Visting Florida in April

Dear Herpers,

I will visit Florida in April this year.

Any hints for good herping places. Also Turtles and reptiles are interesting for photo shooting.

Thanks

Uwe

Uwe,
If you are going to be in the Miami area you should definitely take your camera to Crandon park on key Biscayne, it is a treasure house of introduced species (Iguana, Ctenosaura, Basilisk, app. 8 or so species of Anolis, as well as others). Just be warned that the park staff are very protective of the animals - I was down with a friend about 5 years ago and we were getting very stern looks just for taking photographs. Of course there are also many other state parks (not to mention the everglades). Have fun!
Chip

Hi Chip,

thank you for the hint. Sounds interesting, I heard that many species are now introduced in Fl.. I will try getting there, but I stay in Ft. Myers area (Cape Coral). But I think there are also places here to visit.

Have you been in the swamp lands in Fl?

Any newts/salamanders?

Uwe

Uwe

Corkscrew Swamp is a good site to see a variety of species. (see http://www.audubon.org/local/sanctuary/corkscrew/ ) During a drought about ten years ago I did get to see everything from pygmy rattlesnakes to mud snakes, various cooters, tree frogs (including a blue green tree frog), two species of anoles, skinks etc all in one afternoon as well as a number of bird species. Depending on when you are in Florida the board walk is close to where the alligator nests so you may be able to see some cool behaviors (we were there right after hatching so there were egg shells and baby gators everywhere).

Ed

I highly recommend Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. It is on Sanibel Island, just off Ft. Myers. You won't find any salamanders there, but you'll probably see alligators. If you go there, I hope you like photographing birds too

Uwe -

Salamander-wise you will likely be limited in the Fort Meyers area. You might be able to find some Notophthalmus v. piaropicola in some ponds by netting vegetation. You may also pull up some dwarf sirens, lesser sirens, greater sirens, and amphiumas this way. A little bit north of Ft. Meyers you may be able to encounter A. talpoideum. The Panhandle and northern peninsula holds the rest of the salamander species.

As has already been stated you shouldn't have a problem seeing gators, they are pretty much everywhere. Turtle-wise, well, I am not the best to ask, but you will likely see sliders and cooters maybe some softshells basking on logs primarily in the fresh water areas. In the salt marshes and even on beaches you have a chance of seeing some diamondback terrapins which are a truly neat animal to see.

Somebody else could probably say more about snakes, but there are quite a few to be found in FL. If you can find a mud snake you know there are likely sirens and amphiumas in the area, or vice versa.

I hope that helped...some. The herping I have done there has been restricted to the panhandle and the north, so I'm not terribly familiar with the Ft. Meyers area. Just because it is Florida though, you will likely see at least a few cool herps.

Dear herpers,

that was quite some information. Thanks a lot. I hope I will see and photograph at least some of the species you mentioned. Would be nice to see the subspecies of N.v.
Birds should be fine too. I considered already some of islands. So lets see.
I will come in April so breeding will be over mostly?
As I keep myself Sternotherus minor, animals of this family would be nice.

Thanks a lot

Uwe

@ Ding Darling you will HOPEFULLY get some amazing rare pics of American Crocodiles. Very rare site for sure. There arent many salamanders down here, but there are many turtles, birds, and alligators. Good luck!