Endangered species within a 100 miles of my home

Panther
ENDANGERED
Type: Mammal
Description: It looks like a cat, but bigger and with dark yellow and a dark black.
Natural Habitat: dry land and wetland areas
Diet: deer, feral hog, raccoons, armadillo, small alligators and other small rodents and fowl
Size When Born: 500 grams
Adult Size: Male- 7-8 feet long from nose to tail tip;
Weight-100-160 lbs
Female- Length- 6 feet
Weight- 60-100 lbs
How It Protects Itself: Panthers protect themselves and their kittens by building a den for shelter and protection.
**An endangered species is one that is in danger of extinction or extirpiration (will disappear from Florida but still exist elsewhere). Either due to very low population numbers or habitat degradation, these species will not survive without active assistance.

Loggerhead Turtle
THREATENED
Type: Reptile
Description: hard shell, slow, fat,
reddish brown, round,
lives in water
Natural Habitat: wetlands
Diet: bottom dwelling invertebrates
Size When Born: 2 inches
Adult Size: 3 feet
How It Protects Itself: The turtle’s protection is its hard shell.
**A threatened species is one that is likely to become endangered in the near future. These species' populations are decreasing or dangerously low.
Hawksbill Turtle
ENDANGERED
Type: Reptile
Description: It has a purple
blackish color and a
sharp beak.
Identifying Characteristics: slow mover, hard shell, great swimmer
Natural Habitat: shallow bottom reefs
Diet: sea sponges from the reef
Size When Born: 2 inches
Adult Size: Length- 65 to 85 cm
Weight- 45 to 75 kg
How It Protects Itself: The turtle’s protection is its hard shell.
**An endangered species is one that is in danger of extinction or extirpiration (will disappear from Florida but still exist elsewhere). Either due to very low population numbers or habitat degradation, these species will not survive without active assistance.
Gecko
Type: Reptile
Description: It is a little creature.
It has scaly skin. It is brown. Males have dark spots. Females have dark stripes down their bodies and two light spots on the nape of the neck


Natural Habitat: It may be found under boards, rocks, and debris.
Identifying Characteristics: The Reef Gecko, Sphaerodactylus notatus, found in the Keys and the extreme southern part of the state, and may be the only native gecko.
Diet: small bugs
Adult Size: It reaches a maximum length of 2 inches.
How It Protects Itself: hiding
Eastern Coral Snake
Type: Reptile
Description: scaly skin,
poisonous, wild,
yellow, red, and
black stripes

Natural Habitat: moist, densely vegetated hammocks near ponds or streams in hardwood forests; pine flatwoods; rocky hillsides and canyons
Identifying Characteristics: Cobra snakes belong to the same family as the highly venomous cobras, kraits, mambas, and sea snakes. Their bites can be fatal.
Diet: wild stuff, mice
Size When Born: 7-9 inches
Adult Size: 22-47 inches

How It Protects Itself: venom

River Otter
Type: Mammal
Description: soft and fuzzy, gold and
tree trunk brown colored
fur, small and cute

Natural Habitat: the water
Identifying Characteristics: Its strong claws and fully webbed feet.
Diet: fish and clams
Adult Size: 2 ½ feet long, 20 lbs

How It Protects Itself: He slaps his flat tail to scare predators away.
Unusual Habits: During a dive, the otter’s pulse slows to a tenth of the normal rate of 170 beats a minute, thereby conserving oxygen.

Eastern Hognose Snake
Type: Reptile
Description: scaly, brownish spots, short, thick bodies
Describing Characteristics: The hognose is widely feared because, when disturbed, it assumes a menacing position, flattens its head, expands its neck, opens its mouth, and hisses widely, almost like a cobra.
Natural Habitat: Sandy soils are an essential habitat characteristic for hognose snakes. These snakes can be found in sandy woodlands, fields, farmland and coastal areas.
Diet: Hognose snakes feed primarily on toads and frogs; it also eats small mammals and young ground-nesting birds.
Size When Born: 35 to 50 cm
Adult Size: 80cm
How It Protects Itself: The snake first uses aggressive tactics to scare intruders away. If this does not work, the snake rolls over and plays dead.

Barn Owl
Type: Bird
Description: Barn owls have small dark eyes in a white heart-shaped face and long legs. Upper parts are rusty-brown, underparts are white in makes and crimson in females

Natural Habitat: A common resident in all parts of Florida, the Barn Owl has been sighted in the interior of the Everglades and along the overseas highway through the Keys. It is often seen near the edge of human habitation. The Barn Owl is common throughout most of the U.S. and can be found on most every continent in the world
Identifying Characteristics: Though rarely seen, the Barn Owl is very common in Florida. The species is entirely nocturnal and never hunts at dawn or dusk. The genus name, Tyto, is derived from the Greek for "night owl." The Barn Owl doesn't hoot, but has a variety of calls from shrill screeches and high rattling hisses to raucous sneezes and snorting noises..
Diet: Barn owls feed almost exclusively on mice, rats and squirrels, along with a few birds, locating their prey by sound alone. The heart-shaped facial disk aids in collecting sound for hunting. They spend more time actively hunting than any other owl and cover more area than any other nocturnal bird. One-hundred-acre hunting ranges are usual.
Adult Size: 45 inch wingspan
Body length of 14 to 20 inches
Eastern Indigo Snake
THREATENED
Type: Reptile
Description: It is glossy blue-black with smooth iridescent scales. The chin and throat are commonly tinged with a reddish or orange-brown coloring
Identifying Characteristics: The Eastern indigo is the longest North American snake, with a maximum recorded length of 2.6 m.
Natural Habitat: swamp and wetlands
Diet: Rats and goats and sometimes other snakes.
Unusual Habits: The Eastern indigo is the longest North American snake, with a maximum recorded length of 2.6 m.
Size When Born: 4 inches
Adult Size: 60-103 inches
How It Protects Itself: By going to a burrow or biting.
**A threatened species is one that is likely to become endangered in the near future. These species' populations are decreasing or dangerously low.


