A slough, pronounced "sloo", is a creek that runs through a marsh. The Red Bug Slough Preserve occupies 72 acres of city land in Sarasota, Florida. It is shaped like a jigsaw puzzle that fits between neighborhoods around Gypsy Street.
At the entrance to Red Bug Slough is a playground and a butterfly garden. Hiking and biking trails lead away from the road. They're shaded by pines and palmettos that give way to oaks draped with Spanish moss. Red signposts mark the paths. Park benches look out over the lake.
At a quiet turn in the woods, visitors might hear the "knock-knock-knock" of a red-bellied woodpecker. Following the sound, they'd spot a bird barely four inches long, with a distinctive orange splotch at the back of its head.
Wildlife spotted at the park include everything from bobcats to bald eagles. The Red Bug preserve narrows to a point at South Lockwood Ridge Road and Gypsy Street. Across the street it widens into the other half of the jigsaw piece, which includes what's called a basin swamp. Trails are often under water during the rainy summer months.
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72-Acre
Urban Wildlife Refuge
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Red
Bug Slough Preserve in Sarasota
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Red Bug Slough comprises 72 acres of mesic flatwoods, prairie hammocks, lakes, and hardwood swamp. Some people think that the name, "Red Bug" Slough, refers to chiggers and so they are afraid to hike in this tract. However, no chigger bites have been recorded to date by any visitors! Instead, the preserve is named for the cotton stainer bug (scientific name: Dysdercus suturellus). Historically a pest of cotton, this true bug leaves a distinctive yellow-brown stain on the cotton when it feeds. Now, with a reduction of cotton farming in Florida, the insect (though now less common) has adapted to feed on other plants.
Limpkins, a relatively uncommon wading bird, are feeding on snails along the edges of the lake, intermittently calling with their raucous voices. A bald eagle soars overhead. Milkweed beetles (also red and black in coloration) busily feed on their host plant. And grape vines showed signs of a great feast by some hungry beetles during the previous night. The leaves are pockmarked with telltale holes from herbivores (animals that feed on plants). Beetles often prefer to feed at night, in order to avoid being eaten by birds during the daytime.
The plant life of Red Bug Slough is incredibly rich, including such species as slash pine, water oak, elderberry, sword fern, shepherd's needle, buttonbush and buttonweed.
Formerly known by some locals as Skeeters' Drain, this nature preserve is one of several recently acquired natural lands of Sarasota County. Purchasing ecosystems serves as a legacy for future generations and for sound conservation management.
Natural land areas provide economic services to the region, including effective water storage that reduces flooding by the actions of root systems, and profitable incentives as increased tourism from recreational activities. Thus the preservation of natural ecosystems is a win-win proposition for both current and future generations.
Please download your Red Bug Slough Preserve Brochure
Red Bug Slough Preserve
5200 Beneva Road
Sarasota, FL 34233
