Everglades Wonder Gardens: 20 things that make the Bonita Springs attraction special

Big changes are happening at Southwest Florida’s oldest tourist attraction, Everglades Wonder Gardens.

The Gardens’ new director, Thomas Hecker, and the nonprofit group that runs the Bonita Springs institution are revamping the place. The idea: To let visitors get up close and personal with its plants and assorted birds, butterflies, tortoises and other critters.

The various projects include new walk-through aviaries that will let people actually spend time among the birds, plus some new, more natural boundaries to replace the attraction's wire cages, such as boulders to hold in the tortoises.

“I’m a hands-on learner,” Hecker says. “I remember things by doing them and having that experience. … It’s all about immersive experiences.”

Those changes will start rolling out as soon as October, he says. In the meantime, here's a look at Everglades Wonder Gardens and 20 things that make the place special:

— When the Gardens opened in 1936, it was called the Everglades Reptile Gardens. The name made passing drivers squeamish, though, so the owners changed it to Everglades Wonder Gardens. Admission was only 25 cents.

— Brothers Bill and Lester Piper founded the Gardens after stumbling upon Bonita Springs during a hunting trip. The attraction was passed down through two more Piper generations and ended up in the hands of David Piper Jr.

Piper suffered from an inoperable spine tumor, however, and he closed the Gardens in 2013 and moved to Georgia with his family. Now the place is run by the nonprofit Bonita Wonder Gardens, Inc.

—The Gardens used to be home to panthers, mountain lions and other mammals. But those are gone now. They’ve been replaced by butterflies, flamingos, gators and a boa constrictor named Bella.

— If you want to see gators, this is the place to go. Thirty-seven gators spend their days lounging on the park's Alligator Beach and cruising the pond as they gobble gator food tossed by visitors. Gator pellets are 50 cents a handful.

The gators have always been a big attraction for tourists and people who don't live full-time in Florida.

"When you see an alligator, especially when they push up on those little legs, it's like seeing a dinosaur,” former owner David Piper Jr. said in 2001. “You have a creature that when it shuts its mouth breaks the sound barrier. They have thousands of pounds (of pressure) per square inch in their jaws. They seem to defy science."

— New director Thomas Hecker is a flamingo guy, though. And he plans to add more flamingos to the park's collection in the coming years. 

“I am more of a bird person,” he said in February. “I am more of a beauty person.

“I think alligators are great, but you can almost see them on the side of the road. Flamingos — it is an iconic thing for Florida."

At the moment, the park is home to six flamingos. Hecker wants to bump that number to at least 24. Those cost money, though: About $5,000 each.

That’s why the Gardens is starting to hold fundraisers, including the upcoming Brews for the Birds on Sept. 23, featuring food trucks and beer from local breweries.

Meet Everglades Wonder Gardens' new director

— A group of flamingos, by the way, is collectively known as a “flamboyance of flamingos.”

— The attraction has been given an official historical designation by the Bonita Springs Historic Preservation Board. The board unveiled a plaque at the Wonder Gardens on May 23.

“A city without old buildings is like a band without members,” board chairman Dallas Revord said at the unveiling. “They preserve our heritage and give identity as well as a special sense of space in our community. The Wonder Gardens has that identity and belongs in Bonita Springs.”

— The park's butterfly garden is located in a former mountain lion den. The building is full of succulent flowers and fluttering monarch butterflies, swallowtails and zebra longwings (the state butterfly).

— In 2015, the Bonita Springs City Council loaned  $3.5 million to a newly established nonprofit group, the Bonita Wonder Gardens, Inc., created to buy and preserve Everglades Wonder Gardens. The money went to purchasing the 3 1/2-acre attraction.

Before that, nature photographer John Brady leased the property and used his own money to renovate the attraction and change its focus: A transition from a zoo to a botanical garden. The money went to removing most of the Gardens’ eyesore chain-link fencing, adding walking trails, planting new trees and flowers, and restocking former mammal enclosures with donated or rescued birds, snakes, gators and other creatures.

—  Hecker is the third person to run the place since the Piper family closed it in 2013. He took the director job in January. Before that, he worked as Director of Horticulture at Naples Botanical Garden and as CEO of the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center.

— More than 25,000 people visit The Gardens every year.

Unlikely pair bond at Everglades Wonder Gardens

— The Gardens recently bought four ornate steel solariums that were built and painted in France. The atrium-like enclosures will house butterflies and orchids, hummingbirds and Bird of Paradise flowers, geckoes and rare palm trees, and other plans and wildlife. They likely won't open until next year, Hecker says.

— Casey the cockatoo is one of the most popular critters at Everglades Wonder Gardens. People love to watch the bird dance. Visitors to the park often play music on their smartphones just for him, and the rescued umbrella cockatoo enthusiastically bobs his head to the beat. 

That's why the Gardens' leaders will be making a bigger deal out of Casey starting in October. Plans including producing a video of Casey dancing to the Queen song "We Will Rock You" and selling some brand-new "Casey Rocks!" T-shirts in the gift shop.

Why do that? The reason is obvious, Hecker says. "It's fun!"

— The Everglades Wonder Gardens is the oldest roadside attraction in Southwest Florida. It's even older than The Edison & Ford Winter Estates. The Estates didn’t open until 1947.

— The Gardens' flamingos and alligators are some of the few animals remaining from the previous version of Everglades Wonder Gardens run by the Piper family. 

—  Plants are a big part of the new Everglades Wonder Gardens. After all, the word "gardens" is in the name.

The attraction features hundreds of plants from around the world. Those include fruit and nut trees, palms, orchids, bromeliads and succulents. There are also relaxing walking trails that wind through all sorts of native and exotic plants — from towering palm and banyan trees to water lilies and orchids to ferns and Ylang-Ylang trees (the scent used for Chanel No. 5 perfume).

—  The park is home to a pair of unlikely friends: Big Foot the rooster and Zeus the tortoise. The buddies often snuggle in their enclosure, and Zeus gives Big Foot piggy-back rides. 

— Hecker once worked as a consultant for David Copperfield. He met the magician in 2010 while working at the Houston Zoo. Copperfield eventually hired Hecker as his zoological botanical consultant.

 “He wanted to have flamingos and giraffes and squirrel monkeys on his island," he said. "So I got to do the plant part to make sure none of the plants were poisonous to them.” 

— Big Joe is another popular draw at Everglades Wonder Gardens. The 15.5-foot-long, 1,200-pound creature was once the biggest crocodile in the world. When Big Joe died in 2003, former Wonder Gardens owner David Piper Jr. had the croc preserved and displayed.

— Many of the Gardens' animals have names, including a fluffy chicken names Mr. Giggles (Hecker calls him a "lap chicken") and a peacock named Picasso, who spends his time with peahens Priscilla and Penelope.

SOURCES: Everglades Wonder Gardens, News-Press and Naples Daily News file stories, News-Press interview with Thomas Hecker.

Connect with this reporter:Charles Runnells (News-Press) (Facebook), @charlesrunnells (Twitter), @crunnells1 (Instagram)

If you go

What: Everglades Wonder Gardens, 27180 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs

Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily

Admission: $12 ($10 for seniors, $7 for children ages 3-7, free for younger).

More about Brews For the Birds: This Sept. 23 fundraiser will feature food trucks, craft beer from local breweries, live local bands, park tours and photo ops with birds and baby gators. Tickets are $25-$40. The event takes place 5-9 p.m.

Info: 992-2591 or evergladeswondergardens.com