Swallowtail Butterfly
ENDANGERED
Type: Mammal
Description: Rather rounded. Above, both wings brown with dark yellow spots within brown border and bold yellow band across middle; long, brown, yellow-edged tail.
Identifying Characteristics: The northern subspecies of Schaus Swallowtail is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in Florida. A resident of south Florida habitats called tropical hardwood hammocks, this handsome butterfly has suffered losses as its habitat has been overtaken by development. Once found as far north as Miami, it now lives in the U.S. only in the upper Keys.
Natural Habitat: Restricted to shady hardwood hammocks.
Life Cycle: Egg green. Caterpillar rich maroon with cream-colored patches and blue spots. Tubular, tapered, and horned chrysalis overwinters. Host plants are torchwood (Amyris elemifera) and wild lime (Zanthoxylum fagara).
Adult Size: 3 ½ to 4 inches
**An endangered species is one that is in danger of extinction or extirpiration (will disappear from Florida but still exist elsewhere). Either due to very low population numbers or habitat degradation, these species will not survive without active assistance.

Green Tree Frog
Type: Amphibian
Description: slippery, bumpy, golden colored spots on the back, usually a greenish color
Natural Habitat: moist, wooded swamps and brushy areas
Identifying Characteristics: Life begins in a pond for our amphibious friend. About a week after eggs are deposited, tadpoles hatch. They will be tadpoles for six to eight weeks, then they will emerge into frogdom, perhaps with some remains of their larval tail. Ah, what a clever creature, as this leftover is reabsorbed into its body as food supply. That's one less thing to worry about in the first few days while the frog adjusts to its new world.
Diet: bugs and flies
Adult Size: 1 ¼ to 2 ½ inches long

How It Protects Itself: Its color.
Unusual Habits: Color changes also help the green tree frog adapt to its environment. It may lighten to pale green during a bright day to reflect more heat and stay cooler. Or, on cloudy, cooler days, it can darken to retain warmth. On winter days it can dull itself to gray for blending into its winter home - a burrow in the ground for hibernation.
Because they are often heard during rainstorms, folklore and legends regard these frogs as “weather prophets.”

Stock Island Tree Snail
ENDANGERED
Type: Mollusk
Description: It looks like slimy, green and it is sticky. It has a thin glossy cone shell with whirls.
Natural Habitat: It lives in trees and shrubs in warm places in Florida.
Identifying Characteristics: It likes humid hammocks. It crawls on trees but also on the ground.
Diet: algae and bacteria
Size When Born: About 15 ml
Adult Size: 35 to 60 ml

How It Protects Itself: Its shell.
Unusual Habits: He is mostly active at night.
**An endangered species is one that is in danger of extinction or extirpiration (will disappear from Florida but still exist elsewhere). Either due to very low population numbers or habitat degradation, these species will not survive without active assistance.


In 1987, the American Alligator becamethe official state reptile of Florida.
The alligators are not an endangered species but they are legally protected.
They are classified as a threatened species because of their similarity in appearance to the American Crocodile, an endangered species.
Natural Habitat: Alligators live in all Florida counties but are most common in the major river drainage basins and large lakes in the central and southern portions of the state. They also can be found in marshes, swamps, ponds, drainage canals, phosphate-mine settling ponds, and ditches. Alligators are tolerant of poor water-quality and occasionally inhabit brackish marshes along the coast. A few even venture into salt water.
Diet: Alligators are carnivores. Young alligators eat insects, snails and other invertebrates, frogs and small fish. At a length of about six feet they begin to feed predominantly on fish, turtles, snakes, waterbirds, and small mammals. Larger alligators readily eat carrion and, in fact, may prefer it to fresh meat. They are basically opportunistic feeders and will eat almost anything, including such objects as sticks, stones, fishing lures and aluminum cans.

Alligators have been hunted for meat and skins since humans first set food in Florida. Alligator skins were sold in the Miami area for $7 each as early as 1800.
There is little doubt alligators were over-exploited largely because of the demand for alligator leather.
Today, through strict laws, alligators may be harvested during very limited, controlled hunts and are propagated and raised in captivity for the production of meat and skins. This multimillion dollar industry, along with carefully regulated wild alligator harvests, generates approximately 300,000 pounds of meat and 15,000 skins each year. The meat is typically sold to restaurants and wholesalers for about $5 to $7 per pound. Alligator skins are sold to leather tanneries throughout the world. Prices for skins vary considerably from year to year but have averaged about $25 per foot over the past 10 years.