Sanibel Sightings: Recent Revelations of Sanibel Wild Life

In a fairly recent post we wrote about the great number of birds that reside on Sanibel or find it a beautiful and handy place to stay while on their migratory path. 
 
It is a joy to sight our fine feathered friends, and engaging enough not to look at the numerous creatures that inhabit Sanibel.
 
But there are so many, many critters that not only fly from perch to perch, but that walk, scamper, crawl, swim and slither through our tropical island.
 
In recent weeks, there have been some delightful discoveries.
 
One of these was the sighting of a coyote.  Although this beautiful creature had been sighted initially in January of 2011, the recent sighting was also a rarity. Coyotes are very shy, perhaps even more difficult to see than our bobcats. The name coyote is one of very few words that have come to us from the Aztec language. The Aztec name for this adaptive and intelligent member of the Canidae family was coyotl, meaning God's dog. We love every kind of dog on Sanibel!
 
Perhaps not as cuddly in appearance, the island watchers were also excited by the recent appearance of an Eastern Indigo snake.  The Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation announced that its Pine Island Sound Eastern Indigo Snake Project has documented the first eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) from Captiva Island since 1988.

This rare Florida reptile was thought to be extirpated from Captiva Island. This snake was found at South Seas Resort by a contractor from RS Walsh landscaping, and a South Seas grounds employee on Sept. 20. The snake was safely released back on Captiva.
 

Though the rare Sanibel rice rat hadn't been seen in three years on the island, researchers there say they've just spotted the animal twice in two days! Each fall, the team at the Ding Darling uses traps in an effort to find the rat, which is native to and only found on Sanibel Island.

 

Wildlife biologist Tara Wertz, Ding Darling, says they helps to keep the environment balanced. She says the fact that two have been found is a good sign for wildlife on the island.

 

"We're all scratching our heads going, ‘OK, so many years and we haven't seen any. What's going on?'" she said. "Anything's exciting when you haven't seen it for a while."

She says the Sanibel rice rat is small, does not carry diseases and many people say it's cuter than other varieties of rats.

 

But if the striking indigo snake, coy coyote and little rice rat allude your sense of beauty, things are looking up these days, and so should you.

 

Doing their best imitation of falling autumn leaves, the Gulf Fritillary butterfly is visiting again. The Gulf Fritillary or Passion Butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, is a striking, bright orange butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, subfamily Heliconiinae. These were formerly classified in a separate family, the Heliconiidae or longwing butterflies, and like other longwings this species does have long, rather narrow wings in comparison with other butterflies. It is not closely related to the true fritillaries. It is a medium to large butterfly, with a wingspan of 6–9.5 cm (2.4–3.7 in). Its underwings are buff, with large silvery spots. It takes its name from migrating flights of the butterflies sometimes seen over the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Any day in any season, Sanibel is a plethora of pleasant sightings!