Reptiles and Amphibians

Florida Alligator Attacks Child at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

A 6-year old boy was attacked by an eight-foot alligator at the edge of the Refuge Lee Road boat ramp on the L-40 canal at the A.R.M. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge on Friday afternoon. The boy, Joey Welch, had slipped and fallen into the shallow water when the alligator lunged at him, grippi ... More >>

Spartan Race Starts at Oleta on Saturday

About 15,000 people will pull themselves through mud, climb 25-foot-high ropes, avoid barbed wire -- and swim and run more than ten miles -- Saturday and Sunday in Oleta State Park."The only thing we left out this year was the alligators," says race founder, organizer, and all-around macho loon Joe ... More >>

Gator Hunt at Loxahatchee Refuge Gets Approval

As throngs of would-be snake hunters flock to our state in the next 30 days to find and take out some invasive pythons, alligators thought they were in the clear. No so fast, alligators! The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to allow 11 hunters to enter the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Natio ... More >>

Python Challenge: FWC Announces First Kills in 2013 Contest

For the few hundred hunters who showed up Saturday for day one of the 2013 Python Challenge, it was a day of high excitement and little payoff, at least according to the numbers beamed out of the Glades on Saturday night. The kickoff party -- and really the good-time atmosphere fits the description ... More >>

Mayan Calendar Predictions Versus Reality

Mayan Beach Sand Dune Bulldozed; Sea Turtles Left Without Nesting Ground

Sad news today for South Florida environmentalists, sea turtles, and Mother Earth: After a circuitous and arguably shady legal battle, Fort Lauderdale's Mayan Beach Sand Dune was plowed over at some point in the past 48 hours. Even though an August court decision sealed the dune's fate, the destruct ... More >>

Fort Lauderdale Beach Erosion Could Spell Trouble for Turtle Nesting

Several hundred yards before traffic cones wedge northbound traffic on Fort Lauderdale's scenic A1A into a single, slow-moving lane, a yellow sign alerts drivers and pedestrians that they're smack in the middle of a turtle nesting zone. But now that strong tides, rough seas, and sever ... More >>

Ermey Corps

Edward Archbold Dies After Eating Dozens of Roaches and Worms in Deerfield Reptile Shop

If you're a queasy reader who's going to be turned off by a gut vomiting up a crap ton of bugs and then dying, turn away now.Broward Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of Edward Archbold, a 32-year-old West Palm Beach resident who died after "he had consumed dozens of ro ... More >>

Alligator That Bit Off Elderly Woman's Arm Has Been Killed

Yesterday we told you about 84-year-old Carol Hough being found bleeding in a Lake County canal from an apparent alligator attack. We also told you the alligator ripped her arm off. BECAUSE IF ARMS GET RIPPED OFF FROM TORSOS, IT LEADS ... er something. Anyway, that alligator should've thought twic ... More >>

Florida Man Almost Cooked and Ate Endangered Sea Turtle

A Tampa fisherman caught himself a turtle a few months ago, put it in a fresh-water tank, and kept it in his backyard. But his intent wasn't so much to make the little guy a pet but to totally make him into soup. Turns out, the guy caught a Kemp's ridley sea turtle, which happens to be a rare and e ... More >>

Crocodiles on July 20 at the Vagabond

Five Ways Fort Lauderdale Could Spend the $14 Million It Found Lying Around

The Fort Lauderdale city commissioners must be patting themselves on the back right now for hiring Lee Feldman as city manager: Turns out he's a master at rooting around the couch cushions of city budgets for money that's gone missing.Bucking the trend of cities like Lauderdale Lakes and Hollywood t ... More >>

Giant Ancient Turtle Capable of Dining on Crocs Discovered by Florida Researchers (IMAGES)

In the world of reptiles, turtles have a certain reputation as shell-dwelling wimps that make nice pets for 8-year-old girls. They're slow and passive and hardly what one would call intimidating. Sure, you can argue that the snapping turtles pack a mean bite, but who among us has actually ... More >>

The Everglades Need to Go Viral: Five Ads the Park Should Look to for Inspiration (Videos)

​The Everglades has a marketing problem. Earlier this week, officials from the Everglades National Park and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization got together for a chat about how to better market the park to lure in tourists. As the Miami Herald reports, during ... More >>

FIND Passes Resolution to Protect Hillsboro Lighthouse From Danger That's Probably Fictional

