was not used to seeing in Michigan. I have seen my first wild pig streaking across the road in front of me. I have seen a 5 lined Skink. Bald Eagle hawks and an owl and black buzzards all over the place. White ibis flock like chickens in the neighborhood. Alligators of course. Sea Turtles. Geccos out the ying yang. I almost stepped on a black racer snake yesterday, It was laying right by the yard hose which is black also, gave me a funny reaction. I am sure it would have been funny to see. Quite a few deer standing by the road. Armadillos. The crows here say uh-oh instead of caw. There is a woodpecker or something that hammers on the diecast street light in front of the house. I guess it likes the sound. We had a small gopher tortoise in the yard. Little ants that you can't hardly see but can only feel when they bite you. Manatees and Tiapia in the river at blue springs. Alligator gars 5' long. Keeping my eyes open here.

If you want to learn more about Florida I highly recommend the Florida Master Naturalist Program.

http://www.masternaturalist.ifas.ufl.edu/

While hunting hogs at night in a tree stand I've been hit by owls and a flying squirrel. Bobcats and coyotes are pretty leery of humans, but they're out there.

The most dangerous thing down here is snowbirds in big Mercs trying to find their way to Golden Corral.

docone31
05-07-2015, 09:23 AM
I like the ones who drive their KIAs through the CVS door!
That happens a lot.
I get Bobcats around the house, drives my cats nuts at night, snakes, oh yea. Lots of snakes. Blacksnakes keep the rattlers away.
We have Bald Eagles swooping the yard, lots of Fire Ants, different types, Bull Ants, you haven't lived untill you get stung by one of those, and a Bull Thistle! That plant really stings and makes welts.
You can tell the tourists as they wear sandals and shorts. Locals wear high top socks, boots, and mostly jeans.
Then they hit the beach! Freddy the Lobster!
I have lived here too long.

woodbutcher
05-09-2015, 12:11 AM
:grin: Born and raised in Vero Beach,Fl.Saw many really neat critters.Jaguars,the four footed type.All of the afore mentioned critters.6 foot gator in the back yard 6 blocks from down town.Dad hollered one day,GET your 03a3,OUICK.Had 250 lbs of pig in the freezer that night.Good eats,that.
Snakes like you would`nt believe.Having one of the big secondary storm relief ditches one block behind the house really made things interesting too.Dad saw a lot more interesting things than I did,as he moved to the Vero Beach area in 1916.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

frkelly74
05-13-2015, 10:31 AM
I forgot about seeing an otter over in the East Orlando area.