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shalomanna · 4 months

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Beautiful sunset from the shore in Key West.

"Happy Holidays, Tumblr Family"

#key west #christmas pslms #christmas at the beach #ocean #island girl #surfing #beach #photography #florida keys #sand #florida #lifestyle #palms #boats #sunset #Sunday #fruends #fun #music

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whitefireprincess · 3 months

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Florida Keys | John Verwey

#travel #nature #florida keys #ocean #florida #key west #tropical #uotd #whitefireprincess

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rafefar · 1 month

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Adult Osprey returns to the nest with a fresh catch for babies

Tavernier, FL

#original photography #photographers on tumblr #nature photopragpy #bird photography #florida #birds #osprey #osprey chick #birds of prey #florida keys #rafefar

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hurricaneriley · 4 months

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bang.

#florida #2023 #winter #florida keys

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floridensis · 2 years

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Rare snake found at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, that died while eating a large centipede!

The state-threatened rim rock crowned snake (Tantilla oolitica) lives in pine rockland and hammock habitats in eastern Miami-Dade County and the Keys. This burrowing species, typically only 7-9 inches long, is seldom seen because it lives under debris, rocks or in cavities in underlying limestone.

A visitor to the park observed a small, dead snake on a trail with the rear portion of a centipede protruding from its mouth. Other species of crowned snake often eat centipedes, but this specimen represents the first food record of any kind for the little-known rim rock species. Crowned snakes immobilize their prey using mild venom but are unable to bite humans because of their small size. The prey item appears to be a juvenile Keys giant centipede (Scolopendra alternans), which can reach the size of a crowned snake as an adult. Crowned snakes are usually immune to the venom of centipedes, whose bites are painful to humans, but something went wrong during this encounter.

Did the snake choke while trying to consume the centipede? Or did the centipede envenomate and kill the snake?

This bizarre but fortunate discovery gave researchers the opportunity to use diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography (diceCT) to accurately measure the snake and its prey and determine the cause of death. The diceCT scans indicated a possible obstruction of the compressed trachea, suggesting the snake indeed suffocated while swallowing the hard-bodied prey item. Close inspection of the CT scans revealed the centipede imparted a parting bite to the snake (red) before being swallowed and blocking the snake's trachea (purple).

This event represented the first dietary record for what may be the rarest snake species in North America! The snake, along with the partially ingested centipede, are now part of the Florida Museum of Natural History collection.

3D model here

[Source: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute - I copy and pasted from their posts, but rearranged it together into one cohesive post]

#rim rock crowned snake #keys giant centipede #pine rockland #florida #florida keys #animal death #snake #centipede

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noaasanctuaries · 1 year

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Time to spill the mana-tea!

While not great at gossip, these large, air-breathing herbivores are found in shallow waters where seagrass beds or vegetation flourish. Manatees are slow-moving and therefore unable to swim quickly away from boats; this often results in collisions that may cause injury or death to the creatures. In areas that are known manatee habitats, boaters should slow down and produce only minimal wake.

Have you seen a manatee floating beneath the surface in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary?

📸: Sam Farkas

#Manatee #Manatee Appreciation Day #Wildlife #Florida #Florida Keys #NOAA #EarthIsBlue #Marine Life

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outdoormagic · 10 months

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