Urban Wildlife

With the exception of Disney's Animal Kingdom and Sea World, you don't think usually think of Orlando, as Wildlife Central.  But right here in The City Beautiful in your own backyard, you can see plenty of oppossums, raccoons, alligators, pileated woodpeckers, black snakes, red-shouldered hawks, bears, coyotes, and eagles. 

As more and more development occurs in Florida taking the place of valuable habitat and migration corridors, wildlife will try to survive with man, venturing into communities and neighborhoods that offer easy access to food (outside pet bowls and trash cans) and instead of risking their lives crossing highways, wild animals know they can safely migrate through a development's mandatory conservation areas.

It's important to remember even if you have a fenced-in backyard, you might cross a path with a wild animal that has climbed over, across, or torn down a structure to find its way into your area.  Being vigilant while walking in parks, at dusk and dawn, and during mating seasons is recommended.  Another reason to watch out for wildlife is protecting your family pets. Small dogs and cats are a source of food for coyotes and alligators.  Always watch out for your pets, especially at dawn and dusk which is when wildlife looks for something to eat.

 

Mama bear and baby meandering through a Seminole County gated community.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has posted a free curriculum for teachers and parents to teach children to be prepared when meeting bears.

Even here in College Park, an urbanized neighborhood, with the I-4 corridor going straight through the city, has seen bears traveling in search of food or a mate.  Another wildlife species causing havoc in College Park are coyotees which are venturing out of the local woods to eat cats.

Coyote killed pet cat.

National Wildlife Federation provides these safety tips:

Important note:
Teach children early on to observe through quiet observation and to never approach, try to touch, or feed wildlife. As stated elsewhere in this book, animals that become habituated to humans eventually become aggressive and may have to be euthanized.

          Respect Wildlife

• Observe wildlife from a distance.
• Do not follow or approach them.
• Never feed animals (store food and trash securely).
  Control pets at all times.
• Avoid wildlife during sensitive times: mating, nesting, raising young, or winter. 

I enjoyed a beautiful day of pontoon boating on the St. Johns River today. We departed from Hontoon Landing on the Blue Heron River Tours

Enjoy this wonderful jigsaw puzzle of my photograph.

St Johns River Hontoon Island FL Jigsaw Puzzle Gallery - JigZone.com

Want to see the rest of our boat trip and the amazing Florida flora and fauna? Check out my photographs.

Suggested Central Florida Plants Least Preferred By Deer

Wildlife use vegetation for a number of reasons: food, water, protection, physical and territorial behavior. A deer’s diet includes foliage, fruit (acorns), flowers and flower buds, but not necessarily all on the same plant, while young stags use the bark of small trees to “rub the velvet from their antlers and mark their area.” (Appleton, 2008) Deer like to eat plants that are young, easily accessible, over-fertilized, overwatered, pruned often, and have new growth. Deer do not like to eat plants that are odoriferous, have either grayish, leathery, or thorny foliage, or have foliage that has milky or sticky sap.

Reducing landscape damage by deer needs to be a community-wide effort. Feeding deer will only lessen their natural fear of humans and encourages them to encroach on residential areas. There are several options to keeping deer off your property. Installing seven-foot fencing will reduce chances that deer will jump onto property. Using chemical repellents are not always effective and can be expensive, foul-smelling, and need to be applied before plants are eaten and on a continuous basis.

There are no deer-proof plants. Deer eat a wide variety of flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees, but some plants are less desirable than others. Plants normally consumed by deer in the South may not be eaten by deer in northern states and inversely, with deer-damaged plant species in the North; they may not be eaten by deer in the southern states. During years with high deer population, severe weather conditions such as droughts or flooding that lessen vegetation or eradicate their usual diet, deer will eat plants not normally browsed on. Also, deer will become used to unfamiliar plant species, (like loropetalums) and graze on vegetation that for seasons were previously left uneaten.

The suggested plants are not guaranteed to be deer-proof but have been shown to be not severely affected by grazing, and should recover. Plants should be selected first by soil and sunlight conditions and then reviewed for favorability by deer.   The plant options are compiled from several older lists (1999) and updated to include newer plant species grown in Zones 8 – 11. Protect new, smaller shrubs/trees for first few years with fencing or tree shelters.

