This is southwest Florida in focus.

Coming up, Florida Gulf Coast University prepares to welcome President Donald Trump on Friday.

All is going to drop way down.

Diesel is going to come way down.

Everything is.

We learn more about why President Trump chose Fort Myers to rally with the midterms less than two weeks away.

Waste water woes and septic delays.

We are investigating how gallons of waste leaked into one county and the answers around how it may be fixed.

And an animal with a bad reputation.

But volunteers at the center for Rehabilitation of Wildlife, known as Crow, say this furry friend is a real environmental helper.

We check in on the first skunk patient that crow has seen since 2022.

I'm Jennifer Crawford.

Thank you for joining us.

We are taking a step back from coverage of local candidates to focus on the president of the United States, as he is about to arrive here in Southwest Florida.

The Florida GOP says fans of supporters are expected to attend President Trump's midterm rally at Aleko Arena on Friday.

Has also confirmed that some students and college Democrats plan a peaceful protest outside the arena.

Friday's visit to Fort Myers is part of the president's seven day, seven state sprint to ramp up GOP support as the midterms approach.

For more on President Trump's upcoming visit to Florida Gulf Coast University.

I am now joined by Evan Power, chair of the Republican Party of Florida.

Thanks for joining me today.

Thanks for having me on.

Let's first start with why President Trump has chosen FGC to hold this midterm rally.

Well, we have a lot of voters in Southwest Florida that are excited to see President Trump, and we need them all to turn out to the polls.

So bringing the president down, he is our greatest communicator.

He's the greatest motivator of those MAGA voters.

So we're excited to have him and encouraging people to vote early or on Election Day so we can have a big turnout here in Florida.

And can you give us some of the details on the location, the time, and who can attend?

So there's an online link if you check out the event.

If you go to Donald Trump.

Com you can find the link and sign up to come.

It is.

Apparently he's going to be there at 2:00.

The doors open at 1030.

We're excited to have him here and communicate directly with the with the voters and the people in Southwest Florida.

So we're excited.

How does campaigning here in southwest Florida play into the president's midterm strategy?

Well, for us and here in Florida, it's turning out every Republican voter possible.

We need every Republican to go out and vote.

If you look over the last eight years, governor DeSantis has racked up big wins.

David Jolly says he wants to apologize for those big wins.

So the president's coming here saying he wants to protect governor DeSantis legacy and protect what we've done is Republicans as a team, and we hope that will fire people up to go vote early so that we can bank those votes and continue to turn out voters into Election Day.

And there are some political polls that do predict that some of Florida's red counties could flip blue in the upcoming election.

How concerning is this?

I hear that every two years and we continue to rack up bigger and bigger wins.

What would I know with a 1.5 million voter advantage that Republicans have today?

If we turn out our Republican voters, we will win and we will win these counties across the board.

So that's what we're focused on doing, is turning out every Republican voter, and we need them to vote early or on Election Day.

And can you give us some more details about who the speakers will be, who might be joining the president at Aleko Arena?

I think you're going to see our wonderful Senator, Ashley Moody.

You're going to see our future Governor Byron Donalds there.

And there should be a number of congressional candidates and other local officials that will be adding in the next few days.

But the highlight, obviously, is the president of the United States.

Everyone wants to hear from Donald Trump.

Now, FTC students are reportedly planning some protests around the event, perhaps the day before the day of.

Have you heard about this?

And do you anticipate any of these potential demonstrations impacting the event?

I've not heard of them.

I know security does what they do.

I've been to a number of Trump events, and the protests never intended to get in the way of the actual activities, because the Secret Service does their job and the protection units do their job.

And how many people are you expecting to turn out on Friday?

You know, it's always a big I don't know what the arena is set to to seat, but I know that there will be an overflow crowd.

We always have way more request than we're able to fill, so I will tell people to get there early.

If they get sign up at the link and get their ticket to make sure they sign up early before those doors open at 1030, because we will fill the arena and there'll be an overflow outside.

All right.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Evan Power, chair of the Republican Party of Florida.

Thank you.

WGCU also reached out to the Democratic Party of Florida for comment on President Trump's visit at Florida Gulf Coast University, but we have yet to hear back.

Coming up, we are getting into the Halloween spirit early at Six Mile Cypress Slough.

That's where environmental education is combining with the spooky season.

In the past decade, about 200 murals have been painted by artists with the Fort Myers Mural Society.

The mural projects spans southwest Florida from Bonita Springs to La Belle to Sarasota.

The founder of the Fort Myers Mural Society says the murals breathe life into empty spaces.

With artwork that captures the history, nature and culture of the region.

