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Manatees vocalize while feeding, resting, or playing using high-pitched squeaks, squeals, squeak-squeals, and chirps. Learn about innovative research being conducted at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota exploring how and why manatees vocalize.

Therapy dogs at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School got their own yearbook page this year.

Halloween is a holiday that brings to mind creatures of the night such as bats and many spiders. These nocturnal creatures are ones we have some unease about because we rarely see them, encounter them by surprise in the dark, and often have little understanding of their role in nature. We often misinterpret their behavior and they sometimes leave us with a sense of fear of what they might do to us. Yes, tropical American vampire bats drink blood and in doing so can transmit disease to its victims. North American and most other bats are insect eaters that provide an important service in consuming mosquitos that can transmit diseases to the animals they bite. Most bats also consume large numbers of moths and other insects that feed on plants that our livestock or we depend on.

The Knight Anole is a newcomer to Florida – first found here in the 1950s near Miami, and now found almost anywhere in the state. It is a native of Cuba that has also been spread to other islands of the Caribbean and to California – in part as a result of stowaways hiding in plants and among crates being shipped taken from Cuba and Florida, and in part through the pet trade. The Knight Anole is a handsome lizard – and a very large one – sometimes reaching 17 inches from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail. It is also an omnivore – eating almost anything, including other lizards, baby birds, mice, fruit, and more. It has been known from southwest Florida for several years and its numbers are growing. Watch for this green invader with white stripes on its face and side. Between April and August it can often be seen clinging head down on a tree trunk – waiting patiently for potential mates or the arrival of competitors. The rest of the year it is typically in the canopy of trees or palms feeding on whatever it can find among dense foliage.

Where does the immigration debate go from here?

The Barred Owl is perhaps our best-known owl because it is active during the day as well as at night, nests and hunts in cities as well as in mature forest, and is somewhat tolerant of human observers. Barred Owls get their name from the vertical “bar” stripes on its breast. They are also well known for their distinctive “eight-hooter” call cadence of the phrase “Who cooks for you …Who cooks for you all. Barred Owls feed on a diversity of small animals – ranging from mice, small birds, small snakes, lizards, insects, and especially crayfish.

The White Peacock is one of Florida’s most common butterflies. It is also one of our easiest to identify because of its white wings that are marked with an orange and brown wave-like pattern and a row of black spots, each circled by yellow. Those yellow-circled black spots are referred to as “eyespots” – markings that attract the attention of predators. A predator may see the eyespots as real eyes and a vulnerability for the butterfly, but for the butterfly it is better to lose a piece of wing, than to get eaten. White Peacocks can be seen year round in Florida and adults feed on nectar at a great diversity of native and introduced flowers. Their caterpillars are more specific in their diet, feeding on leaves of Water Hyssop, frog fruit, and wild petunias – all of which grow near water – thus that’s where these butterflies are most common. The caterpillars of White Peacocks begin life as tiny black creatures with scattered black spines. These may deter some predators, but are harmless to humans. As they grow, White Peacock caterpillars develop orange spots among the black spines. Adult Males and females are similar in appearance, but males are significantly smaller.

The laws date to the 1850s, but have rarely been invoked. However, two recent cases have put the law in the spotlight, and critics say the measure is being abused.