Field Trips from 2011:
You're in Panther Country
Welcome to Panther Country. Care to look around? We've got some fantastic field trips planned as part of the Festival.
Take a look below at all our options. Reservations are required for field trips, so reserve your spot early!
Make your reservations with the site of your desired field trip.
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- Plus: on-site adventures at the Festival!
Friday, October 28th, 2011
Photo by USFWS
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Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge Buggy Tour and Hike
Reservations Required - Cost: $10 8:00AM - 12:00PM Maximum Attendees: 28 Join refuge staff and volunteers for a glimpse into the closed portions of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge where panthers roam and deer browse. Participants will join Refuge Biologist Larry Richardson on a 90-minute hike to learn about panther management and research on the refuge while searching for panther signs and using telemetry equipment to determine if any panthers are in the area. A 90-minute swamp buggy tour will give participants a high view of the terrain to look for wildlife while learning about refuge management and the importance of the refuge to overall panther population health. Participants will be split into two groups at the beginning of the day; one group will go on the hike while the other goes on the buggy tour and then the groups will flip. |
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CREW Bird Rookery Swamp Trail Hike Reservations Required - Cost: $10 8:30AM - 11:30PM Maximum Attendees: 20 Join a CREW Land & Water Trust staff member for a guided hike along the newest CREW trails where panthers, deer, & black bears roam and alligators bask in the sun. Bird Rookery Swamp is the southernmost section of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) which is owned and managed by the South Florida Water Management District. The entire 12-mile loop trail includes a 1400-foot long boardwalk and winds through a beautiful cypress and maple swamp adjacent to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. We’ll explore only a part of the trails (about 3 miles), looking for signs of panthers and their prey, as well as birds, reptiles, and other animals. We’ll share how panthers are using CREW lands and why protecting these lands are important to the quality of life in southwest Florida. |
Photo by Kathy Broyard
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Photo by Big Cypress National Preserve
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Big Cypress National Preserve Swamp Buggy TourReservations Required - Cost: $15
8:00AM - 4:00PM (Bring a lunch with you) Maximum Attendees: 10 Join National Park Service panther biologists on a swamp buggy tour of Big Cypress National Preserve, the largest roadless ecosystem in Florida panther habitat. Search with them for sign of panther presence. Learn how to make a plaster cast of the tracks you find. Discover what the major habitat types of Big Cypress provide for panther kittens and adults. Share the fresh air, silence, and solitude that all Big Cypress wildlife enjoy. Participants will meet at the Big Cypress Swamp Welcome Center, 33000 Tamiami Trail East, for an orientation to Big Cypress and summary of panther work in the preserve. Then the groups will be transported to the field trip sites for the rest of the day, with a stop for lunch in the field. There will be a water cooler to refill your water bottles. |
Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Trail Tour
Reservations Required - Cost: $15
8:00AM - 11:00AM
Maximum Attendees: 24
After a brief introduction, Corkscrew Naturalists will lead you on a boardwalk and trail tour of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. We will discuss and explore several habitat types that the Florida Panther uses at Corkscrew, including pine flatwoods and several different types of wetlands. Florida Panthers have been spotted by staff and visitors in the areas around the boardwalk usually in the drier months of the year. (Video link of a panther on the boardwalk taken by a volunteer). We will be on the lookout for varied wildlife, and learn about the ecology and management of this 13,000 acre sanctuary. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is owned and operated by The National Audubon Society, and has the largest remaining stand of old growth bald cypress forest. It has been protected since 1954.
Reservations Required - Cost: $15
8:00AM - 11:00AM
Maximum Attendees: 24
After a brief introduction, Corkscrew Naturalists will lead you on a boardwalk and trail tour of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. We will discuss and explore several habitat types that the Florida Panther uses at Corkscrew, including pine flatwoods and several different types of wetlands. Florida Panthers have been spotted by staff and visitors in the areas around the boardwalk usually in the drier months of the year. (Video link of a panther on the boardwalk taken by a volunteer). We will be on the lookout for varied wildlife, and learn about the ecology and management of this 13,000 acre sanctuary. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is owned and operated by The National Audubon Society, and has the largest remaining stand of old growth bald cypress forest. It has been protected since 1954.
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Picayune Strand State Forest Bicycle Tour Reservations Required - Cost: $50 (includes bike, helmet, snacks and drinks) 8:00AM - 11:00AM Maximum Attendees: 12 Veteran trail bike guide Wes Wilkins will shuttle our group to the middle of the completed Everglades Restoration project phase for Picayune Strand, near the terminus of Janes Scenic Drive at Patterson Boulevard. A Picayune ranger will discuss how the forest supports panther habitat. Leading the group north along restored wet prairies, marshes, cypress and pine forests, Wilkins will lead us to the top of the former Southern Golden Gate Estates real estate development to see the spreader swale that is returning sheetflow to this vital ecological landscape that is being returned to habitat for Florida panthers and bears, endangered wood storks, red-cockaded woodpeckers and swallow-tailed kites. Bicycles will be provided. |
Photo by Everglades Edge
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Photo by Naples Cycle Tours
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Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park Bicycle Tour Reservations Required - Cost: $50 (includes bike, helmet, snacks and drinks) 9:00AM - 12:00PM Maximum Attendees: 11 Naples Bicycle Tours will lead our trail bikers along Janes Scenic Drive, into Fakahatchee Strand, the cypress forest home of many orchids and bromeliads, including the rare Ghost Orchid, as well as a major habitat for the elusive Florida panther. Before the bike ride, a Fakahatchee ranger will discuss how the park supports panther habitat. The northern terminus of the Strand is actually in the adjacent Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. Bicycles will be provided. |
Saturday, October 29th, 2011
On-site at North Collier Regional Park
On-site at North Collier Regional Park
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Walk the Panther Mile
Reservations Required - Cost: FREE Tours begin at 9:00am, 9:30am, 1:00PM and 1:30PM Maximum Attendees Per Tour: 15 Join Big Cypress National Preserve Rangers Saturday at the Festival for a leisurely one mile walk on the trail at North Collier Regional Park. Along the way, you’ll discover interesting facts about Florida panthers, learn about their habitat, and look for tracks and other signs. You’ll also meet one of the Preserve’s panther biologists for a special demonstration and hear about the research they’re doing in the Preserve. Approximately 2 hours in length. |