Wednesday, June 10, 2020

House Hunting in Florida - Part 1

Just Chilling

Someone commented recently asking that I do a post on house hunting in Florida. This will be far from scientific, but I would love to share my experiences in looking for two homes over the past year in Sarasota/Venice. I was in the D.C. area for 40 years and I adored it. I never planned on leaving. But life had other plans for me and here I am in Florida. And guess what? I am in love with it.

This is one thing I absolutely adore about Florida. The animals. Last evening, this guy was sitting and chilling just feet from my front door for about an hour. There were sandhill cranes in the back yard, and an alligator swimming lazy laps in the lake behind our house. On any given day I see dozens of egrets, heron, deer, turtles, geckos, armadillos, eagles, cranes, rabbits, frogs, snakes, alligators, the list goes on and on. The other day there was a horse just relaxing in my back yard. We are surrounded by farms. There are roseate spoonbills too - such beautiful birds.

Roseate Spoonbill

And I forgot to mention the wild hogs in our community. Unbelievable.

Wild hogs

If you love wildlife as I do, select a home that is near lakes, a golf course, preserves, or marshes. We have all of these, and there are animals in our yard nonstop. None do any damage really. We use a natural deer repellent on a few plants and if armadillos dig holes anywhere, we stick a fallen prickly palm frond in the hole and they move on to more hospitable surroundings. My new home backs onto beautiful preserves with ancient palms, and the community has lakes, canals, a golf course, and preserves, so I am optimistic I will have lots of wildlife there too. I don't think I can bring all these guys with me - just the puppies. Getting ready for our drive to Venice this past Sunday - they wanted to drive.

Harper and Margot



18 comments:

  1. You do not want the hogs. They can destroy your entire yard in about 5 minutes.

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    1. You are correct. They are not near us and the Board has them trapped regularly.

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  2. That's one of the many things I love about Florida living too. We have seen the occasional bobcat, have roosting owls, blue crabs, bunnies, box turtles & osprey give their young flying lesson twice a day right over our street. We don't have gators though in the past we've had them. Keep your cute pups away from the water & our neighbors warned us the birds of prey will swoop down & carry away our little Chihuahua. Pamela

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    1. Yes, you are right. The pups just go in the lanai, not outside.

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  3. How lucky you are to live so close to nature. I live close to a lake and golf course too, and it's wonderful to see all the beautiful wildlife.

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    1. I agree, there is something very relaxing and calming about watching all of them.

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  4. We moved my 95 y.o. mother-in-law up here to SC from Sarasota last year. She had been there since the early ‘60s. We always enjoyed visiting there and in Venice. So many great restaurants for starters! As a S.C. girl who grew up in Charleston, please be hyper vigilant about your beautiful pups and the alligators. They will even climb fences to get them.

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    1. Yes, absolutely. They do not go outside - just the lanai.

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  5. Thank you for this post , we are moving to Florida hopefully this summer!.....good thing I love animals.

    Autumn

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  6. I live in Pinecrest, just south of Coral Gables. Here we are overun by Peacocks and Iguana. I litteraly have to dodge them on my morning walks. The Peacocks are obnoixiously loud and stand their ground when you approach them. The Iguana are afraid of their own shadow. We also have Macaws flying from treetop to treetop, always in pairs. And then there are the very chatty green conures that congregate in mobs and make a racket just as the sun is setting. Unlike with the Peacock, the conures noise never seems to bother me--it makes me happy!

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    1. Oh my gosh, it all sounds wonderful. I had a childhood friend and they owned many peacocks. Amazing creatures.

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  7. Oh my! Peacocks, macaws and conures are more than likely left from when Parrot Jungle was on Red Road years ago. I believe this was relocated to Miami Beach awhile back? The parrots were let go in the morning and were trained to return in the late afternoon. Many escaped during the hurricane also and so it seems they are flourishing in the area! When I grew up in that area, the iguanas were few and far between though I read they are plentiful now. We truly live in wild kingdom.

    best, teaorwine

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    1. I love this about Florida. We had a deer fawn in our front yard this morning with Mom and Dad.

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  8. I’m also a DC area girl who loves the Sarasota area - I have a teeny 2d home there now. Lifestyle and community and aesthetic all rock!! So looking forward to your posts!!

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    1. DC and Sarasota - the best of both worlds! Thank you so much.

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