Suggested Central Florida Plants Least Preferred By Deer




References and resources:
Deer in the Urban Landscape - Texas A & M
Deer Resistant Plants - Proven Winners
Deer-Resistant Landscaping - Iowa City Government
Deer Resistant Species - Native Plant Information Network, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Ornamental plant susceptibility to damage by deer - University of Florida
Landscape Plants Rated By Deer Resistance - Rutgers University
Deer and Rabbit Resistance - University of Arizona
Northern Gardening Web - Deer Resistant Plants
Deer Images

Pineland Scrub Blossoms In Summer

Beauty in the white sands of a pine flatwoods and scrub ecosystem may be hard to imagine. Unknowing visitors will see the dead foliage, broken snags, and thick, impenetrable vegetation as weedy, unkempt, and dangerous, but native wildlife and naturalists appreciate the value of Florida's oldest ecosystem's resources to provide food, cover, and nesting during the summertime.

These dry, upland habitats were once Florida's ancient coasts but now are home for endemic species, both wildlife and vegetation that thrive in harsh environments with seasonal rainfall (both drought and flooding), nutrient deficiencies, and frequent fires.

My photographs of native plants and wildflowers were shot in a Seminole County ten-acre residential community that leaves all but the homesite undeveloped. Click on the photographs for larger viewing. The various pictures show berries for bears, birds, deer, gopher tortoises, and raccoons, and host plants for butterflies and birds.

Tarflower,Bejaria racemosa, Saw palmetto, Serenoa repens, Sparkleberry, Vacciunium arboreum. Mother Nature's Smorgasbord for Florida wildlife.

Blackroot, Pterocaulon pycnostachyum, provides food for wild hogs.

Coastalplain St. Johns-wort, Hypericum brachyphyllum, host plant for insect pollinators, like bees, butterflies, and moths. These flowers are found in bogs, lakefronts, coasts, and ephermeral ponds.

Frogfruit, Phyla nodiflora, Lippia nodiflora, can also be seen growing in urban cement sidewalk cracks, residential lawns, and near water. Host plant for the White Peacock Butterfly, Anartia jatrophae, Common Buckeye Butterfly, Junonia coenia, Phaon Crescent Butterfly, Phyciodes phaon.

Rusty Lyonia, Lyonia ferruginea, popular with deer and insects.

Saw palmetto, Serenoa repens, provides food for migrating mammals and birds, and is the host plant for the Palmetto Skipper.

Shiny blueberry, Vaccinium myrsinites, food resource for mammals, including humans, birds.

Tarflower, Bejaria racemosa, nectar plant for pollinators.

Six foot tall Tarflower, Bejaria racemosa

Keeping Squirrels Out of Your Feeder? Impossible!

Have you ever wished for the perfect baffle box to keep squirrels away from your bird feeder? I thought I had found one when I purchased a beautiful copper guaranteed squirrel proof bird feeder that closed all the openings when any weight was put onto the feeder. It worked ideally when I had it in my hand and put a small weight on it, the feeder openings closed tightly. Happy with myself for finding a solution, I thought it was working until I glimpsed from my bedroom window, a big fat gray squirrel hanging upside down from the same limb the bird feeder was hanging from - and without touching the bird feeder - the squirrel hung upside down by his feet and feasted right from the guaranteed squirrel-proof buffet openings. No, I didn't take back the bird feeder and get a refund. I just never filled it up with bird food again. It's a garden accessory now.

Keeping squirrels out of your yard is 'Mission Impossible.' Carling Black Label Beer thought the animals were so much fun, they made an advertisement with the little rodents.



Now here's a non-commercial capturing different but still as smart squirrels with reggae music.




Face it. Squirrels are nothing but rats with press agents.

Want to feed squirrels? Here's a great publication from UF's Sally Scalera.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation: Squirrels

Florida's Squirrels

Have you ever seen a Fox Squirrel?

Southern Fox Squirrel

Sherman Fox Squirrel habitat.




Removing squirrels from your home or attic.