Yknow The Thing Where Red Pandas Just Lay Down On A Branch And Let Their Legs Hang And They’re Just

Interested in recognizing some signs of Florida wildlife? Here are some pictures of animal tracks! 

His name is Bumper for a reason! Bumper is a Greek Tortoise that is native to Europe and many surrounding areas. Due to his exotic species status, Bumper will not be released by the SNC into the wild. Instead, he will remain a permanent resident. 

Greek tortoises is one of the longest living species of tortoise in existence. They can live anywhere from 20-100 years. 

The Wildlife Among Us

Among Us is an online game that has become a sensation almost overnight. As the name implies, the game is focused on discovering the Imposter among the players before they are all killed. During this investigative process, players are also responsible for completing several tasks aboard their spaceship. When Camp Wild campers excitedly used their free time during snack and lunch to discuss the game with their fellow campers, I knew we could use this concept in our curriculum.

The next morning I set up tasks all around the education area of the nature center. The first station was a plastic frog dissection, fully equipped with all the vital organs typically searched for on live dissections with less mess. The goal of the second station was to organize the ladybug life cycle. The third station, the ”electricity station”, had corks painted in primary and secondary colors and attached to strings. For this station, campers had to “rewire” correctly by tying two primary colors to the secondary color they would make when blended. The fourth station was a fish tank that needed to be refilled and restocked. Campers quickly figured out the rain barrels stationed outside could provide them with the water necessary for this task. The fifth task was to assemble “solar panels,” or sun catchers out of marbles for clean energy. The sixth task was a bit more involved. 

Since we are an environmental camp based out of a nature center, the setting of the game was a nature center where the campers were playing the role of Wildlife Rehabilitators. Throughout the week they learned different types of animal classifications. Calling on this knowledge for the sixth task, wooden hearts representing “medicine” were scattered around the outdoor education area. Each time one heart was found, campers would have to sit down together and identify an imaginary animal to give it the proper course of treatment. They were given hints like “it’s cold blooded,” or “it’s a reptile,” and if they could properly identify the animal under a certain amount of time, they would successfully earn the medicine heart they found. If there was an animal that could not be properly identified, the medicine hearts were scattered and the task would start over again. 

Each task was created with an educational intent, but the campers were having so much fun, they didn’t even realize the valuable lessons they learned. The rounds were easily set up again after each imposter either won or was voted out of the nature center. For added fun, we let the campers create their own name tags in association with game colors. 

With respect to COVID protocols, all of the tasks were sanitized between campers and a limit of no more than two masked campers to each task allowed them to maintain social distance outside of their assigned seats. A fun, safe game and a successful educational tool that related back to something the camper’s already enjoyed guaranteed a successful event that is sure to be recreated for camps in the future. 

The head stabilization of an American Kestrel   

Source                     

This Wildlife Wednesday we are featuring our resident Red Rat Snake. This guy in particular has a permanent stay at the Nature Center due to a degenerative nerve disease that causes him to twitch. 

Rat Snakes are non-venomous, constrictor snakes. They also happen to be very skilled climbers, to the point where they have been known to scale brick walls! This helps them catch prey like lizards, small mammals, and hatchlings. 

Rat Snakes are popular in the pet trade and have been bred in many different colors and patterns.

Here's one for the reptile lovers out there. Our Bearded Dragon, Leonidas, eating his Valentines Day box of worms! Thank you to everyone who donated, we surpassed our goal!

Why do snakes yawn? While wildlife biologists do not have a definitive answer, it is like that it is because they are hungry! We can confirm that this video was caught right before feeding time.

Interview with Commissioner Metayer Part. I by Weird and Wild with the Sawgrass Nature Center • A podcast on Anchor

Dive into the topic of climate change with environmental educators Shelbey and Abby as we interview environmental scientist and Coral Springs Commissioner, Nancy Metayer.

Join SNC staff in our discussion on Climate Change! 

Mysterious beaked whale smashes mammal diving record

A Cuvier’s beaked whale stays under water for almost four hours, leaving scientists puzzled. from BBC News - Science & Environment https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54268040

Beautiful pictures 

butterfly