Learn how wildlife and humans have adapted to each other and conflicts that arise from it.
About this Event

Charles Sobczak is an award-winning author who lives and writes on Sanibel Island, Florida. To date, he has authored a total of ten books, including three non-fiction titles, two selected works, and five novels. Not wanting to become a “genre-specific” author his varied interests have taken his writing from the Fond du Lac Indian reservations outside of Cloquet, Minnesota to Istanbul, Turkey. His non-fiction work focuses on local and regional Florida flora and fauna. All his works to date have been self-published through his LLC, Indigo Press.

Critically acclaimed Sanibel author Charles Sobczak provides a thoroughly entertaining, beautifully illustrated PowerPoint presentation on how the wildlife in our area, and across the planet, is adapting to us and we to them. This includes a studied look at the increasing influx of wildlife into our urban, suburban, and exurban environments. Sobczak takes an in-depth look at the rebounding populations of everything from white-tailed deer, crows, and Canada geese through a process he calls “unnatural selection.” The lecture also explores the unintended benefits of retention ponds, golf courses, and accidental nature preserves such as the Venice Audubon Rookery, Eagle Lakes Community Park, and numerous locations where wildlife has found habitat in the least likely of places. The focus of this presentation is that, despite our impact on their natural habitats, these resilient creatures are finding new homes on an ever-changing planet. The latter part of the lecture looks at the rise of the conservation movement from the 1870s through today and how we are changing as well. This presentation is uplifting and inspiring at the same time.