For more, I am joined by Sheri Shifrin, the creative founder and director of the Fort Myers Mural Society.

Thank you.

Sherry, for joining us today in studio.

Thank you for having me.

It's a pleasure to be here and I'm really excited.

Now, you began this organization in 2015.

Why is there a need for the Fort Myers Mural Society?

Well, the Fort Myers Mural Society came about as a as a tool, I would say, because we had moved into a gallery in downtown Fort Myers that we happened to take over the lease.

So we didn't have a lot of time.

We just took it over.

And myself and two other artists were sitting around going, what are we doing with this place?

You know, so we made a little gallery out of it, and we had some working artists there.

A lot of the time.

So we decided downtown was pretty boring, and we painted a mural on our back door that just said, welcome back to our friends.

And it had some flowers and daisies.

And that's what the one of the in-house artists like to paint.

So we got a fine.

24 hours later, there's a red tag on the door that says no murals allowed, kind of a thing.

So upon investigation, I found that murals and mosaics were part of the sign ordinance, and they were banned from the city of Fort Myers.

So we sort of enacted a plan to overthrow that ordinance.

And it took two years of going to city council meetings and really making a presence that murals are up and coming.

I had painted murals in California and in New York, and they were considered, you know, sort of a new medium for artists in general.

And here I have a gallery and two artist friends and or printing t shirts and making paintings and painting murals and painting the walls and everybody's painting.

So it just we were so offended by the fact that there was no public art.

We couldn't believe it.

We seriously couldn't believe it.

So I took it upon myself to really just fight that ordinance.

And about a year and a half later, it was approved that we could paint murals under specific guidelines within the city of Fort Myers.

And it gave an avenue for a lot of artists to start looking forward to being part of this.

Why is it so important to have murals in our cities?

Well, murals actually, bring life to certain parts of the city.

There's I mean, there's a lot of architectural beauty and there's sculptures.

Murals tell a story.

It's like a picture book, in a way.

And a lot of in a lot of instances, the mural has a storybook meaning behind it.

So it's important to tell our story.

We're losing some of our history as buildings a and towns grow and they try to incorporate other cultures within the community.

You still don't want to lose the culture of the community has.

So it's sort of a way of re.

I don't know, it's it's a way of sort of saying this is where we come from or these are our values, or this is our natural environment, or it's a way to speak for the existing community within the city boundaries that lets the people visiting identify us in some way, and that it just seemed important to add art to create a vibrant.

I don't know if if anybody remembers what the City of Fort Myers is like.

Ten and 15 years ago, it was tumbleweeds were rolling down the streets.

There really wasn't anything going on.

So it just sort of like ignited some vibrance that I think helped bring more commerce into the, you know, into the community.

It helps bring economic diversity into communities.

And it's really just starts with a splash of color.

Everybody is just sort of pretty happy to see it.

And it's it's the Field of Dreams idea.

We will build it.

They will come.

And that's really what we still we still feel like that.

How many murals in all since 2015?

We have over 214 murals.

Not all of them are large scale.

Some of them are small and purposeful, but we do have over 214 of them at this time.

Thank you for joining us in studio today.

Sharing.

Thanks for having me.

Halloween is ten days away, but a local environmental preserve is ready to celebrate this weekend.

Peculiar trees, uncanny owls and sparkling stars are normal finds for six Mile Cypress Loop Preserve, and they are part of the spine chilling production for visitors of all ages.

WGCU Culture and Connections reporter Elizabeth Andarge takes us out to the boardwalk.

It's quiet here at Six Mile Cypress Loop Preserve, but come Friday night, the SLU wakes up and something wicked is coming.

She's here.

She's near.

She smells your fear.

The Friends of Six Mile Cypress SLU preserve are hosting SLU which a Halloween walking play.

Friends board Secretary Theresa Roque is already in character.

The witches only come every hundred years to check on the slew to see how it's going.

And this time they are not happy with what's happening here at the SLU.

So you better watch out on the walk.

Walking this boardwalk at night is a rare opportunity.

We don't get to be out on the boardwalk at night very often because the park closes it at dusk, so we thought it would be kind of a fun idea to get everybody out here for Halloween.

The witches story comes from Gerald Thompson, Lee County Parks and Recreation program specialist.

He wrote the script.

The essence is it's a guided walk, like once we do here all the time, but it's gone awry because we're coming out here during a full moon close to Halloween, and the witches have come down to the slough, and so they're unhappy about some of the ways that some humans have been affecting the SLU negatively and are looking for their vengeance on humanity.

Spooky, yes, but don't expect any jump scares.

It's not a haunted walk.

It's not a haunted house.

