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Your Guide to Orlando Wildlife

Florida—the sunshine state. Known for coastline beaches, top vacation destinations, and our Walt Disney World, the state is a destination for travelers worldwide. Florida’s diverse land and ecosystems provide ideal land and aquatic animals living conditions. Here in central Florida, we live alongside different animal species.

Your Guide To Orlando Wildlife

In this post, we’ll look at the array of Orlando wildlife residents and homeowners you can come into contact with. We’ll discuss reproduction, eating habits, and where they choose to make their homes. We’ll even examine ways to ensure these animals stay off your property for good.

Read along as we dive into all there is to know about Orlando animals.

Orlando wildlife

Alligators in Orlando

While it’s not very likely you will encounter an alligator approaching your home anytime soon, the reptile is plentiful around Florida. And because they are known to show up occasionally, it’s best to be prepared.

What Alligators Eat

The Florida alligator looks like a crocodile and is typically found near freshwater lakes, rivers, marshes, and swamps; and mainly feeds on snakes, fish, small mammals, and turtles. On rare occasions, the species eat pets or carrion when hungry. Despite their heavy weight, alligators can run fast for short distances. Don’t worry too much, though; alligators are fearful of approaching humans. They are, however, more aggressive during mating season—around May—and ensure their nests are safe from intruders.

Female alligators use the surrounding vegetation to build their nests during summer. While warmer nests produce male offspring, colder incubation temperatures within the female’s nest produce females.

How to Keep Alligators Off Your Property

While rare, you can always take precautionary measures to keep alligators off your property. This is particularly important for folks living near lakes or ponds. Your best bet is to install a fence. You can install it on land or underwater a few feet from the lake’s edge.  

Orlando animals

Snakes in Orlando

Four venomous snakes can be found in Central Florida. While cruel, they aren’t poisonous and can be located in your backyard or near a lake or pond. The four include the Eastern Coral Snake, the Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake, Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, and the Florida Cottonmouth; each has a different habitat, food preference, and size. We’ll detail the differences below.

The Eastern Coral Snake is about 20 to 30 inches long and usually hides under debris, such as leaves and trash. These animals use their habitat to find food, typically other snakes, lizards, and frogs. If you come across this species, steer clear: its colorful red, yellow, and black pattern indicates staying away.

Measuring about 15 to 22 inches in length, the Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake color ranges from light to dark gray. Some are also known to have black or reddish-brown spots on their body. Like the Eastern Coral, this rattlesnake feeds on small lizards, frogs, and mice. While this snake likes most terrains, it’s typically found making a home in gopher tortoise burrows.

Another rattlesnake, the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, is Florida’s most giant venomous snake. Because it waits in hiding to attack its prey, this snake prefers wooded areas or sandy beaches and typically lives in tree stumps and gopher tortoise burrows. The rattlesnake eats mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, and birds.

Another snake found in Central Florida is the Florida Cottonmouth. Also known as a water moccasin, the Cottonmouth is North America’s only venomous water snake. Akin to its name, this snake lives in waterways, streams, rivers, or canals and can be recognized underwater by the cream-colored stripes that run along its back—the Cottonmouth preys on small mammals, birds, and other cold-blooded game.

How to Keep Snakes Off Your Property

Even though these snakes tend to keep to themselves, there are steps you can take to ensure they stay off your property. Here are a few below:

  •      Keep your lawn clean of fallen leaves, tall bushes, and shrubs.
  •      Eliminate rodents like rats, mice, and insects as possible snake food sources.
  •      Consider placing sulfur around your garden or along the fence. The smell is enough to keep snakes at bay.

Wildlife in Orlando

Raccoons

Raccoons live among humans all across the country—and that’s no different in Orlando. They’ve adapted to humans and urban dwellings and can make a home outdoors—or worse—in your home.

The most common habitats in urban areas and cities include:

  •      Attics
  •      Sheds
  •      Chimneys
  •      Sewers
  •      and Barns

A promising sign a raccoon might have visited your home is a tipped trash can, damaged gardens, and raccoon tracks. You’ll especially want to take notice around late winter as female raccoons begin reproduction.

What Raccoons Eat

When it comes to their diet, raccoons are omnivores. But given the opportunity, this animal will eat anything available, especially in urban areas where other wildlife and vegetation are limited. While they will happily eat food in your trash cans, raccoons prefer plants and invertebrates. This includes birds, eggs, fish and shellfish, frogs, fruit, insects, nuts and seeds, and rodents. Although they typically look for food at night, raccoons can sometimes rummage trashcans and dumpsters during the day.

