By Andrea Stetson

It takes only a few hundred steps to go from a gator slough to an African Island. A few more steps and children can strut among the peacocks or bop up and down with the prairie dogs.

It’s all inside the new-and-improved Nature Park beside the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers.

Gone are the cages from the old Octagon business that used to occupy the space. New are the wide paths and open spaces meandering around trees and animals.

Guests are greeted by about a dozen prairie dogs that pop up and down from their holes in the sand. A few feet away, gentle spray from a giant waterfall refreshes passersby when the wind is just right. Get a bit closer to the falls and you’ll see a turtle pond.

The Nature Park is also home to ring-tailed lemurs, raccoons, a bobcat, an African serval, boar, coati-mundi, kinkajous, striped skunks, deer and armadillos.

Inside a spacious building known as the reptile room, dozens of tanks hold venomous and non-venomous snakes. Rabbits lounge in open cages (recent visitors were treated to the sight of two litters of bunnies less than 6 days old).

In the craft room youngsters can color and do other projects. When they get tired, they can snuggle in the reading corner and peruse an assortment of animal and nature books.

One of the most popular attractions is the gator slough, where 8-
foot alligators sun themselves on the banks of a pond. Another favorite feature is the petting zoo, where little hands can touch goats, sheep, cows, llamas and a miniature horse.

“I like the petting zoo and the rabbits best,” said Brenna Huffman, 11, of Boston. “You get to see a lot of animals here.”

Nancy Cassidy of Boston came to Florida with a wish to see one native thing, and she saw it at the Nature Park. “We all wanted to see alligators,” she said.

“I liked the alligators best,” added Brenna’s sister Alexandra Huffman, 8.

Danika Fornear works at the nature center and said guests enjoy being both entertained and educated.

“I think it’s a great place because the kids get to be very hands-on with the animals,” she said. “There’s a lot of touch and feel.”

The park also features an aviary, a butterfly garden, a picnic area and a big new playground with slides, tubes and climbing places.
A sandy enclosure features about a dozen prairie dogs that pop up from their holes.