Plant City Observer 09.13.12

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PLANT CITY

You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.

SPORTS

Chargers make splash at swim meet at YMCA.

FREE • thursday, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

showtime!

NEIGHBOR

Circus performers amaze, entertain at Plant City shows.

Sandra Shea has big plans for Big Dog’s Patio.

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OUR TOWN

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KING OF THE crocs By Amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

GATOR

+ Strawberry Fest unveils theme The Florida Strawberry Festival released this week its theme and artwork for the 2013 festival. Themed “Our Masterpiece of Fun,” the artwork depicts Plant City’s famous berry sporting a beret and holding a paintbrush. The festival runs Feb. 28 to March 10, 2013.

+ Sculpture contest winners announced The Plant City Photo Archives & History Center and Hopewell Funeral Home and Memorials Gardens recognized the winners of the Plant City Sculptures Photo Contest during a reception Sept. 7. First-place honors went to T. Eric Barber for his snapshot with “Unconditional Surrender.” Ginny Miller won second place, and photos from Mark Gilman and Karen Gilman, and Lauren Boyd tied for third place. The winners received $30 for first place, $20 for second, and $10 for third place. The contest was open to the public, and entrants were to asked to submit an 8-inch-by-10-inch photograph of themselves with one of the eight bronze J. Seward Johnson sculptures in the “Man on the Street” exhibit. To view all the winning photos, visit our website, PlantCityObserver.com.

SEE OUR TOWN / PAGE 8

GURU Bruce Shwedick hopes to raise money for a new crocodilian holding facility in Frostproof.

DOVER — While scrubbing the enclosure of a Tomistoma crocodile one morning, Bruce Shwedick knew he was a bit too close to the 8-foot reptile that can grow up to 17 feet. But the crocodile had never once snapped at the reptile specialist. Shwedick continued cleaning the enclosure. “The next thing I knew, my hand was in his mouth,” Shwedick says. “He snapped twice and then just held my hand in his mouth.” The 100-pound Tomistoma remained still, gears churning in its head. “He was deciding if he was going to eat my hand or spit it out,” Shwedick says. “Even crocs can be finicky.” Shwedick relaxed his hand i n s i d e

the beast’s mouth. If he tried to pull it away, the crocodile would no doubt clench down its 77 slender teeth on his hand and begin a full body roll which could end in death or dismemberment for Shwedick. Luckily for Shwedick, his hand wasn’t exactly on the approved food list by the Tomistoma’s standards. Slowly, the crocodile opened his jaws, until Shwedick could slide his hand out. Shwedick was left with a severed tendon on the middle finger of his left hand. He had to undergo surgery and wear a cast for weeks. But the damage could have been much worse. However, that hasn’t stop Shwedick’s passion for working with crocodiles. Although the incident was the bite that has

Photo by Peter Brazaitis

Bruce Shwedick, an instructor for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’s Crocodilian Biology and Captive Management Course, has been fascinated with reptiles for most of his life. caused the most damage, Shwedick has been bit about a dozen other times by crocodiles and four times by venomous snakes. Shwedick is part of a crocodile specialist group, the Crocodilian Conservation Center of Florida and the Tomistoma

Task Force. He owns a facility in Dover, where he keeps crocodiles he has raised and crocodiles from zoos around the country. Shwedick is working on opening another larger facility in Frostproof, which he hopes to have operational by June 2014. The property is 16 acres; five will be compound areas and the rest a buffer zone.

LIFELONG LOVE

So, how did a Maryland native end up owning two facili-

Crocodilian Conservation Center of Florida

In 2010, Bruce Shwedick, along with Curt Harbsmeier, Ralf Sommerlad and Colin Stevenson, founded the Crocodilian Conservation Center of Florida. They hope to raise awareness about crocodilian conservation. Currently, they are building a crocodilian holding facility in Frostproof for Chinese alligators, Cuban crocodiles, Tomistoma, Orinoco crocodiles, Siamese crocodiles and West African crocodiles. To donate, call (813) 486-0256 or mail donations to P.O. Box 3176, Plant City, FL 33563.

SEE GATORS / PAGE 8

The popularity of Mighty Mike, who is almost 14 feet long and travels in a 430-pound box, has helped fund the new Frostproof facility. Photo by Bruce Shwedick.

INDEX Cops Corner..........7

Vol. 1, No. 11 | One section

Crossword.......... 15

Obituaries.......... 10

Sports................ 11

PlantCityObserver.com


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