With rainy season around the corner wildlife tracks will become more visible. Not everyone will see a Florida Panther in their lifetime but they are more likely to come upon their tracks. Though spotting and identifying a track is definitely harder than identifying a Florida Panther itself. Lucky for us FWC came out with a E-Z guide on how to ID panthers and their tracks:
Join us at the 2015 Southwest Florida
Travel Rally in celebration of National
Travel & Tourism Week!
All tourism businesses, hospitality employees, and local residents are invited to attend. Tourism partners, bring your staff to represent your company! Employees, bring your families, too, as there will be lots to do for children and adults. CREW Land & Water Trust donated a free private hike with their Environmental Education Specialist Jessi Drummond for a lucky prize winner.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
RSVP that you are attending: LeeVCB@leegov.com.
We will email you an admission and parking ticket.
You must have an admission ticket to be eligible for
prize drawings.
For more information, call Visitor Services
at 239.590.4855 or visit Leevcb.com
Join us at the 2015 Southwest Florida
ENJOY THE HILARIOUS TOURISM RACES
Kids Luggage Lug, Bellman’s Race, Waiters Race for
the Gold, and Make that Bed! Hotels, Attractions, and
Restaurants—have fun with your hospitality friends!
Contact: sbehr@leegov.com
OUTDOOR TRADE FAIR
Tourism businesses, sports groups, special exhibits
and more!
Contact: ccocco@leegov.com
KID’S KRAZINESS KORNER
Face painting, magic, cuddly critters, Railroad
Museum of South Florida miniature train rides,
and more.
For more information please click on the flyers below:
Q: What should people do if they see a black bear on one of the trails?
A Florida Black Bear looks, listens, and sniffs the air. By Dick Brewer
A: Florida Black Bears are the only bear species that inhabit Florida. Safety tips are different with different species of bears due to their varying life histories. The following safety tips refer to black bears and not necessarily brown bears, Grizzly bears, or other bear species.
Think of a black bear as a large, stray dog in your neighborhood. Precautions you’d take with a stray dog apply to black bears too. Don’t make direct eye contact (a threat gesture), don’t run, and don’t turn your back to it.
First, make some noise (clapping hands, bell, whistle) so the bear knows that you are there. Surprising any wild animal is not a good thing.
Stand tall and make yourself look larger by raising your hands above your head. Adults should pick up and hold small children.
Then, back away slowly and get a safe distance away from the black bear. Just like dogs, black bears have a chase instinct and will go after something running from them even if they do not mean any harm. Once you are at a safe distance, you can snap a few photos and enjoy the moment.
Black bears in the wild are shy animals and generally not aggressive towards people. Exceptions would be a black bear that is strongly food conditioned and smells any food you are carrying, and a female black bear who is protecting her cubs. If you see a small cub seemingly by itself, back off immediately. The mother black bear is somewhere very close, and she is watching her cub and she is watching you.
A black bear is a large, powerful, wild animal. It pays to be cautious and to not provoke it, so know a little about black bear behavior before meeting one.
If a black bear stands on its hind legs, it’s not a threat; it just wants to get a better look and smell of the situation.
However, stamping its front legs, jaw popping (snapping its jaws together to make a popping noise), huffing (blowing air out of its nose and mouth quickly), or bluff charging (rushing toward a person but stopping before physically making contact) means it is nervous, and you need to back away from the black bear. Allow the black bear plenty of room to escape, which is all it really wants to do.
If a black bear does approach you and attack, hold your ground and fight back.
If camping at CREW, never store food or any heavily scented items (toothpaste, deodorant, etc.) in your tent. Always store it in a hard topped vehicle, hung from a tree at least 10 feet off the ground and 5 feet away from trees, or in a bear proof container that can be purchased at an outdoor recreation store. Food coolers are not bear proof containers. Click here to camp at CREW.
Online resource: http://www.myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/black-bears
We had a great Strolling Science Seminar (SSS) series this season (say that 5 times fast). The SSS series started in 2011-2012 to provide adults with scientific knowledge from local experts. The experts engaged the participants in outdoor scientific study and enabled them to conduct citizen science as part of local, national, and global projects. Each event is filled with laughter, science, and new knowledge.
This year we were lucky to have:
Mad Batters of CREW- Kathleen Smith, FWC Biologist
Mosquitoes of the Marsh: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly- Neil Wilkinson, FGCU
Fire & Water: Primal Forces Shaping CREW Wildlife Habitats- Jim Schortemeyer & Joe Bozzo, SFWMD
The Gopher Tortoise: How Protecting One Species Actually Protects Hundreds- Dr. John Herman, FGCU
Birding with the Master- Dr. Bernie Master & Tiffany Thornhill, FWC
We will start planning the 2015-2016 series of strolling science seminars this summer. If you have any ideas, comments, or contacts that you would like to share for a SSS event please email Jessi Drummond at education@crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com, or call 239-657-2253. All ideas are welcomed!
