Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge

10/31/2026

The insta pic vs. the process to get it 🫣😝 Let’s say Maggie really likes her food and would rather I not be playing around with it so much! Spicy girl. 🌶️

10/31/2026

🎃🦨 HAPPY HALLOWEEN 🦝🎃

Critters, candy, crunchy leaves, it’s gonna be a good day guys!! Our jack-o-lanterns may be a little “stinkier” than yours…but I bet they’re cuter! 👻🖤
Come out and visit us in costume today for some free treats!! Candy & visits with our ssssspooky snake ambassadors all day until 3pm!

BE SAFE TONIGHT! If you find injured wildlife while out getting up to mischief in the pumpkin patch, call our line and listen to the whole voicemail for info on either keeping the animal safe overnight, or safe drop off locations for the animals.

10/30/2026

Don’t forget we’re open today & this weekend for visitors! We would love to see your costumes and have some lucky visitors take costume pics with our ambassador snakes! Free goodies for the little critters too all weekend!

10/29/2026

This little solo traveler was separated from his family during the recent hurricane. A kind couple found him just sitting in their driveway all alone right after Isaias! Usually we’d be hesitant to raise a single orphan like this on their own, worrying the animal could become too attached to their human caretakers, but we don’t have to worry about this one…

He is one of the 🌶️ SPICIEST 🌶️ baby opossums we have ever met! We have to keep his little box covered, or otherwise he spends the day trying to intimidate anyone who walks by. Cleaning his box out for the day is met with hisses, lunging and jumping for fingers, and nonstop drooling and smiles showing off his teeth. He’s gonna add a little zest to the local opossum population once he’s released!

10/28/2026

Our visitor center will be CLOSED today! (10/28)

Our medical center is OPEN for animal intakes!

We are getting numerous trees and limbs removed, to ensure the safety of all guests, we will be closed! We will be back open tomorrow morning!

If you arrive with an animal, please do not come in! Call (850)684-1485 and someone will meet you at the gate!

10/27/2026

Some people like to look out for the little guys out there. 🐍❤

This harmless and adorable scarlet snake was dealt a blow many snakes face - damage from a shovel, but uniquely in this snake's case, it was entirely accidental! A local homeowner was gardening and uncovered the snake with a shovel as they dug.

This is completely understandable, as these tiny snakes spend most of their life underground, so there's no way they could have seen her there under the surface. They noticed the snake was nicked by their shovel and rushed it right over to us for a free exam. Please don't ever be afraid to reach out for help if you accidentally cause an injury to a wild animal, it can happen to anyone at anytime, and that's exactly what we're here for! We've received a little over 1,500 patients so far this year, and it's always free to drop off wildlife in need.

Thankfully this snake had a very shallow cut, so it just needed a little cleaning and rest with us before a quick release. These animals often startle people as a first glance will remind you of the venomous coral snake, but this is just a harmless mimic. Along with the scarlet kingsnake, another local species, these animals are exhibiting "Batesian mimicry" by evolving to look like their not so tasty venomous cousins. This helps them sometimes avoid predation from other animals after a meal. Scarlet snakes tiny, nocturnal, and fossorial - so we humans rarely even see them. Mainly they will spend their life burrowing around to find food, and their main food source is surprisingly the eggs of other reptiles that have been deposited in the dirt. They have specially evolved tiny teeth that will hook into the eggs to pierce them, while the scarlet snake squeezes the egg to drink the liquid inside.

Maybe that last fact is a little bit creepy. But red, black, and a creepy fact is perfect for the Hall-o-week. 🎃

10/27/2026

Wednesday Night! 🌱
Don’t forget to join us for Plant Bingo at Slidsters! Support your local wildlife, and bring home a new plant!

🪴🌱WEDNESDAY🪴🌱

🎃🦇Come have some spoooooky fun with us to benefit ECWR🎃🦇

10/24/2026

Reminder we are open this weekend for visitors and back to our normal hours!

Wed-Sat 9am-3pm & Sundays 11am-3pm

A local kiddo looking for volunteer hours came out and made some animal enrichment for our ambassadors to enjoy. Rose really loves her castle! 🏰🦝

10/23/2026

We are saddened to report that after consulting with 2 of our veterinarians that the best choice for our softshell patient was a quiet and pain free passing. 🕯️💚

Though the pellets we saw on the x-rays were the most visually shocking injuries, much of the reasoning behind her humane euthanasia came from smaller external injuries along the shell and feet. We discovered large amounts of necrotizing tissue in areas along the side of the shell and all 4 feet, and that the turtle was already battling late stage sepsis.

Furthermore, one of the pellets had broken apart upon entry, leaving fragments throughout the head, and another had damaged the jaw to the point it was no longer closing.

We know it’s tough to get updates like this so quickly, and it may be hard to understand why we made the decision so fast - but we always try to weigh the chance of recovery versus the potential of suffering the animal may undergo in an attempt to rehabilitate when there’s just too many cards stacked against their favor. She had been through enough. We are touched even on this bittersweet morning to see how many people admire softshells and respect their place in our ecosystem. 💚

10/21/2026

My life matters. 💔

I may not be the cutest animal. I may not be the nicest. I may not look like the turtles you are used to. I am the Florida softshell, and my life deserves respect.

My ancestors walked the Earth alongside the triceratops. I help control the populations of little critters in the rivers, streams, ponds, and wetlands. I clean up after others by dining on carrion. My hunting strategies are some of the most impressive in my domain. I help ecologists and biologists determine the quality of the water I live in. I was a vital food source for early humans, and when I lay my eggs, I will help feed the forest & its inhabitants.

Here’s what I am not - an object to be used for target practice and then dumped into a ditch on the side of the road without confirmation I have even truly died. Yes, literally, that’s what happened. Here I am minding my business, serving my role in the ecosystem, and a human neighbor comes along and treats me like this. It’s almost unbelievable that my life could mean so little to them.

I laid there in agony, through several cold nights, wondering what I had done to not even be given the grace of a quick and clean death. Another human saw me be “disposed of” and couldn’t stop thinking about me, coming back just to see what someone had really dropped in the ditch. I mustered all my strength to try and run again, but their warm hands lifted me gently and brought me to safety. I am thankful for their ability to look at me and see my value, see my soul.

We’ll do all we can for you, softshell. We may not be able to fix you, but we’ll try, and give you a dignified passing if we cannot. We take no issue with ethical hunting; but this is absolutely not that…💔