Our field trip this week was to Calusa Nature Center and planetarium located in Fort Myers, Florida. Made up of more than 100 acres of property, it had a museum, three nature trails, a planetarium, butterfly and bird aviaries, a gift shop, and a picnic area.  Inside the museum we learned about Southwest Florida’s animals such as lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises, amphibians, fish, and even a talking bird. I remember specifically a snake called Philip, a large water moccasin who had accidently broken his jaw when he tried to attack something outside his glass tank.

Just outside and still a part of the museum, they had the estuary touch tank. In the estuary touch tank, you could interact and touch a variety of species including horseshoe crabs, oysters, hermit crabs, sea stars, various fish, and many different types of mollusks. Also outside they had permanently injured birds of prey such as hawks, vultures, bald eagles, owls, and many more.  I remember sadly, an owl that was missing one of its eyes.

Being cool & cozy.

The field trip officially started with the planetarium, which had the Calusa Dome Theater inside.  Now equipped with a new digital projector, we experienced a film on astronauts. The film was not projected in front of us on a screen, but more above us. It was a 360 degree, full dome experience that allowed us to feel as if we were one with what was happening in the film. Although not very relevant to the class, the film entitled, “Astronauts,” was about the conditions the human body goes through while preparing for space.  It also touched on the precautions astronauts should take in space.

After walking around upstairs, we walked downstairs where they had a fox, boar, chickens, rabbits, turtles, mature alligators, and the butterfly aviaries. 

Moringa olefera

The tour started in the butterfly aviaries, where we learned that the butterflies were free to come and go as they pleased, and about the different plants that are in place for the butterflies. Some were useful to humans even, such as the Moringa olefera, edible from the roots to the leaves and having higher vitamin C content than the widely known and perhaps more palatable orange.  

Melaleuca

Our tour guide then lead us through the big cypress swamp boardwalk, about a half mile long, travelling through both pine flatlands and wetlands – a difference of only inches in elevation. We spoke about different plants and brought a lot of attention to the invasive species such as Melaleuca and the Brazilian Pepper. Melaleuca, more commonly referred to as the paper tree, was introduced to Florida and Hawaii in order to help drain low-lying swampy areas. The consequences were overlooked however, as their population has nearly quadrupled in the past decade, resulting in dehydrated swamps and fueling aggressive fires, as they are extremely flammable

Brazilian Pepper

              After the boardwalk our tour guide took us back upstairs to talk about the caged animals, allowing the class to handle a baby alligator and observe the Florida Pine Snake, one equipped with a frightfully nasty hiss, but harmless to humans. Once we had observed other venomous snakes and some cranky birds, we had to run outside and quite literally catch our bus before it left. Not that we would have minded spending some more time exploring. :)

Bromeliad

Milkweed - Poisonous!

The Bayberry - Sometimes used

for candle wax or insect

repellent. 

Bald Cypress 

Swamp Maple

Thalia geniculata Linnaeus - Commonly
known as the Alligator Flag.
A beautiful native warning of
a gators habitat!

                        

Slash Pine