Gardens of Wonder

Grandma and Grandpa told us about a little gem of a museum/arboretum/wildlife center near "downtown" Bonita Springs. Everglades Wonder Gardens has been open since the 1930s—it's a delicious little hole in the wall with real wildlife and history. Most of my pictures feature the residents, so I'm throwing this one in to prove I wasn't alone. ;) Poor Elle was under the weather and in my arms all day.
We began our visit with a tour of the grounds. Let's just say, it was lunchtime.
The animal habitats haven't changed much in the past 80 years, nor have the minimal fences between you and the wildlife. Yikes.
Megan and Olivia wondered about the difference between alligators and crocodiles. We learned that alligators live in fresh water and crocodiles live in salt water, so you rarely find them together. And because of their different homes, gators are typically black/brown and crocs are more greenish. Also, a gator snout is rather blunt, while a croc snout is pointy and toothy. Now you know!

Quick quiz: gator or croc?
Yep, that's a croc, while the hungry guy in the second photo is a gator.

Everglades Wonder Gardens does a decent amount of wildlife rescue—more than a few of their animals had been injured or "domesticated" and released. These birds all had been injured.
Turtles are a common pet released into the wild when they get too big. (Snakes, too, but they were behind glass.)
The tortoises in residence were locals; I don't remember how they came to the Gardens because I was distracted by how... amorous they were. Will said, "Look, Mom, they're wrestling!" Yes, honey, yes they are.
This is the life, huh?
In addition to a few native "cats," we also met Molly the otter, who put on a wee show for us. Look at that face!
What a fun little place to learn about Florida's natives!