The other day we dropped by Mead Botanical Garden in Winter Park just so we could wander around Alice’s Pond and look for wildlife. We saw two turtles and a black racer with a frog in its mouth. Not a bad way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon!
Florida Snakes
Hiking Lake May Reserve
I enjoy hiking Lake May Reserve in Eustis because it offers some rare elevation, a scenic path around the lake and a cool red barn that provides a good subject for amateur photographers like me. I never see too much wildlife here except for numerous butterflies. However, today I did view a black racer sunning directly on the trail. Cool spot!
Reptile World Serpentarium
Located in a nondescript cinder-block building off a lonely stretch of U.S. 192 in St. Cloud near Lake Lizzie Conservation Area, the Reptile World Serpentarium boasts more than 75 species of snakes (including mambas, cobras and rattlesnakes such as the legendary Eastern Diamondback), as well as alligators, crocodiles, iguanas and turtles. Opened by noted herpetologist George Van Horn in 1976, Reptile World is the real deal. There’s even a venom milking show! It’s a welcome relief to anyone who is tired of waiting in line for over an hour to watch an audio-animatronic dinosaur attempt to eat a jeep at some overpriced Orlando-area theme park.
Wandering Florida 