Archbold Biological Station
I will be leading a writing workshop at Archbold Biological Station in May and will be staying on the station. I have seen this site mentioned as a good place to see Florida mouse. Any tips for searching? Any particularly good spots?
I’m also interested in seeing other Florida mammals including golden mouse, marsh rice rat, Sherman’s fox squirrel, round-tailed muskrat (of course), shrews, etc. Any tips for particularly good mammal watching spots on the station, or nearby, would be much appreciated.
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vdinets
Nobody knows. There are lots of sight records (recently also in Georgia and Alabama) and supposedly a roadkill specimen or two, but no published studies. Also, the population is claimed to be introduced, but again, no published evidence.
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vdinets
They have a small colony of Mexican freetails inside the basketball stand (you’ll never believe it until you see it). Once I saw a juvenile Florida bonneted bat mixed up with them. The remote house where U. of Miami students stay during their spring courses has flying squirrels living in the garage. Florida mouse is very common in the sandy area across the railway (find a trackway and watch it at night). I also have a photo of jaguarundi track from there, but never saw the cat.
For golden mouse, plan on 3-4 full nights of spotlighting in Highland Hammock State Park. It also has Seminole bats roosting near the cypress swamp boardwalk, and bobcats are seen at dawn along the park roads sometimes. Cotton mouse is abundant there. Look also for Eastern woodrat in old oaks, oldfield mouse in sandy pinelands near the campground, and Everglades short-tailed shrew in moist forests.
The best place for fox squirrel is Wekiwa Springs SP, but they do occur in Highland SP as well. For marsh rice rat and the muskrat, try Lake Woodruff NWR.