Animals in Florida

Discover 42 places to experience unusual animals in Florida.

Wakulla Springs.

Crawfordville, Florida

Wakulla Springs

One of the world’s largest and deepest freshwater springs, where mastodons once roamed.

Osprey.

Marco Island, Florida

Tigertail Beach

Wading through a small lagoon reveals a secret, wild stretch of pristine beach.

Triceratops.

Port Orange, Florida

Bongoland Ruins

Strange beasts lurking in a garden are all that remain of a quirky, short-lived theme park.

Young girls running.

Gypsy Gold Horse Farm

Visit these gentle, bell-bottomed, exquisite equines at the home of North America's first Gypsy Vanner horses.

Spongeorama sign

Tarpon Springs, Florida

Spongeorama Sponge Factory

This small museum gives visitors a chance to soak up the history of the "sponge capital of the world."

Nancy and Mr. Peaches.

Key West, Florida

Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden

Visitors are welcome to enter this lush Key West sanctuary to entertain its plethora of rescued parrots.

Rooster Cemetery.

Key West, Florida

Blue Heaven Rooster Cemetery

A small poultry graveyard in the courtyard of a popular Key West watering hole.

Marco Island, Florida

The Key Marco Cat Statue

Pay homage to a mysterious feline artifact outside of this Florida museum.

"Some Were Quite Blind" by Carol K. Brown.

Gainesville, Florida

'Some Were Quite Blind'

Four metal statues of massive animal penises stand outside the university's Animal Sciences building.

The replica on the shore of Hontoon Island.

DeLand, Florida

Hontoon Island Owl Totem

The only ancient owl carving found east of the Mississippi.

The Komodo dragon statue.

Tallahassee, Florida

McCord Park's Komodo Dragon

Though it's unclear why it's there, the lifelike sculpture of the giant lizard is oddly charming.

Wausau, Florida

Possum Monument

A tribute to the furry local heroes who helped get residents through many tough times.

Brownie's Grave. A good dog.

Daytona Beach, Florida

Brownie the Town Dog's Grave

Owned by no one but beloved by all, Brownie was a good dog.

Rota the lion at the Lightner Museum.

St. Augustine, Florida

Sir Winston Churchill's Lion 'Rota'

A lion given to the prime minister somehow got stuffed and sent to Florida.

The two-headed gator statue.

Two-Headed Gator of Seminole Heights

"Bite or Smite" became the unlikely mascot of a Tampa suburb.

Ecopassage wall

Tallahassee, Florida

Lake Jackson Ecopassage

This divisive system of turtle tunnels was built to save animals stranded after a highway split a lake in half.