Critter Surprises

 The Florida Keys has quite an interesting population of birds, reptiles, mammals and arachnids. The other afternoon we were walking along and were surprised by quite a large black snake crossing the road in front of us. It was about 3 ft. long and really just minding its own business. Turns out, it was a Black Racer, just as common here as a Garter snake is to us in the northeast. We have quite a population of Brown Anoles around the bath house. They love to take in the sun during the middle of the day.

 They can range in size from 2 to 5 inches long and are quite endearing....for reptiles that is!  We have a resident Giant Land Crab at the edge of our site. Their carapece can be as large as 6 inches across. They live in burrows and make their way to the sea just to mate and lay eggs. I have read that they can be good eating...and have found a yummy sounding recipe on the internet. I don't think we will try it this year though.

 The most exciting creatures to be found around here though, have been the iguanas. These are descendents of family pets released when they grew to be about the size of the family dog. Now they are everywhere in Florida. People complain because they can be rather startling and can really take over sunny patio walls. They are vegetarians and are really quite harmless unless approached.

 Of course there are the beautiful birds that live in the surrounding mangrove swamps and along the shore. We have seen sandpipers, dowitchers, gulls, white ibis, brown pelicans, kingfishers, several kinds of herons, great egrets and even a red shouldered hawk.

 On Monday we visited the Turtle Hospital here in Marathon. All 5 types of sea turtles can be found in the Florida Keys. This facility rescues sea turtles that are sick or injured. These injuries and sicknesses, sadly, are usually caused by humans. All that plastic thrown away...fishing line is deadly, long lining for tuna is also another huge problem as well as destruction of habitat. Another major cause of injury can be fast moving boats....propellers are dangerous to slow moving creatures such as turtles and manatees. The hospital staff has an on call emergency team as well as surgical and recovery facilities. Some turtles can be released after recovery but some need to remain at the hospital for their remaining lifetime. 

 There are some critters that we would really not enjoy discovering on our kayak trips. We have heard that the Burmese Python has made its way to the Keys and there are some lagoons where we might encounter alligators.  John would just like to find a few more fish. So far nothing big enough to make our favorite fish tacos!