Animals seek shelter during rainy season

All the rain Southwest Florida has been hit with recently is not only affecting people, but the wildlife as well.

Experts say the amount of rain we’ve had in the past couple of days in flooding out the homes of these critters.

Now, these animals are looking for a dry place to live, including homes.

Nicholas and Candice James say when it rains, they stay inside to avoid the wandering wildlife, such as cane toads.

“We have a dog and where we used to live a couple years ago it was actually a problem,” Nicholas said.

But cane toads aren’t the only animals to keep an eye out for. Trapper Ray Simonsen says gators come out when the sun goes down.

“Most wildlife, typically, they’ll stay close to the bank. But if the water crests at the bank, they don’t have a boundary so they’re just floating freely. They don’t know where to stop,” Simsonsen said.

Simonsen says since rainy season started, he’s already caught rats, iguanas and raccoons trying to escape the wet weather.

“Everything is being displaced because their homes are being flooded out, they damaged their burrows so we’re going to see more activity with them scurrying for higher, dryer ground,” Simonsen said.

Experts say to make sure your windows are shut, garage doors are closed and keep and eye out for any wildlife that might be in your driveway before taking off.