Florida's Living Giant

The Florida Wildlife Corridor is an 18-million-acre statewide network of connected lands and waters that supports wildlife and people.  

Seen in dark green, 10 million acres are protected as federal lands, state parks and forests, county lands, water management district lands, or private lands under conservation easements.

The remaining 8 million unprotected acres in light green are opportunity areas for conservation and are mostly comprised of agricultural working lands, such as cattle ranches and timber land. Not only do these valuable spaces provide food and fiber for Florida and our nation, but they also provide interconnected landscapes that keep Florida’s wild spaces connected. 

Our Mural Campaign is aimed at raising awareness of the importance of the Florida Wildlife Corridor in areas with the greatest ecological significance that have the highest risk of development by 2030.

The geography around White Springs is a vital link in the Florida Wildlife Corridor, with the Suwannee River serving as a natural connector. Originating in the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the Suwannee flows south past the Osceola National Forest, reaching Big Shoals State Park and State Forest near White Springs. To the east, Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park, Suwannee River State Park, and Twin Rivers State Forest lines its banks. This Corridor of protected green space allows wildlife to travel along the Suwannee to either the panhandle, the big bend, or north into Georgia without running into many obstacles.

Hamilton County is home to important fauna like the Florida Black Bear and North American River Otter. The Florida National Scenic Trail also runs through the county, with White Springs being the first Florida Trail Gateway Community. Locals and visitors alike enjoy an abundance of recreational activities in Hamilton County such as kayaking, paddleboarding, biking, camping, horseback riding, and fishing.

The wild spaces around White Springs and Hamilton County are currently in danger because of rapid population growth. Without thoughtful conservation and planning the connected landscape will be lost, resulting in diminished wildlife populations, degraded water quality and negative impacts on the outdoor recreation and ecotourism important to the local economy.

"Florida's Living Giant" by Christian Stanley showcases the diverse and vibrant ecosystem of North Florida through the striking image of a giant alligator head, reimagined as a lush, living landmass. The alligator, a keystone species, serves as a foundation for life, with its textured surface transformed into a thriving habitat. This mural is one of three Florida Wildlife Corridor Murals in White Springs meant to highlight Hamilton County's role as a Corridor Gateway Community.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) manages fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and the benefit of people. Thanks to their contributions, you can learn more about the species in this mural. Scroll to learn about each of the species featured.

American Alligator

(Alligator mississippiensis)

Alligators have inhabited Florida's marshes, swamps, rivers and lakes for many centuries, and are found in all 67 counties. There are an estimated 1.3 million Alligators in Florida.

Alligators are opportunistic feeders. Their diets include prey species that are abundant and easily accessible. Juvenile alligators eat primarily insects, amphibians, small fish, and other invertebrates. Adult alligators eat rough fish, snakes, turtles, small mammals, and birds.

Alligators are ectothermic (cold blooded). They regulate their body temperature by basking in the sun or moving to areas with warmer or cooler air or water temperatures. They are most active when temperatures are between 82° to 92° F. They stop feeding when the ambient temperature drops below approximately 70° F, and they become dormant below 55° F. Alligators are dormant throughout much of the winter. During this time, they can be found in burrows that they construct adjacent to an alligator hole or open water, but they occasionally emerge to bask in the sun during periods of warm weather.

Swallow-tailed Kite

(Elanoides forficatus)

The sight of a swallow-tailed kite is unforgettable: a black-and-white bird of prey with a deeply forked tail soaring through the summer sky.

After spending the fall and winter in South America, kites arrive in Florida in early March to breed. They build nests of small sticks woven with Spanish moss, preferably in tall cypress and pine. These trees emerge from a canopy of prey-rich woodlands, like those of swamps and savannas. Highly social for a raptor, they nest in loose colonies and often forage in small flocks.

The kites eat all kinds of insects and small animals, including frogs, anoles, and snakes. By early July, they begin to gather in large communal roosts for the migration back to South America. The future of swallow-tailed kites depends on protection of lowland forests throughout their breeding range.

Red Shouldered Hawk

(Buteo lineatus)

The red-shouldered hawk is a medium-sized raptor (also known as a bird of prey), with a small head, hooked bill, and reddish/rust colored “shoulders,” chest, and belly. Juvenile red-shouldered hawks lack the reddish color on the chest and belly and instead exhibit almost white feathers with a brown spot-like pattern.

Red-shouldered hawks can be found soaring in circles at high altitude or gliding from tree to tree in forests or neighborhoods. When foraging, or hunting for food, they perch with their head tilted downward, looking for prey. Their primary diet consists of small mammals, lizards, snakes and amphibians. Red-shouldered hawks occasionally eat crawfish and other birds.

Red-shouldered hawks prefer pine, oak and cypress forests near water and are year-round residents in Florida. They are one of the most commonly seen hawks throughout the state.

