{"id":2011,"date":"2009-01-12T15:22:09","date_gmt":"2009-01-12T20:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=2011"},"modified":"2009-01-12T16:19:01","modified_gmt":"2009-01-12T21:19:01","slug":"conservancy-of-southwest-florida-nature-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=2011","title":{"rendered":"Conservancy of Southwest Florida – Nature Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Conservancy of Southwest Florida: Knight Anole<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nature Center<\/h2>\n

Inside the nature center at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, you find live displays and informational exhibits that showcase the varied animals and the rare habitats of southwest Florida.\u00c2\u00a0 The\u00c2\u00a0center’s reach\u00c2\u00a0stretches geographically from Naples in the north\u00c2\u00a0to the Everglades in the south; it spans habitats from woodsy uplands; through fresh water ecosystems, estuarine mangrove channels and protected bays; to Gulf beaches, inter-tidal\u00c2\u00a0shorelines, Everglade marshlands\u00c2\u00a0and tropical reefs.\u00c2\u00a0 A\u00c2\u00a0very rich, exquisitely beautiful, but extremely fragile set of habitats and ecosystems.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

Florida Mud Turtle<\/em><\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fresh water tanks illustrate the variety of flora and fauna unique to southwest Florida ecosystems, all extremely sensitive to human overuse and abuse of the aquifer and the watershed.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Fresh Water Tank with Gator and Red-Eared Slider<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

No visit to the nature center would be complete without\u00c2\u00a0admiring the antics of a Florida gator.\u00c2\u00a0 One wonders, though,\u00c2\u00a0whether the red-eared slider and the fish earn a dangerous pay bonus for sharing a tank and ecosytem with the gator.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Display Tanks Integrated Among “Red Mangroves”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A section of the nature center captures the brackish, estuarine ecosystem with display tanks woven among red mangroves.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Diamondback Terrapins in Brackish Estuarine Tank<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Who else would be more at home among the mangrove roots than the diamondback terrapin?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Conservancy Touch Tank of Back Bay and Shoreline Critters<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Moving to saltier habitats, the nature center sports a large touch tank with illustrative critters from protected bays and the inter-tidal zone along shore lines.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Loggerhead Sea Turtle ( Caretta caretta) Nest Exhibit<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Along the Gulf beaches of southwest Florida, loggerhead sea turtles come ashore\u00c2\u00a0each spring through summer to lay nests above the high water line.\u00c2\u00a0 The eggs incubate for an average of about two months and hatchlings generally emerge at night to head for the “brightest horizon,” which normally means the sea … unless a callous business or homeowner blares bright lights during the hatching season.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Juvenile Loggerhead Sea Turtle in Tropical Tank\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While not currently in the nature center, juvenile loggerheads (Caretta caretta<\/em>) have graced the tropical tank.\u00c2\u00a0 When present, they are a wonder to observe.\u00c2\u00a0 The juvenile in the video was two or three years old in the first clip, but had obviously grown a couple of years by the end of the video.\u00c2\u00a0 Large loggerheads present a challenge for rehabilitators.\u00c2\u00a0 They are rather jealously possessive of their own tank and brook no rivals.\u00c2\u00a0 So, as they grow it increases the incentive for their return to the wild.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Conservancy Is Committed toTurtle Conservation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida is committed to endangered turtle conservation.\u00c2\u00a0 Many exhibits and posters document the work of the Conservancy throughout this area.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0When you visit the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Turtle Journal recommends that you plan an extended stay to savor everything it has to offer.\u00c2\u00a0 For children from five to one hundred five, there’s\u00c2\u00a0unlimited opportunities\u00c2\u00a0for\u00c2\u00a0exploration and discovery.<\/p>\n

Return to Turtle Journal soon to\u00c2\u00a0go behind the scenes of the Conservancy’s animal\u00c2\u00a0hospital to learn about\u00c2\u00a0rescue and rehabilitation of endangered and injured animals.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conservancy of Southwest Florida: Knight Anole Nature Center Inside the nature center at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, you find live displays and informational exhibits that showcase the varied animals and the rare habitats of southwest Florida.\u00c2\u00a0 The\u00c2\u00a0center’s reach\u00c2\u00a0stretches geographically from Naples in the north\u00c2\u00a0to the Everglades in the south; it spans habitats from woodsy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2011"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2039,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011\/revisions\/2039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}