There won't be loud, scary monsters.

It's more a spooky theatrical performance.

So you'll be encountering actors having some dialog and encounters with them.

But no, no chainsaws.

Instead, guess they're entertained with a 90 minute program that includes educational actors.

More than 200 people are expected over Friday and Saturday night without the witch's permission.

Their complaint is the very reason the nonprofit friends exists, and it also happens to be a milestone year.

This is the 25th anniversary of the Friends of Six Mile Cypress Loop Reserve, and this is one way we can share with the public and celebrate.

Behind the costumes is a serious goal.

We find that education is probably the best way you can help the environment, because you only save things you love, and we hope to make you fall in love with this Lou.

And you tell others they'll fall in love to.

So if you've been brave enough to walk through the slew after dark, watch your step.

The witches have been waiting a hundred years for news.

I'm Alison and Argy with videographer Andrea melendez.

and the seasonal fun is not ending just yet.

We are learning more about a creature that may give you a fright.

All year round.

BBC Earth reports that spiders can be found on every continent except Antarctica, and they range in size from this tiny as a pinhead to as large as your hand.

WG Kate Cronin talks with a spider expert to learn more about our eight legged I'm joined by Doctor Joyce Fassbender, an expert in spider biodiversity and arachnologist and entomologist, to learn why we should see spiders as friends and not foes.

Thank you for joining me, Doctor Joyce.

Thank you for having me.

So the Cleveland Clinic reports that anywhere from 3 to 15% of people have this fear of spiders or arachnophobia.

Why do you think so many people are averse to spiders?

Well, in our evolutionary history, it's always been official to be concerned or a little bit afraid of things that can potentially harm us.

And there have been spiders over the years, and in certain areas there are spiders that can be harmful if you are bitten by them.

Unfortunately, that is a very, very, very small amount of them, but it sort of translates into all of the other spiders as well.

What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions that people hold about spiders?

So the biggest one is that spiders are actually really quite dangerous.

The most spiders are not.

Now while all almost all spiders are venomous, so about 99% of spiders are venomous.

Only a very, very small handful are actually dangerously venomous.

So we have only two genera in the United States that are venomous.

These are the ones that include the Black Widow and the ones that include the brown recluse and the rest of them.

Getting bit by them is about the equivalent of getting stung by a bee.

So unless you're allergic to the venom, they're pretty much harmless.

And then can you tell me more about what kind of benefits spiders bring for our environment?

Why are they important to our to environment?

So they're ridiculously important to the environment because part of what they do is they control insect populations.

So they eat flies, they eat mosquitoes, they eat other insects that can potentially be pests in agriculture.

They can actually decrease the amount of pesticides that need to be used, because they can decrease the number of pest insects in a field by up to 40%.

So it decreases potential damage to the environment, and it increases the likelihood that will be free from, well, maybe not free from, but we'll have fewer mosquitoes or fewer flies that bother us.

Well, that is always a good sign, especially here.

Florida.

Well, besides the brown recluse and the black widow, what other kinds of spiders can we come across here to Southwest Florida?

So of interest.

The brown recluse isn't native to Florida.

It's native to the American Midwest.

We do have four counties here in Florida where it's been reported, but none of them are anywhere near us.

So the Black Widow can be found in Florida, though, so keep an eye out for that.

We have all sorts of spiders here.

We have crab spiders.

You may have seen the the spiny orb weavers because they are often in gardens.

We have other types of weavers that produce beautiful orb webs.

We have orchard spiders, we have wolf spiders.

We have my favorite, the jumping spiders.

So we have all sorts of interesting spiders here.

One of the most interesting spiders we have here is rarely found in the rest of the United States.

It's called the ogre face biter because it has giant eyes and someone thought it looked like an ogre.

But they are also called net casting spiders.

And unlike other spiders that form webs or actively hunt, they actually make a little net and then jump down and wrap up their prey in the little net.

Wow.

Wow, that sounds like an Indiana Jones movie.

It absolutely is.

And should we be afraid of any of those kinds of spiders?

Can they hurt us?

So if you're allergic and you get bitten, then that, then you should be concerned.

But for any of those kind of spiders, they are pretty much harmless to humans.

Most of them you won't ever see because they're in the woods.

They're in the field.

So they're not going to be in your house.

Okay.

And what do you recommend someone does if they do come across a spider, maybe in their house, in their backyard?

So if it's in their backyard, just leave it there.

It's it's actually helping you out.

It's catching your flies.

It's catching your mosquitoes.

It's catching the little no seams.

It's catching all of the bugs that might want to, you know, damage your picnic or your fun time outside.

