The endangered Key deer, the smallest subspecies of white-tailed deer found throughout much of North America, are perfectly adapted to surviving in the tropical island habitats of the lower Florida Keys. They feed on over 150 types of native plants that grow wild with some...
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Big Pine Key, Keys Critters
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Santa might wear shorts in the subtropical Lower Florida Keys, and palm trees might outnumber Christmas trees, but holiday lovers can find plenty of seasonal spirit amid the area’s balmy breezes and warm temperatures. Visitors and Keys residents are invited to welcome the festive season and...
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Big Pine Key, Events
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Institute for Regional Conservation will begin a two-month restoration effort in the pine rockland habitats of the National Key Deer Refuge this week. This work, funded through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for hurricane restoration...
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Big Pine Key, Environment
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The Blue Hole is an attraction on the island of Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys. It is an abandoned rock quarry that was used for nearby road fills and Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railroad. The Blue hole is a lake that has a freshwater...
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Big Pine Key
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She’s been spending the winter mostly in the Lower Keys, but by summer, she’ll most likely be back in Cape Cod like any snowbird, except she’s a 12-foot, 1,668-pound female great white shark named Miss Costa. This has been her second season visiting the Keys,...
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Big Pine Key
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Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges’ Outdoor Fest – March 10-17, 2017 – is a celebration of the unique plant and animal species and rare habitats that are found only in the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges. Guided walks, bike rides, kayak excursions, photography workshops, ‘Nature Therapy’, plus...
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Big Pine Key, Environment, Events, Key Largo
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Bahia Honda State Park is making a graceful comeback following Hurricane Irma. The park was in the path of the dreadful northeast quadrant of the powerful Category 4 storm that devastated the Florida Keys in September 2017. Although much of the native vegetation perished in...
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Big Pine Key, Camping, Parks
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The Florida Keys Wildlife Society, a friends group for the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex and the National Key Deer Refuge, kicks off this season’s full moon kayak excursions Monday, Jan. 29, departing at 4 p.m. from Big Pine Kayak Adventures on Bogey Road....
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Big Pine Key, Parks
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One of two mainland men who hogtied three Key Deer and put them in the back of a car in July serving a year sentence in federal prison is due in state court next month to plead guilty to state charges. Erik Yosany Damas Acosta,...
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Big Pine Key, Keys Critters
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Sponsored by The Monroe County Tourist Development Council, 1201 White Street, Suite 102 Key West, Florida 33040. Winning a Florida Keys Angling Vacation could be as simple as following the Florida Keys Facebook page and entering the #FishFLKeys trip giveaway, part of a four-month social...
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Big Pine Key, Fishing, Islamorada, Key Largo, Key West, Marathon, Tourism
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People and parties interested within Monroe County Florida in response to Hurricane Irma Volunteer for Florida Keys Recovery may register to do so at www.volunteerflorida.org/irma/. How to Volunteer for Florida Keys Recovery Efforts September 25, 2017 People and parties interested in volunteering within Monroe County Florida in...
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Big Pine Key, Hurricane Irma
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While the flats are usually a quiet place, the sharks of Big Pine Key make their presence known with loud drag screams and high jumping. Welcome to Sportsman’s Adventures — Florida’s most popular fishing show. Join South Florida fishing guide and tournament professional Capt....
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Big Pine Key, Fishing
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For the past several months, a Texas A&M University System institute has been actively involved in efforts to quash a screwworm outbreak in Florida that has jeopardized an already endangered species, said the director for the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources. “While there had been no...
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Big Pine Key, Keys Critters
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Just east of Key West, Looe Key snorkeling is considered by many locals as the best snorkeling in the Florida Keys. During a snorkel at Looe Key, you may encounter black-tipped reef sharks, sea turtles, parrotfish, anglefish, filefish, butterflyfish and stingrays. There are healthy formations...
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Big Pine Key, Diving
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As a backup plan to prevent species extinction, a federal agency has started harvesting reproductive organs from dead Key deer. The animals, only found in the Lower Keys, suffered a heavy blow to their population over the last few months from the flesh-eating New World...
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Big Pine Key, Keys Critters
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Published on Dec 4, 2016 A close encounter with several endangered Key Deer on Florida’s Big Pine Key. They are very tame. We never fed any of these animals. We stayed in the house for 10 days and I think they just grew accustomed to...
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Big Pine Key, Keys Critters
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The number of Key deer deaths due to New World screwworm infestation has remained stable at 132 for more than a week; however, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) officials are remaining diligent with protection measures to save this endangered species. The screwworm outbreak has...
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Big Pine Key, Keys Critters
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The fearsome screwworm is back. Federal officials have identified a small outbreak of the insect, also known as the New World screwworm fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax), in a population of deer and possibly some pets in Big Pine Key, Florida. The United States Department of Agriculture’s...
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Big Pine Key, Environment, Keys Critters
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Marked by a series of mooring buoys, the remains of the Adolphus Busch, a 210-foot freighter, lay 6 miles southwest of Big Pine Key. The vessel was originally named Ocean Alley but was later renamed Adolphus Busch after the senior member of the Busch brewing...
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Big Pine Key, Diving, Ship Wrecks
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Want to get to know Key West wildlife? (And no, we’re not talking about nightly festivities at Sloppy Joe’s on Duval Street.) If you’re the kind of person who always puts the local zoo on your travel itinerary, or who fumbles over your camera every...
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Big Pine Key, Environment, Key West, Keys Critters
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