Wildlife
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J. Scott Altenbach
Florida bonneted bat
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A birding hot spot in southwest Florida, Webb is home to numerous resident
as well as migrating birds, including the peregrine falcon, bald eagle,
wood stork, Bachman’s sparrow, burrowing owl, and brown-headed
nuthatch. A variety of warblers are common during the winter. Webb is
a stronghold of the eastern bluebird and many other birds whose habitat
has been lost to development.
Babcock-Webb's open stands of slash pine flatwoods are home to 27 colonies
of the federally listed endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, an increase
of 12 colonies since 1982. Their cavity trees are marked with a white-painted
ring. The Sherman's fox squirrel, a state listed species of special
concern, has been observed on Babcock-Webb. Northern bobwhite, eastern
cottontail rabbits,
gray squirrels, raccoons, white-tailed deer, and feral hogs are common
inhabitants of the flatwoods. Wading birds forage in wet prairies and
marshes throughout the day. A good place to look for wood storks, egrets,
and herons of various types as well as alligators is in the canal along
the Seaboard Grade. Sandhill cranes are frequently found in the field
east of the stilt house. If water levels are up, a nesting pair of sandhills
may be seen east of the Oil Well Grade at the second pond to the north.
The
extremely rare Florida bonneted bat (Eumops
floridanus, listed as endangered by the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission) is one of the rarest mammals in North
America. Its last natural roost was documented in 1979, on Babcock-Webb
WMA. However, recent audio recordings provide evidence of its continued
existence in several south Florida counties (one colony was even
discovered in a bat house in Lee County in 2003). Distinguished by its
large size (4.9 inches-6.5 inches) and unusual ears, this bat roosts in
palms, tree cavities and buildings, and forages for insects high in the
air.