But if it's in your house, you generally want to put it outside.

The easiest way to do that is to take a cup or a glass and put it over the spider.

Take a little paper plate and scootch it in between, and then just carry it outside and then shake it really hard.

And that should very easily just move the spider out of your house, okay.

And then if you had one message you could give to all of our viewers about spiders, what do you think is the most important thing for people to know about spiders?

So it's understandable to be afraid of spiders.

But also remember that most spiders are our friends.

They are in nature, they're part of nature, and they are actually helping us whether we realize that that's happening or not.

Amazing.

Well, Doctor Joyce Lender, thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you for having me.

It's been delightful talking about spiders.

Coming up, the clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife for Crow has treated 194 species to date this year.

But we are taking a closer look at one of their rarest patients Whether it is a baby bird or an aging gopher tortoise.

The clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife cares for all creatures big and small, and one of their current patients is actually a rare admittance for the clinic.

Crow hasn't had a skunk patient since 2022.

WGC Kate Cronin finds out how this little skunk made its way into the clinic's For more on the work Crowe is doing for all of the animals in our area.

I enjoyed by Laura Westervelt.

She is an associate, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today.

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Now you guys have a new patient in your care who I hear is a bit of a rare admission.

What can you tell me about your newest patient?

Yes.

We have an absolutely adorable striped skunk.

She is the first one that we have had in our care since 2021.

We had a spotted skunk in 2022, but striped skunks and skunks in general are just incredibly rare for us to get on island.

This one came in September 27th from Cape Coral after her mother had tragically been hit by a car and she was found by her.

So luckily a good Samaritan called in and we have been able to have her in our care, and we're just trying to give her the best chance at survival so we can release her back into the wild.

Yeah.

Can you tell me more about the kind of treatment that you're giving this skunk?

Of course.

Any animal that we get into care.

But especially our neonates and our newborns, we try to replicate what mom does out in the wild.

Of course, mom is always going to do that better.

But we try and, you know, match that formula as best as we can.

We have specific formulas for each species, and the striped skunk is no different.

So we do that, multiple times a day, depending on their weight.

Sometimes it's seven times a day, sometimes it's three times a day.

And that changes as they gain weight and as their mentation changes and as they're turning into the little adult skunks as they're in our care.

So she started off with formula feeds, and now she's moved on and progressed to having kibble and, you know, soft kibble.

And she's moved on now to mouse pieces, which she adores because striped skunks are omnivores.

So out in nature they're going to be foraging and using those little digger Pauls to get mealworms, invertebrates of any kind.

So they can do lizards, they can do snakes.

So we're just preparing her to forage when she is an adult skunk out on her own.

So her diet has changed from formula into almost an adult, skunk diet at this point.

It sounds like she's growing very quickly.

When are you guys hoping that she would be able to return to the wild?

Skunks take quite a bit of time as well.

She needs to learn all of those like natural foraging and adoption behaviors.

So right now, she's still inside.

When they reach about two months of age, then they can move to an outdoor enclosure where she's going to have more of her outside surroundings that she would encounter when she's no longer in care.

She'll have all the noises, all the smells.

And that's when we become pretty hands off as far as people aren't going to be, you know, picking her up and weighing her every day.

She's going to be pretty much wild it up at that point.

Okay.

And then for anyone watching at home, what advice do you have for someone if they come across a skunk?

The biggest thing is, I think a lot of people fear that they're going to get sprayed by a skunk, and that is their last resort.

They are going to stomp their cute little feet and give you all kinds of warnings.

So don't be afraid of a skunk.

Like all wildlife, wildlife is just trying to exist with you.

And they're going to just go about their business.

So just take it a moment to enjoy that.

You've spotted a skunk, because it is pretty rare to see them out in the wild, thriving.

Big thing is try and slow down on the roads, because sadly, that is the fate that they meet when they do have interactions with humans.

That sadly they are crossing the street.

Their vision is not great at all, so they're not aware of what's happening.

So, just enjoy if you do see them and if you do come in contact with one that is injured or needs help, contact Crow or if you're not in the area, your local wildlife hospital.

And we're always more than happy to help and get these guys the care that they need.

Well, thank you so much for all the advice, and thank you for joining me today, Laura Westervelt.

Thank you so much for having us.

We really enjoyed it.

Next time on Southwest Florida in focus.

A local theater is taking the story behind the 1975 horror hit jaws to the stage.

We are venturing on board for an up close and personal look at the iconic Great White Shark and the actors that made jaws a classic.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Make sure you head to WGCU where you will find all of our stories, and we look forward to seeing you again right here for the next southwest Florida in focus.