Chanterelle

(Cantharellus)

Chanterelles are most common during the warm periods of the year but can be found year-round, particularly in the southernmost regions of Florida. These mushrooms are commonly found in forests or in other areas with trees because they form symbiotic relationships called mycorrhizas with the roots of some woody plants. Chanterelles will never fruit directly from wood, which sets them apart from many look-alike mushrooms.

The name “chanterelle” comes from the Greek word kantharos, which means “goblet” or “cup.” This name is a reference to the iconic funnel-shaped fruiting bodies that are formed by the chanterelle fungi. Their funnel-shaped fruiting bodies are often bright colors of yellow, orange, pink, or cream.

Prothonotary Warbler

(Protonotaria citrea)

Prothonotary Warblers nest in north central Florida and the panhandle. They are cavity nesters, and they rely on other bird species to excavate nest sites for them which makes it unique among eastern warblers. The name 'Prothonotary' originally referred to a group of official scribes in the Catholic Church who wore bright yellow hoods, as this bird appears to do.

Swamp Lilly

(Crinum americanum)

Swamp lily, also known as seven sisters or string lily, is an erect, emergent perennial with showy, fragrant blooms. They are found in wet hammocks, marshes, swamps, wetland edges, and along streams and rivers throughout Florida and the southeast United States.

It is pollinated by Sphinx moths and is a larval host for the Spanish moth. The bulbs and leaves are poisonous to humans, but are a favorite treat of lubber grasshoppers

They can bloom at any time of year, in the north generally in spring. In central Florida, often in late fall-winter.

Saw Palmetto

(Serenoa repens)

Saw palmetto is an evergreen shrub found in scrub, pinelands, coastal hammocks, and dunes in all of Florida but mainland Monroe County. There are at least 311 recorded species that use saw palmetto, while many other species have documented interlocking relationships with the plant. It is extremely valuable to hundreds of species of birds, mammals, and insects as a source of food and cover. Its flowers are a major source of nectar for honeybees and its berries are a staple for the Florida black bear.

Sandhill Crane

(Grus canadensis)

Sandhill cranes are long-legged, long-necked, gray, heron-like birds with a patch of bald, red skin on top of their head. Florida sandhill cranes inhabit freshwater marshes, prairies, and pastures and they occur throughout peninsular Florida north to the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia.

Two subspecies of sandhill crane occur in Florida. The Florida sandhill crane, numbering 4,000 to 5,000, is a non-migratory year-round breeding resident. They are joined every winter by 25,000 migratory greater sandhill cranes, the larger of the two subspecies. The greater sandhill crane winters in Florida but nests in the Great Lakes region. Sandhill cranes nest during late winter and spring on mats of vegetation about two feet in diameter and in shallow water. 

Sandhill cranes mate for life are usually seen in very small groups or pairs.

Channel Catfish

(Ictalurus punctatus)

Channel catfish are found throughout Florida, and spawn in holes and crevices. They reside in lakes, rivers, swamps and even high up in estuaries with lower salinity.

Channel catfish have a rounded rear fin and scattered black spots along their back and sides. Males become especially dark during spawning season and develop a thickened pad on their head. They are gray to olive, with pale undersides, and have eight ‘whiskers’ or sensory barbels around their mouths

Primarily bottom feeders, channel catfish also feed higher up. Major foods are aquatic insects, crayfish, mollusks, crustaceans and fish - not detritus or decaying material.

Wild Azalea

(Rhododendron canescens)

Wild azalea, also known as mountain azalea, or sweet pinxter azalea, is a deciduous flowering shrub. Its showy pinkish- to rose-colored flowers are trumpet-shaped with noticeably protruding stamens and pistils. They are borne around the same time that the first leaves appear and are particularly fragrant.

They bloom in spring and occurs naturally in pine flatwoods, mesic hammocks, bay swamps, and floodplain and slope forests. It attracts a number of pollinators, including hummingbirds.

Their native range includes the Panhandle and North Florida.

Florida Largemouth Bass

(Micropterus salmoides)

The Florida largemouth bass is the state freshwater fish. Found statewide in lakes and rivers, they are commonly found along vegetation, or underwater structure, but schooling bass are also found in the middle of lakes.

The largemouth bass is the best known and most popular game fish in North America. It is distinguished from other black bass because the upper jaw extends beyond the rear edge of the eye, and the first and second dorsal (back) fins are separated by an obvious deep dip.

White-Tailed Deer

(Odocoileus virginianus)

White-tailed deer can be found throughout Florida from the panhandle to the keys. They prefer habitats with young, low-growing vegetation and edge, where the intersection of two different habitats allows deer to easily feed and avoid predators.

The common name refers to the tail; it is black/brown above and white below.  White-tailed deer vary in size depending on the habitat. Adult male deer in Florida average 115 pounds, but can reach 190 pounds or more in North Florida.  The smaller females average 90 pounds with larger females weighing 120 pounds or more.

Deer are most active at dawn and dusk. They are primarily browsers, feeding on the leaves, shoots, flowers and fruits of trees, shrubs, and forbs. Occasionally, they may browse and damage planted shrubs, landscaping or cultivated crops.