How to Keep Raccoons Off Your Property

Removing potential food sources is one of the most effective ways to keep raccoons off your property. Keep your garbage cans locked securely, and remove fallen fruit from a backyard tree. You can also consider installing an automatic sprinkler system if you don’t already have one. A motion-activated sprinkler system can scare off raccoons if they make a home in your yard.

Animals in Orlando

Opossums

While opossums are incredibly unique—they’re the only North American marsupials—they’re similar to raccoons. For starters, opossums are omnivorous and eat almost anything, like garbage. Secondly, they’re nocturnal animals. Unlike raccoons, though, it’s scarce to see them scouring for food during the day.

An opossum’s preferred habitat is another way the animals resemble raccoons. In urban areas and cities, they tend to find shelter under a porch or shed, in an attic, under floorboards, or in the walls of your home.

What Opossums Eat

As we already mentioned, opossums are omnivores. Their diet consists of carrion, rodents, insects, snails, birds, eggs, frogs, plants, fruits, and grains. Like their nocturnal counterpart, a raccoon, they’ll also eat human food if the opportunity presents itself.

How to Keep Opossums Off Your Property

Consider keeping your backyard or lawn well-lit at night to keep opossums off your property. Being nocturnal animals, any bright light will deter them from approaching your property. After some time has passed, opossums won’t consider your lawn attractive anymore and bypass your home—even when the lights are off.

Another tactic includes maintaining a clean and manicured lawn. Remove any food source by securing your garbage, collecting fallen fruits, and covering any signs of compost. A lack of food will discourage opossums from entering your home.

Animals found in Orlando

Armadillo

The armadillo isn’t a Florida native but thrives in the warm climate. Furthermore, because it’s attracted to sandy, loamy soil, Orlando’s swampy ponds and marshes offer the perfect habitat. The armadillo is a nocturnal animal, which is strange because they have poor eyesight. Even more surprising, you can sometimes see an armadillo during the day after a rainstorm or when it’s cold.

Here are a few interesting facts about the armadillo:

  •      They’re good swimmers and runners and can walk underwater across small streams easily
  •      They can float
  •      If frightened, they can jump 3 to 4 feet in the air
  •      Mating season is about 2 to 3 months long and takes place between July and August
  •      This armadillo produces quadruplets at a time
  •      The life span is typically around seven years

What Armadillos Eat

Another interesting fact is that armadillos have very few teeth. The teeth they do have are peg-like molars and have no enamel. The primary food source for armadillos is insects. Like other insectivores, they have very long, sticky tongues.

How to Keep Armadillos Off Your Property

To keep armadillos off your lawn, consider installing a fence. It’s the best way to keep them away. Since armadillos are known to be excellent diggers, be sure the wall reaches a few feet into the ground. Also, while it doesn’t need to be tall, the wall should be sturdy.

Types of wildlife in Orlando

Rats

One common rodent found in and around homes nationwide is the rat. Commonly referred to as the citrus, fruit, black, or gray rat, the Roof Rat is most likely what you encountered. It’s considered the worst rodent pest in all of Florida.

You can tell if it’s a roof rat based on its appearance, specifically its long tail. While adult roof rats are 12-14 inches long, the tail alone is longer than the head and the body combined. The bottom is also hairless and black.

Though Orlando has excellent year-round weather, roof rats will often enter your home for shelter and food. They tend to nest above ground in hidden areas like your attic. Outside your home, these rats are typically found in piles of debris, hollow trees, or under stacks of materials stored on the ground.

What Rats Eat

While roof rats are omnivores, they’ll eat through wires and the wood interior of your home if they make it inside. In the wild, they tend to feed on livestock feed, but in urban areas, you’ll find them eating pet food, bird seed, and garbage.

How to Keep Rats Off Your Property

Despite their prevalence, there are ways to keep roof rats off your lawn. Similar to other rodents, a clean yard is critical. Since roof rats find shelter under piles of debris, a well-manicured property is the perfect way to keep them out. Another preventative measure would be to remove any potential food source. Keep pet food inside and store the food in rat-proof containers if you have a birdfeeder.

ABC Knows Orlando’s Wildlife

Whether your home is near a pond or in the center of an urban community, several animals live alongside us here in Central Florida. Luckily, ABC Home & Commercial Services is here to help you identify the wildlife on your property and determine whether removal is necessary. A team member will provide you with a free initial inspection and can then help you make the best decision for your property. We look forward to giving you peace of mind and the information you need to know to keep your property free from the wildlife you don’t want in and around your home.

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