Moccasin Lake Nature Park

Park and nature preserve in Florida

27°58′33″N 82°43′24″W / 27.9757°N 82.7234°W / 27.9757; -82.7234Area51 acres (21 ha)OpenedAugust 7, 1982 (1982-08-07)Operated byCity of ClearwaterStatusOpen

Moccasin Lake Nature Park is a 51-acre park and nature preserve located at 2750 Park Trail Lane in Clearwater, Florida. Opened on August 7, 1982,^[1]^[2] the park features trails, boardwalks, an interpretive center, a sanctuary for birds of prey, a playground,^[3] a butterfly garden and turtle pond,^[4] and the man-made^[5] lake for which the park is named. Pets, with the exception of guide or assistance dogs, and fishing are prohibited in the park.^[6]

History

Prior to its conception, Moccasin Lake Nature Park was a wetland wilderness area that was being considered for use as a space for low-income housing, before the City of Clearwater decided to turn it into a nature preserve.^[5] The lake for which the park is named was a result of the construction of the nearby U.S. Route 19 in the early 20th century, when engineers removed large amounts of dirt to build an embankment to form an overpass between Florida State Road 590 and Drew Street; the pit that remained filled with rainwater and became Moccasin Lake.^[5] During its development, Moccasin Lake Nature Park was vandalized several times.^[1] The park opened to the public on Saturday, August 7, 1982; between 800 and 1,000 people visited the park in its opening weekend.^[1]

In 1983, analysis of water samples taken from Moccasin Lake found deficient levels of oxygen, which can lead to fish kill.^[7] In May 1984, the City of Clearwater installed a $2,000 water aeration system to increase the lake's oxygen levels.^[7]

Raptor Sanctuary

Located in the park is Moccasin Lake Raptor Sanctuary, an area that houses various injured, human-dependent, or otherwise non-releasable birds of prey in enclosures. Among the sanctuary's residents are Elvis, a black vulture from Homosassa that imprinted on humans and was adopted by the sanctuary in 1987;^[5] Penelope, a bald eagle; Lulu, a great horned owl; and Sunshine, a swallow-tailed kite.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Moccasin Lake Nature Park opens". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. August 10, 1982. p. 8. Retrieved March 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Florida Scouts Clean Unusual City Nature Park". Boys' Life. January 1983. p. 44. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
^ Ramos, Jillian (October 28, 2021). "Clearwater's Moccasin Lake Nature Park home to dozens of birds of prey". ABC Action News. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
^ "The unexpected beauty of Clearwater's Moccasin Lake Nature Park". Fox 13 News. November 18, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Schulte, Eileen (July 25, 2003). "A sanctuary in the middle of suburbia". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. Retrieved March 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Moccasin Lake Nature Park". MyClearwater.com. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Nickens, Tim (May 27, 1984). "City to do monthly tests of lakes, creeks". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Our Residents". Moccasin Lake Raptor Sanctuary. Retrieved March 19, 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moccasin Lake Nature Park.

Official website
Official website of the Moccasin Lake Raptor Sanctuary

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National wildlife refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other national protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee