-
Gopher tortoises in “intensive care” recovering from shell damage need time and medical attention to heal before being released back into the wild. SUBMITTED PHOTOS -
rom shell damage need time and medical attention to heal before being released back into the wild. SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Kim Titterington, Director of Swamp Girl Adventures, has always been fascinated with reptiles and amphibians, ever since a neighbor began teaching children on her street all about them. Now she rescues, rehabilitates, and eventually releases several hundred injured, sick, or abused animals each year, including over 700 in 2022, working from a very small facility in west Osceola County.
After learning how to care for animals at several local zoos and animal attractions in Central Florida, and earning a Florida wildlife rehabilitation permit, she opened her not-for-profit Swamp Girl Adventures in 2009. In addition to the hands-on assistance to reptiles and amphibians in need, Titterington also provides reptile-specific training to fellow animal health professionals and gives educational presentations to schools and other youth activities.
Swamp Girl Adventures receives calls from biologists at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to rescue sick or injured reptiles and amphibians, collect lab samples, and share information on disease trends. Calls also come in from the general public and other agencies as well.
“We often receive calls from both law enforcement and firefighters when they encounter situations with reptiles and need some guidance or help,” said Titterington. “I’ve been called from as far away as Nome, Alaska when authorities discovered a crocodile being kept illegally as a pet.”
As calls continue to increase each year, corresponding to the rapid pace of development in our area, she is on a quest to develop a larger facility that can house all the wildlife she receives, as well as a fully functional lab. A separate area that can be opened up to the public, as well as hosting veterinary seminars, workshops, and events, could produce some revenue to conduct operations. With only donations funding her work, the land and buildings for a new facility is a difficult goal.
“We had a report of numerous cooter turtles dead along one section of East Lake (Tohopekaliga), including three females with eggs. We were trying to do tests and take samples, send them to FWC, and also collect the eggs. If we had a simple lab, FWC would have come over here to examine the deceased turtles,” Titterington said.
Currently, she has over 100 cooter turtle eggs from the dead mothers incubating at the Osceola facility. In addition to the turtle virus currently impacting Florida’s freshwater turtles, injuries from cars and attacks by dogs are the top reptile medical emergency calls that come in. Other emergencies come from acts of animal cruelty, including gunshots and painting turtles, which can result in the turtles absorbing toxic chemicals, loss of protection from their natural camouflage, and difficulty in regulating their body temperature, critical for all cold-blooded reptiles.
For more information on Swamp Girl Adventures, including a link to an Amazon wish list for materials and supplies, see https://bit.ly/3uJ1Ayl
