Closed Shell Factory & Nature Park finds homes for all Nature Park animals
The Floridant/10289050

N FT MYERS, Fla. - Floridant -- Over 350 animals, birds, reptiles and fish from the now-closed Shell Factory & Nature Park have found homes in Southwest Florida, Michigan and Alabama, with the final few animals to be rehomed by the end of November.

The efforts to find homes for unique animals and critters, including a variety of birds, iguanas, tortoises, alligators, fish, a camel and more from the 4.5-acre Nature Park involved a close collaboration between the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Shell Factory Nature Park for transport and relocation to approved facilities with qualified caretakers. After all the animals are rehomed later this month, a final walk-through with FWC is planned to review the final acquisitions list. During placement efforts, the Shell Factory staff continued to care for the animals, and no animals were sold.

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To ease their transition to new homes, Shell Factory staff sent detailed care instructions along with favorite toys, dietary preferences (such as how they like their bananas—cut/mashed/sliced), and more.

As a result, Cronin calls some of these transitions to their new homes "love stories," including:

• Camel Goofy went to Alabama to Grizzly Ranch, which is five acres. He came to Shell Factory when he was 6 months old and is now 17.
• Rita the keel billed toucan, Dusty the Moluccan cockatoo, a blue crowned pigeon and a violet turaco went to Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs.
• Sloths Sid and Sylvia went to Monroe County Sheriff's Office Animal Farm in Key West, a rehab facility for recently released inmates to help them adjust as they get out of the prison system.
• Moo Cow, a 1,200-pound steer, went to greet guests at Blossom & Brie, a North Fort Myers farm, restaurant and event venue offering farmside dining.
• Nan's Ranch, a working animal ranch open to the public run by the Lee County Sheriff's Office and maintained by non-violent inmates, now houses two lemurs, two coatimundi, two albino turtles, one bare-eyed cockatoo and one three-banded armadillo.

Established in North Fort Myers in 1938, the 18-acre, old-Florida roadside attraction has entertained multiple generations with amusement-style rides, arcade games, miniature golf, 50,000 square feet of gift shops, a 4.5-acre nature park with over 350 animals, birds, reptiles and fish that have been rehomed since the attraction closed, and much more. In 1997, Cronin and her late husband, Tom, took the helm of the property when it was under foreclosure and lovingly transformed it from a roadside tourist spot to a sought-out destination for locals, seasonal residents and tourists.

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