Winter Haven, Florida
November 2006

Central Florida Wildlife

My Hosts Are: Bob & Vicki D.

Next: Cypress Gardens

Ahhh...the day after a holiday is usually pretty calm. People want to unwind from all the festivities and are ready to just take it easy. This is true of every day except the day after Thanksgiving, the busiest shopping day of the year!

We headed out early with Vicki this morning to grab a cup of coffee at her favorite coffee shop in Winter Haven before we went looking for Florida wildlife.

Central Florida has a lot of wildlife which is now struggling to survive due the extensive growth. Orange groves and acres of jungly forest are being cleared at a rapid rate and housing developments and golf courses are replacing them. Just in the 13 years Bob & Vicki have lived here they have seen the area change from rural groves and ranches to nearly nonstop housing developments.

This is wildlife they have seen in this area: bald eagles, ospreys, hawks, wild turkeys, various waterbirds and songbirds, sandhill cranes, cottontail rabbits and marsh rabbits, grey foxes, grey squirrels, racoons, otters, possums, bobcats, black bears, coyotes and deer...

Many varieties of snakes. Frogs, treefrogs, toads, anole lizards, turtles, tortoises, armadilloes and the infamous palmetto bug. A large variety of freshwater lake fish and of course...ALLIGATORS!

This sign was right next to the Attention: Alligator sign!!!

This should go without saying but then again people aren't too bright some days. Speaking of people being not so bright check out these alligator urban legends.

Ok...humans aren't the only ones that aren't always too bright. These ducks apparently can't read the no swimming signs and don't realize they may become lunch.

Speaking of becoming lunch, these Florida Egrets kept creeping closer and closer eyeballing us like we might be their lunch.

It may be a good time to explain that humans are not always capable of seeing and communicating with things that they feel aren't real. Like statues and such...

In the case of this Art Deer, it was very friendly and spent quite a bit of time hanging around in the area. We offered it a bit of apple which it graciously accepted. Tiki Jr. was overjoyed and exclaimed that St. Francis would be so proud of us.

When Vicki came back from doing a little holiday shopping we told her about the deer but she didn't seem to believe us.

We really enjoyed checking out the Florida wildlife but in the end we were just as happy doing the typical Florida thing and lounging by the pool in the sun for the rest of the day.

It's going to be a busy couple days coming up. We are hopefully visiting Cypress Gardens and Disney World in Orlando.

Vicki has put out the word that we will be looking for Snow White during our Disney visit.

Bud & Tiki Jr.

(Photos: Vicki D./ Dialogue: Tony V. & Vicki D.)