​Today, in turtle-wonkery:We told you last week about the big fight to keep Hillsboro Lighthouse from being turned out by sea-turtle activists, even though the sea-turtle activists say they love the lighthouse and don't want it turned out at all.The advocates even sent the Coast Guard a list of th ... More >>

Save the Turtles: The Misguided, Misinformed, and Misdirected Battle for Hillsboro Lighthouse

​​All they wanted was some darkness for the baby sea turtles. But what started out as a simple request for protection of the endangered animals has ballooned into a yearslong battle among local advocates, the U.S. Coast Guard, and numerous agencies in which the original message has been lost in ... More >>

Top Chef: Mutherf**king Snakes on Some Mutherf**king Plates

Snakes on a mutherf**king plate. Tonight on Top Chef.​Can we love Padma Lakshmi more than we do today? It seems mutherf**king unlikely. We just got wind of the totally awesome preview for tonight's episode of Top Chef. With the cheftestants finally chosen after two throwaway episodes, the fun beg ... More >>

Oye, Merry Chrih'mah

The Four Baddest Animals in Florida That Shouldn't Be Here

flickr.com​A 20-year University of Florida study out last week says Florida has the most invasive reptiles and amphibians in the world. A day or two after that came out, state officials declared war on giant African snails in Miami-Dade County.Yep, Florida apparently has a nasty invasive species p ... More >>

Alligators Paying Visits to South Florida Neighborhoods

Alligators: Bad for neighborhoods, great for rasslin'.​Another day, another gator.For the second time this week, an alligator paid a visit to a South Florida neighborhood, according to a WSVN report.Early this morning, people living in a Plantation neighborhood near Sunrise Boulevard and Flamingo ... More >>

Florida Wildlife Commission: Be on the Lookout for Freak Seven-Foot Lizards

U.S. Geological SurveyThis is a Nile Monitor lizard, which you should not wrestle​If you see a seven-foot lizard in your Broward or Palm Beach residence, that's a problem, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.Nile Monitor lizards, native to Africa, have been popping u ... More >>

Food Network's Extreme Chef: Like Top Chef With Snakes (Video)

Food Network Extreme Chef: Like Top Chef, but with poisonous snakes!​Although we love Top Chef here at Clean Plate Charlie, sometimes we can't help wondering if maybe the show would be a little bit better if the cheftestants had to, say, catch their own poisonous water moccasin and cook it ... More >>

Two-time Sea Turtle Poacher Bruce Bivins Sentenced

Photo by Flickr user anej1030​For some old-timers in Riviera Beach, the start of any date out with your woman begins with sea turtle eggs. You poach them, sprinkle salt on their papery skin, and then eat the aphrodisiacs in one bite. Back when I first wrote about that nasty habit back in 2002, cop ... More >>

Two-time Sea Turtle Poacher Bruce Bivins Sentenced

Photo by Flickr user anej1030​For some old-timers in Riviera Beach, the start of any date out with your woman begins with sea turtle eggs. You poach them, sprinkle salt on their papery skin, and then eat the aphrodisiacs in one bite. Back when I first wrote about that nasty habit back in 2002, cop ... More >>

An Ocean of Art

When Animal Activists Attack

Bitten on the set of a Rick Ross video, Mark McCarthy now squares off against animal activists.

Hog Huntin'

A lost art or a horrible slaughter? It's all in the eye of the hunter.

She Came From the Jungle

Puttin’ Him on a Pedestal

The Talk of the Green Iguana

Will American voters elect the first gay vice president in November?

Don’t Give Us Anymore, Britney

Best Beach in Palm Beach

Carlin Park

Best Shoe Store

Ermare

Best Gator Goods

All American Gator Products

Best Place to Take Out-of-Towners

Big Cypress Seminole Reservation

Get Cookin'

Food glorious food

Venice in Fort Lauderdale

Boozin' and cruisin' down the waterways

The Egg Men

Volunteers spend millions of hours trying to rescue sea turtles. So how come so few people care about busting poachers?

Best Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice

Alex's Flamingo Groves

Best Edible Florida Souvenirs

Angie's Groves

Best Place to Mountain Bike

Camp Murphy Off-Road Bicycle Trails

Best Place to Take Out-of-Towners

Everglades Holiday Park

Croaked on Arrival

"Frogs! (The Un-Toad Story)" is on view at the South Florida Science Museum

Best Mexican Restaurant

La Palma Grill

Outward Bound

Outdoor Adventures Klub

Foodstuff

Best Place To Bird-Watch

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Letters

Night & Day

June 4 - 10, 1998