Florida wildlife is often times horribly mis-named. While it’s obvious how some of our state’s animals got their names (the Florida black bear, for example, is a bear with black fur who lives in Florida), others are… well, peculiar.
Here are some facts that are (obviously) untrue about our wildlife.
- Bonnethead sharks do not wear bonnets.
- Florida has plenty of nurse sharks, but don’t be fooled — they’ve never had a day of medical training.
- Gopher tortoises are not really slow gophers.
This was the extent of the wildlife we saw while camping at Thousand Trails. Apparently they built the entire campground on a gopher tortoise habitat.
Photo by Cathy Salustri
- Blue crabs do not, in fact, sing the blues.
- Scrub jays are not any more interested in scrubbing things than any other bird.
- Sawfish are functionally useless as household tools.
- The Stock Island tree snail is not associated with Overstock.com.
- Monarch butterflies have no legitimate claim to any throne anywhere in the world.
- Laughing gulls are not laughing. They are, in fact, mocking you.
- Eagle rays absolutely cannot fly.
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