Free guided walks are offered each Wednesday from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. each season (November through Easter).
Volunteer naturalists will lead a small group along the shell path to our boardwalk while discussing the history of Bird Rookery Swamp, the purpose of the watershed, the importance of the aquifer and the flora and fauna of this unique ecosystem.
Roger is an award-winning professional naturalist, author of Everglades Wildflowers and Florida Icons, botanist and photographer. He has spent many days on the CREW trails – and all over Florida – searching for new species and photographing flowers for his new book. His stories and depth of knowledge will delight and inspire you.
FAQs
Is there an age limit for the event? This event is for adults and children over 12.
What are the parking/facilities like at the trails? There is a grassy parking lot at the trail head. There is one portable restroom at the trail head.
What are the trails like? The trails are mostly grassy/sandy ground level trails with some boardwalks over wet areas. Expect seasonally wet/muddy places on the trails during the rainy season (July – November).
Below are first hand observations from our volunteer Dick Brewer. Who does weekly visits to Bird Rookery Swamp and very week sends us incredible stories of the magical 12 mile loop. If you would like to see more of his observations visit: http://www.dickbrewer.org/CREW.html
Saturday March 14th- The numbers of species and individuals were larger than normal because I walked nearly eight hours and the hike was around the 12.25-mile loop.
The really large number for Glossy Ibis came when three V flights of about 22-24 each flew over at the same time — pretty awesome sight! The Barred Owl was an audio rather than visual observation, from between markers 4 and 5. The number of gators counted is not a typo; there were lots and lots of them including three clutches of six or seven month olds still staying close to their mothers. So much happening at Bird Rookery Swamp.
BIRDS-
Anhinga – 12
Great Blue Heron – 11
Great Egret – 54
Snowy Egret – 10
Little Blue Heron – 15
Tri-colored Heron – 6
Green Heron – 4
Black-crowned Night Heron – 6
Yellow-crowned Night Heron – 1
White Ibis – 93
Glossy Ibis – 74
Wood Stork – 10
Black Vulture – 53
Turkey Vulture – 20
Swallow-tailed Kite – 1
Red-shouldered Hawk – 20
Common Gallinule – 1
Common Ground Dove – 3
Barred Owl – 1
Belted Kingfisher – 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 20
Downy Woodpecker – 3
Pileated Woodpecker – 4
Eastern Phoebe – 5
Great-crested Flycatcher – 13
American Crow – 3
Tufted Titmouse – 7
Carolina Wren – 33
Gray Catbird – 24
White-eyed Vireo – 28
Northern Waterthrush – 1
Black-and-white Warbler – 1
Pine Warbler – 1
Palm Warbler – 2
Northern Parula – 8
Common Yellowthroat – 2
Northern Cardinal – 20
Common Grackle – 9
Below are first hand observations from our volunteer Dick Brewer. He does weekly visits to Bird Rookery Swamp and very week sends us incredible stories of the magical 12 mile loop. If you would like to see more of his observations visit: http://www.dickbrewer.org/CREW.html
By Dick Brewer
“Saturday, February 21st- Fun day for River Otters. One was just past Ida’s pond where I’ve seen it before. It came up on land, rolled in some leaves, and went to the base of a tree. Then, it jumped into ferns at the base of the tree. I didn’t know that otters could jump. It was pulling dead vegetation out and eventually made a small pile of leaves and vegetations and then
marked its territory.
The second group was a family by the dual culverts between markers 6 & 3. There was a large gator dozing by the entrance to one of the culverts and the otters were apparently teaching the young about predators. They were huffing, snorting, and barking and then harassed the gator by dashing at it and in a few cases touching its hindquarters. The gator finally had enough and raised its head, at which time all of the otters dispersed, still very noisy. A couple of bikers came by and were totally entertained.
Like to bike? Come out to Bird Rookery Swamp on February 27th, 2015 from 9 am- 1pm and join CREW Trust volunteers Peter Tomlinson and Jan Watson for a guided tour of the picturesque 12-mile loop.
View beautiful scenery, great wildlife, and enjoy the company of like-minded souls.
Activity Level: Strenuous-This is a trail ride on uneven, soft, grassy/sandy trails. Ground level with swamp on both sides of the trail.
BRING YOUR OWN BICYCLE: Mountain, hybrid or fat tire bikes are recommended. Not appropriate for road bicycles. CREW does NOT provide bikes for this tour.
Space is limited to first 20 riders that register, so use the link below and sign up fast:
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