It has come to Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife’s attention that overzealous debris removal crews with huge excavators and tandem debris trucks are scraping the lots and the banks of canals across a wide swath of Cape Coral.
The passionate defenders of Cape Coral’s burrowing owls are livid now that tractors are clearing debris from Hurricane Ian out of the city’s canals and possibly crushing dozens of owl and gopher tortoise burrows.
Ian resulted in the deaths of at least 130 people and displaced thousands more. Now, as residents begin to rebuild, questions remain about the future of its diverse, critically important native species.
Despite howling winds and flooding waters from Hurricane Ian, Mr. Lucky – because he’s also Mr. Smarty – survived. As did most of his friends.
The storm left the birds without a place to go back to, and many of them were injured. The owls are all over our community, and without a home, they’ll become scarce.
Florida is known for its phenomenal wildlife, for the birds and beasts that comb our swamps and roam our beautiful shores. So what exactly happened to all the beautiful and bountiful animals?
This year’s event was in honor of the late Mayor Joe Coviello, who was a strong supporter of CCFW and the preservation of species that call the city home.
In many ways, the Florida Scrub-Jay is the symbol for Florida’s bird story. On the one hand, Florida is near the top of the list of states for its number of resident and migratory species. On the other, it’s struggling to keep from losing several of its most prominent indigenous birds, including the Scrub-Jay.
Two of Cape Coral’s best-known residents, the gopher tortoise and the burrowing owl, will soon be living in protected lots all over the city.