A Very Rare Andean Cat Stretching Out In Front Of Wildlife Cam 

A rainy but beautiful start to our morning here at SNC!

Peepers says hello to Fall

Beautiful metal tree art….

This beautiful Limpkin was seen in our front wetland the other day. You may have heard their calls and thought something terrible was happening! Don't worry, it's just normal territorial behavior. Listen here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Limpkin/sounds 

A non-native iguana snuck into the alligator’s enclosure. Luckily for him Wally wasn’t hungry today!

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!

Caterpillars are juvenile butterflies and they are awfully hungry. These little guys are going to one day turn into Monarch Butterflies. Until then, they'll be in the SNC's caterpillar home before being released into our butterfly gardens.

As of September, the Sawgrass Nature Center and Wildlife Hospital has treated over 800 wild animals. This is a 20% increase from last year’s total intakes. While we can’t be completely sure, we assume the increase is due to other local nature centers and wildlife hospitals closing down and redirecting traffic to us, as well as COVID-19 causing more people to stay close to home. 

The more time people spend at home, the more time they have to notice all the native wildlife running around their backyards. 

Turtles lay their eggs on land before leaving them to hatch on their own. The babies are instinctually drawn towards water. These guys hatched on SNC grounds quite a bit away from the nearest freshwater habitat, so we gathered them up and helped them on their way. This increased their chances of survival as they didn't have to fend off hungry birds during the long walk to safety.

Our resident red rat snake has been with us for quite a few years now. He was brought to the SNC because he has a chronic neurological disease that prevents him from surviving on his own in the wild. The typical life span of red rat snakes in the wild is six to eight years. However, because this guy is getting a high grade diet and medical care, his lifespan is expected to be extended.