Curry Creek Preserve is an 80-acre preserve with trails and a paddle boat launch in
Venice, Florida
Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call "Venice Island", a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located in Sou ...
. It is located at 1075 Albee Farm Road. Named after a family of early pioneer settlers to the area, the preserve was purchased in 2002 through the
Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP). Habitats include
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...
forests,
tidal marsh
A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes are commonly zoned into lower marshes ...
es, and flatwoods, with the rare
Pond apple tree found upstream along the creek. Wildlife inhabitants include
tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like ot ...
s,
alligators
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis'' ...
,
river otters,
eastern indigo snakes and wading birds "such as the roseate spoonbill and wood stork".
Sarasota County
Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota– Bradenton, ...
Public Works maintains a 19-acre tidal marsh and tidal swamp restoration site nearby.
Curry Creek
Sarasota County Government
References
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Nature reserves in Florida
Protected areas of Sarasota County, Florida
Venice, Florida
Rivers of Florida
Landforms of Sarasota County, Florida
Protected areas established in 2001
2001 establishments in Florida