Welcome to our collection of
Floridian Nature
Videos. Our first video is an up close an personal look at a banana
spider. Banana spiders are very common in Florida and found around woods
and bushes. Also known as a golden orb weaver, the banana spider is a
large looking creature that looks like it came from pre-historic times.
Our banana spider is being prodded by a piece of pine straw. Banana
spiders can bite and they carry a similar venom as a black widow spider
but in a much lower dose.
Just one of the many types of
creepy spiders
found in Florida nature, the golden orb weaver is a large orange and
brown spider with the feathery tufts on its legs is well know to most
native southerners. It is particularly despised by hikers and hunters,
as during late summer and fall the large golden webs of this species
make a sticky rap for the unwary. The female is distinctively colored,
and is among the largest orb-weaving spiders in the country. The name of the golden silk orb-weavers refers to the color of
the spider silk, not the color of the spider itself.
The cottontail is grayish-brown in color, has a
distinctive white "powder puff" tail, measures 14 to 17 inches in length
and weighs two to four pounds. The cottontail rabbit prefers a habitat
of heavy brush, strips of forest, weed and briar patches, abandoned
fields and fringe areas of cultivated fields. Periods of peak activity
for cottontails occur in early morning and atnight. Rabbits are
strictly vegetarians with their main food being green plant parts during
the warmer months. When green vegetation is not available, rabbits will
eat young woody shoots and bark.
Eastern cottontails are solitary animals, and they tend to be intolerant
of each other. Their home range is usually between 5 and 8 acres,
increasing during the breeding season. Males generally have a larger
home range than females. The eastern cottontail has keen senses of
sight, smell and hearing. It is crepuscular and nocturnal, and is active
all winter. . The cottontail sometimes checks the surroundings by
standing on its hind legs with its forepaws tucked next to its chest.
The cottontail is a quick runner and can reach speeds up to 18 miles per
hour. Eastern cottontails are short-lived; most do not survive beyond
their third year. Enemies include hawks,
owls,foxes,
coyotes, weasels
and man.
