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Did you know Limpkins are good swimmers? Even little chicks go motoring through the water like pros! 🥹 Spotted while kay...
06/01/2026

Did you know Limpkins are good swimmers? Even little chicks go motoring through the water like pros! 🥹

Spotted while kayaking at Silver Springs State Park, FL

06/01/2026

What is happening? Cuteness. Pure limpkin family cuteness! 😍

And speaking of family "Limpkins are the only living species in their family, Aramidae. They can look like rails, Rallidae family, or cranes, Gruidae family, but DNA testing has supported that they are a unique family." ~Florida Museum of Natural History

Spotted while kayaking at Silver Springs State Park, FL

Come and take it! 😁 Osprey are well equipped to catch fish. But how do those talons help when an osprey needs to defend ...
05/31/2026

Come and take it! 😁 Osprey are well equipped to catch fish. But how do those talons help when an osprey needs to defend itself? According to University of Montana:

"In the wild, without human encroachment, the osprey has very few predators. Ospreys are the top predator in the aquatic ecosystems where they live and hunt. Therefore, very rarely are adult osprey at risk of predation. Equipped with large strong talons and sharp beaks for tearing the flesh of their aquatic prey, osprey are able to defend themselves from most predators. However, competition for prey from other top predators and predation of young osprey in the nest pose threats to their livelihood and nest success. Raccoons have been known to occasionally climb into osprey nests and prey upon eggs and newly hatched chicks. However, the most common threats to osprey nests come from the sky. Many large predatory birds have been known to prey on unprotected young osprey chicks and eggs in the nest. Great horned owls are common predators of osprey chicks. In addition, bald eagles may attack and kill osprey chicks if the osprey nest is too close to their territory. Even great blue herons have been documented as raiding osprey nests."

March. Everglades National Park, FL.

05/31/2026

Predator activated! So cute seeing a miniature ambush predator in motion.

This sweetie is a young alligator, about 10 months old. Mom was nearby and will help protect him from larger predators, including male gators, for the first two, sometimes even three, years of his life.

But as we can see here, these little guys come fully equipped with basic survival instincts. They definitely need them. Only a fraction of hatchling gators ever make it to adulthood.

To the tiniest critters, this little hunter is a predator. But to many others, he’s prey. Great blue herons, snapping turtles, bobcats, owls, and more would gladly make a meal of junior here if he isn’t as quick to run as he is to strike.

Stay safe, little guy.

Sweetwater Wetlands Park, FL. May

Go team native species!! This awesome Alligator is chowing down on an invasive Tilapia, which is one of the many, many b...
05/30/2026

Go team native species!! This awesome Alligator is chowing down on an invasive Tilapia, which is one of the many, many benefits of alligators in our ecosystem. I love all animals, in case you were wondering. But predators get such a bad rap I really gravitate toward their "cause". From coyotes to wolves to bears to mountain lions to foxes...so many predators have irrational haters. Of course probably two of the most irrationally persecuted are snakes and gators. So let's talk gator, right now.

I get it if you look at this and think "dang, that's scary". Well sure, this is a powerful, capable predator. That's a primal, instinctual reaction. Perfectly normal. If we are not careful, and smart, we can fall prey to predators. But to "hate" them or want to cause them pain or even kill them because a person dislikes them? Absurd. This gator doesn't breathe fire. It doesn't have wings to swoop in on you from 30 yards away. Literally the best way to stay safe around any predator is don't get too close. Seriously that simple.

And in terms of benefits, the biggest one is every native predator plays a balancing role. Think of the ecosystem as a machine. All parts perfectly suited to work together. What happens to a machine when you start removing parts? It may run but not as optimally as it did when it was whole. Remove enough parts and it stops working altogether. Right now the earth machine is seriously sputtering. So let's stop yanking out parts and start putting things back where we found them 😉

May. Paynes Prairie, Florida

05/30/2026

It takes a BIG pair to eat a hornet / wasp nest! And by pair I mean massive fang like canines. Look at those things! Yikes 😬 Wildlife is sooo cute...until it isn't 😆

Real Men Wear Flowers. And roll in mud. And p*e on themselves. In the elk world 😆 Yeah, the sights, sounds and smell of ...
05/29/2026

Real Men Wear Flowers.

And roll in mud. And p*e on themselves.

In the elk world 😆

Yeah, the sights, sounds and smell of the rut are, um, unmistakable!

"During the rut, bull elk engage in a number of mating behaviors, including posturing, antler swinging, tree and brush thrashing, sparring (which is the most exciting behavior to watch) and, of course, the bugling and barking. The bugling may be heard for miles and is the main technique that bulls use to communicate dominance. Cows are attracted to bulls that bugle the most and loudest. Thus, bulls must bugle frequently. Bulls also urinate on the ground and roll in the urine soaked soil, coating their fur with an unique fragrance in hopes of attracting cows. " ~Purdue University

October. PA.

05/29/2026

Gulp. Gulp. Gone.

Yep… that was all she wrote for the fish.

If you’re a fish and an osprey is on the hunt, chances are this is your fate.

“Ospreys are excellent anglers. Across several studies, they caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes reaching 70%.”
— Cornell Lab of Ornithology / All About Birds

Special thanks to Airboat Photographer of Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures… heads and tails above the rest 😉
Kissimmee, FL

Darling Ducklings! But, are they all hers? Strange question, right? Well..."Egg-dumping, or "intraspecific brood parasit...
05/28/2026

Darling Ducklings!

But, are they all hers? Strange question, right? Well...

"Egg-dumping, or "intraspecific brood parasitism" is common in Wood Ducks—females visit other Wood Duck cavities, lay eggs in them, and leave them to be raised by the other female. ...in some areas it happens in more than half of all nests. Individual females typically lay 10-11 eggs per clutch, but some very full nests have been found containing 29 eggs, the result of egg-dumping." ~Cornell Lab/All About Birds

This gal actually had a total of 13 ducklings, so my question wasn't so strange, after all 😉

Spotted while kayaking at Silver Springs State Park, FL

05/28/2026

Welp, you don't see that every day 😆

Anhinga finding out the hard way it's best to leave crayfish off the menu.

Sweetwater Wetlands Park, FL

Address

5656 East Silver Springs Blvd.
Silver Springs, FL
34488

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