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Babcock Wilderness Adventures – Punta Gorda

Wilderness Eco-Tour for One, Two, or Four (Up to 64% Off)

from$11
Buy
No Longer Available
Sun Nov 04 03:59:59 UTC 2012
Value
$28
Discount
61%
You Save
$17
  • T460x279
  • Great Outdoors

In a Nutshell

Converted school buses navigate 73,000+ acres of preserve’s woods, prairie, and swamp; guides point out wildlife and divulge historic facts

The Fine Print

  • Expires Jan 15, 2013
  • Limit 2 per person, may buy 2 additional as gifts. Valid only for option purchased. Reservation required. Children 2 and younger are free.
  • See the rules that apply to all deals.

Panthers are unpredictable creatures, which is why you should never approach them in the wild or depend on them to babysit your pet squirrel. Have a brush with the animal kingdom with this Groupon.

Choose from Three Options

  • $11 for a wilderness eco-tour for one (up to a $28 value)
  • $22 for a wilderness eco-tour for two (up to a $56 value)
  • $40 for a wilderness eco-tour for four (up to an $112 value)

Passengers board converted school buses for wheeled treks through the preserve’s four defined ecosystems—a freshwater marsh, prairie, pine flatwoods, and the 10,000-acre Telegraph Cypress Swamp. Guides may point out endangered animals such as fox squirrels, wood storks, and Florida panthers—which passengers may observe up-close without the hassles of dressing up like a rock. Participants may also have an up-close meeting with Saylow, the preserve’s resident 19-year-old southern cougar. During each tour, guides divulge a history of the founding Babcock family and discuss the flora and fauna within each ecosystem. Buses make a stop at the swamp boardwalk, where visitors can disembark and walk over swamp territory before reboarding.

Babcock Wilderness Adventures

Guide Cheryl Dierken was driving her camouflaged tour bus down the swamp road when she felt a loud thud under the tires. Her passengers gasped. A ripple of water, and an alligator leapt from the water beside the bus. It splashed down, and then paddled away between thick trees and hanging vines. Though this was one of the most startling encounters that Cheryl has experienced leading a Babcock Wilderness Adventures tour, it hasn’t been the only one; she’s greeted snapping turtles in the bus stairwell and been approached by young wild hogs. Aboard a converted school bus with doors and windows removed, she and the other guides lead narrated tours through sections of the preserve’s more than 73,000 acres of freshwater marsh, prairie lands, functioning cattle ranch, and pine forest, as well as the 10,000-acre Telegraph Cypress Swamp.

On many of these tours, guides may point out photography opportunities as endangered fox squirrels, wood storks, alligators, and rare Florida panthers saunter by. The bus also makes a stop by the territory of Saylow, a 19-year-old southern cougar who sometimes approaches the fence to inspect her visitors and silently judge their lack of fur. At the Crescent B Ranch, guides point out horse-mounted cowboys herding cracker cattle; the native breed introduced to the ranch in the early 1900s. Staffers also introduce visitors to the original ranch commissary building and museum; built in the style of a rustic hunting shack for the 1995 film Just Cause. Inside, visitors peruse ecological exhibits on local snakes and see a stuffed three-horned cow that once lived on the ranch. Walking trails free of traffic lights connect the piney woods and swamps with a central visitor’s center, where picnic tables sit covered from the elements and a gift shop proffers barbecue sauce, alligator jerky, and local honey.

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Groupon Says

Dem_teaser_cat

The Groupon Guide to: Overdoing Halloween Decorations

The scariest house in any neighborhood is the one that’s clearly overdoing it on the Halloween decorations. If you have any of these decorations in your yard, that terrifying house might be your own:

  • Fake tombstones with the names of different local pets
  • An alive homeowner pretending to be a half-buried scarecrow so he can grab your ankle without asking
  • Incredibly realistic murder scene that the neighborhood single guy spent way too much time on
  • Frankenstein with two extra arms stitched on to accommodate six live chainsaws
  • Sixteen-foot-banner reading “There’s a 50% Chance Your Parents Will Get Divorced"
  • A bunch of angry dogs
  • A realty sign that says “For Sale … BY A GHOST!”
  • Christmas decorations already? Ugh—this country is SPOOKILY consumerist.

How can you tell when you’re overdoing it on the Halloween decorations?

Babcock Wilderness Adventures

4.5 out of 5
TripAdvisor (25 Reviews)
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  • A

    Punta Gorda

    8000 State Rd. 31
    Punta Gorda, Florida 33982
    Get Directions

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