Turtle species include the Florida softshell turtle, the largest of its kind in North America. With a dark brown to olive green body, and a long neck and head, it never strays further from the water than maybe to a nearby rock to catch some sun. The Florida chicken turtle doesn’t get bigger than 6” and has a long neck and can be found on water or on land. However, the turtle our area is most known for is the loggerhead sea turtle. This species lays 90% of its U.S. nests in Florida and the Englewood area is a particularly popular nesting spot. Sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 to October 31 when female loggerheads lumber up on shore and lay about 100 eggs in the sand before returning to the water, almost always at night. Sea Turtle Patrol volunteers mark and track the nests with those wooden stakes and neon tape you see on the sand. When the nest hatches, the hatchlings crawl to the water, also almost always at night. The Coastal Wildlife Club coastalwildlifeclub.org is a terrific source of information on these amazing creatures. The loggerhead is classified as a threatened species and the green turtle (which also nests on our beaches, but is much more rare) is endangered. No surprise as just 1 in 1,000 loggerheads survive to maturity. Sea turtles are protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Florida Marine Turtle Protection Act. Sea Turtle Ordinances in Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota counties are available from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission at www.myfwc. com. NATIVE PLANTS You will often hear someone refer to native plants and trees. According to the state of Florida, a native plant is a plant species that is presumed to have been present in Florida before European contact. Exotic or invasive are terms most often applied to major nonnative plant pest species. An interesting fact: Florida has 2017 9
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