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Fox Squirrel

These bushy-tailed squirrels inhabit dry sandy pinelands throughout Florida. They are, however, a protected species, and they unfortunately are endangered south of Lake Okeechobee. They are rarely found in urbanized areas. They eat mostly pine seeds and acorns, and depending on the season, will sometimes eat vegetation, bird eggs, nesting birds and insects.

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Gray Fox

The gray fox can be found in hollow logs and rock piles throughout most of the United States. These animals eat plants, bugs and small mammals. Foxes serve as great rodent control. They are the only member of the dog family that is able to climb trees.

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Bobcats

Bobcats are medium-sized cats; they are bigger than a house cat while smaller than a lion. They are about two feet tall and weigh about 20 pounds. They are usually light brown to reddish brown in color. A bobcat kitten's fur is spotted when they are born and as they get older the spots fade into light black streaks.

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Bald Eagle

These powerful birds are unmistakable in appearance. They are found throughout the United States and Canada. They can measure up to 43 inches in length and have a wingspan up to 7.5 feet. Their eyes are 5 to 6 times more powerful than a human's and they can spot a rabbit in a field up to a mile away.

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Red-Shouldered & Red Tailed Hawk

These birds are found in moist open forests, bottomlands and other wet lands throughout most of the U.S. The hawk eats a variety of prey including small mammals, birds, frogs, snakes, lizards, snails and insects.

Owls

The Barn Owl is one of the most widely distributed birds in all the world, found on every continent except Antarctica. The Barred Owl is found throughout the U.S. east of the Rockies, all the way south to Honduras. The Great Horned Owl is found throughout most of North America to South and Central America. Burrowing Owl,These owls are quite comical; they look like short, fat owls on stilts. By being able to stand tall, they can see far across the prairie. Eastern Screech OwlThe red phase of this raptor is most often seen in the south while the gray phase is found in the north and in south Texas. They are generally found in
woodlands, farm groves and shade trees.

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Waterfowl

The Park boasts a grand variety of waterfowl including brown pelicans, mallard ducks, wood ducks, ruddy ducks and fulvous whistling tree ducks. These birds are common on waterways throughout the southeast. Wild wood ducks and mallards can also be viewed from the Long River Bridge.

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Alligators

Found throughout the entire Southeastern United States, including Alabama, Arkansas, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. They usually occupy freshwater swamps and marshes, but are also found in rivers lakes and smaller bodies of water. Occasionally found in brackish water around mangrove swamps, alligators can tolerate a reasonable degree of salinity, though they lack the buccal salt-secreting glands present in crocodiles.

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Whitetailed Deer and Key Deer

The Park has two types of deer: The White-tailed deer, common throughout most of the United States east of Colorado, and the Florida Key Deer, a smaller subspecies of the white-tailed deer that occurs nowhere else in the world.

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Hippoopotamus

Why is an African species found at a Florida park with all native wildlife? Lu has lived here all his life. He was a big movie star when this was an exotic animal park. Local residents took a special liking to Lu and often visited him between his many movies. When the park went to strictly native species, Lu was bound for a transfer. You can imagine the demand for a 6,000-pound hippopotamus is not particularly high. When the locals caught wind of the intended transfer, they put up a fight to keep Lu here, their voices were heard, and Lu was granted honorary state citizenship.

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Manatee

Manatees are big, gentle and slow moving. They spend most of their time eating aquatic plants, resting or traveling to select feeding areas.The manatee is gray or gray-brown and because of their speed has algae and other aquaitc life growing on its back. Manatees can grow as large as 13 feet and weigh more than 3,000 pounds.The manatee has a large, seal-shaped body that tapers to a round tail. It has two flipper-like front legs with four fingernail-like spots on each limb. The skin is smooth looking, and they have some whiskers on its upper lip.

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Reptiles Snakes, Tortoises, Turtles

The park has many reptiles including venomous and non-venomous snakes of Florida, a Gopher tortoise enclosure, and many turtles. They are housed in a temputure controled state of the art building within the park.

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