Are there wild animals in The Villages?
Florida is a jungle and with it's tropical climate comes many varieties of mammals, reptiles, and birds. Keep reading to see which animals you will be sharing The Villages with.
Yes, there are many wild animals in The Villages. Let me list the most common ones that you will see here, either in your yard, on the golf course, around the retention ponds, or at the wildlife preserves in The Villages. Anoles are small lizards that are found everywhere. They can even get into the house! Tree frogs and non-poisonous snakes, such as ringneck and rat snakes, are also abundant. Don't kill them! They have the important job of eating bugs and palm rats from around the outside of your house. We do have two poisonous snakes; the eastern coral snake and the cotton mouth. But they are much less common. Everyone has seen small and large alligators here in The Villages. Most common sightings are during summer mating season. Just remember don't walk small dogs close to the retention ponds and lakes any time of the year. Soft shell turtles are easily spotted off the boardwalk at Lake Sumter. We also have gopher tortoises who live in holes. The largest bird you will see in the villages is the sandhill crane. Their call sounds like something out of Jurassic park! We also have eagles, including bald eagles, as well as hawks and falcons. The list of waterfowl here in The Villages is long. It includes the white ibises, with their curved beaks, often seen in groups combing the yard for worms. Others include ducks, anhingas, herons, egrets, storks, and white pelicans. Finally, the least common of the large wild animals include the black bear, the coyote, and the bobcat. While rare, encounters with these animals will no doubt increase as The Villages continues to grow and encroach on their habitats.
Of course, there are your common animals that everyone has, regardless of where you live. Opossums are plentiful, as are mice and moles. Canadian geese also make their way through The Villages during the winter months.
There has been a lot of talk lately about feeling safe in The Villages given the lengthy list of wild animals we have here. Assuming any body of water has an alligator living in it and avoiding wading in water or walking your dog along the water's edge, will keep the number of alligator incidents to a minimum. Once there is an encounter with a human or a pet, that alligator is hunted and euthanized. Why don't they move them to the wild? Well, they do if the alligator is just gotten too large and there has been no aggression with humans or pets. However, any act of aggression, even if it's within their habitat, will result in killing the alligator. So it's important not to feed alligators, bears, or any other wild animal. Keeping a healthy distance between human and animal allows us to live as harmoniously as possible together.
So what do we do when an Anole runs into your house? This happened to me the first week I moved here. The most common advice I got was, don't worry about it. They need water to live so they will likely crawl under a piece of furniture and die. They dry out though instead of rot. If you have a cat or small dog, no worries! They are the best Anole catchers. My cats often find the anole, play with it and then bring it to me. I scoop it up with a napkin and put the Anole back outside. Don't be surprised if they are missing their tail after an encounter with a cat/dog! Anoles can detach their tails to help avoid their predators. Then, they grow it back!