The story highlights pretty much tell it. People in florida are dong stuff to make sure the snakes don't get to their part of the state.
'Python Patrol' targets giant snakes of South Florida
Story Highlights
"Python Patrol" aims to keep giant Burmese pythons from reaching Florida Keys
Pet owners have been dumping the snakes in the Everglades
Burmese pythons can grow more than 20 feet long and eat animals whole
The snakes "are eating a lot of our endangered species," conservationist says
By Kim Segal and John Zarrella
CNN
MARATHON, Florida (CNN) -- Juan Lopez reads meters with one eye and looks for snakes with the other. Lopez is a member of the "Python Patrol," a team of utility workers, wildlife officials, park rangers and police trying to keep Burmese pythons from gaining a foothold in the Florida Keys.
Officials say the pythons -- which can grow to 20 feet long and eat large animals whole -- are being ditched by pet owners in the Florida Everglades, threatening the region's endangered species and its ecosystem.
"Right now, we have our fingers crossed that they haven't come this far yet, but if they do, we are prepared," Lopez said.
Burmese Pythons are rarely seen in the middle Florida Keys, where Lopez works. The Nature Conservancy wants to keep it that way. Watch huge python wrap around a CNN reporter »
The Python Patrol program was started by Alison Higgins, the Nature Conservancy's Florida Keys conservation manager. She describes it as an "early detection, rapid response" program made up of professionals who work outside.
Eight Burmese pythons have been found in the Keys.
"If we can keep them from spreading and breeding, then we're that much more ahead of the problem," Higgins said.
Utility workers, wildlife officials and police officers recently attended a three-hour class about capturing the enormously large snakes. Lt. Jeffrey L. Fobb of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit taught the participants how to capture pythons.
"There's no immutable laws of snake catching. It's what works," Fobb said as he demonstrated catching a snake with hooks, bags, blankets and his hands.
"We're doing it in the Florida Keys because we have a lot to protect," Higgins said. "The Burmese pythons that are coming out of the Everglades are eating a lot of our endangered species and other creatures, and we want to make sure they don't breed here."
Where the snakes are breeding is just north of the Keys in Everglades National Park. An estimated 30,000 Burmese pythons live in the park.
The Everglades, known as the "River of Grass," is a vast area with a climate perfect for these pythons to hide and breed. And breed they do: The largest clutches of eggs found in the Everglades have numbered up to 83.
The snakes grow like they're on steroids. With a life span of 30 years, these pythons can weigh as much as 200 pounds. And the larger the snake, the bigger the prey. Biologists have found endangered wood rats, birds, bobcats and other animals in their stomachs.
Two 5-foot-long alligators were found in the stomachs of Burmese pythons that were caught and necropsied, officials say.
Officials also say Burmese pythons can travel 1.6 miles a day by land, and they can swim to reach areas outside the Everglades.
This nonvenomous species was brought into the United States from Southeast Asia. Everglades National Park spokeswoman Linda Friar says biologists believe that well-intended pet owners are to blame for their introduction into the Everglades.
"These pets were released by owners that do not understand the threat to the ecosystem," she said.
Higgins says 99,000 of the popular pets were brought into the United States from 1996 to 2006, the most recent data available. She says they are an easy species to breed, and you can buy a hatchling for as little as $20.
The problem with these pets, Friar says, is that they get too big for their owners to handle. Making the owner aware of what to expect when the animal becomes full-grown is a priority.
"The pet trade is pretty supportive in educating people," Friar said. She hopes a "Don't let it loose" message campaign makes an impact on pet owners.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a supporter of restoring the Everglades, has introduced a bill that would ban importing the python species into the United States. The senator saw the need after learning about the effect these snakes were having on the park.
"Finding out many endangered species are being found in the stomach of the python," Nelson spokeswoman Susie Quinn said, "we need to do a better job at protecting the resources."
In the meantime, Lopez and the Python Patrol will continue to protect the Florida Keys by capturing the snakes and turning them over to biologists to perform necropsies. The Nature Conservancy plans to expand the program to all the areas that surround the Everglades, making these predators their prey.
"I would like to find them and get rid of them," Lopez said.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Stone-Throwing Chimpanzee Displays Humanlike Planning Abilities
A chimp in a Swedish zoo plans his day around the chance to throw rocks at pesky human visitors. A researcher sees 'advanced consciousness and cognition traditionally not associated with animals.'
By Karen Kaplan
March 14, 2009
Santino knew the humans were coming. So each morning, he trolled for stones and fashioned concrete disks to be stashed in strategic locations until it was time to hurl them at his pesky visitors.
As a chimpanzee, Santino wasn't thought to be capable of anticipating events in a way that so closely resembled human behavior. But cognitive psychologist Mathias Osvath became convinced after watching the 30-year-old primate repeat his routine for a decade at a Swedish zoo, according to a report published this week in the journal Current Biology.-L.A.Times,March 14,2009
Colbert Nation coverage:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/222215/march-19-2009/when-animals-attack-our-morals---chimps--lizards---spiders
mm
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wild Kingdom in Michigan
A harpie eagle on Lake Michigan? Yes, "Wild Kingdom" was hosted by Lincoln Park Zoo's Marlin Perkins. Note here in this original pilot that animals and primitives are equal points of investigation in the 'wild kingdom' that exists beyond the city and its civilized ways.... ay
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Coyotes deserve protection
In the Colorado this past week there is a battle between the residents in Greenwood Village and local coyotes. They've hired $60 an hour vigilantes to shoot them on sight. This latest action was based on an alleged attack on a fourteen year old boy, who was not hurt. Reports of nine attacks of humans in the past five years of coyotes in the Denver area have been reported. Suburban enclaves like Greenwood Village have encroached on wilderness territory. There is quite a battle brewing between conservationists and local residents. It made me sad to hear that the coyotes are being hunted because they are now living in an upscale neighborhood. It was one of my highlights this past week to observe a couple of coyotes chasing field mice in the snow close to where I was staying. They were beautiful to watch.
MPM
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
my deer home (Pets or Prey?)
This short news blurb about an abandoned deer adopted by a family couldn't be more timely to or conversation about wild animals as pets and the role close caring bonds have no re-orienting and challenging people's desire to hunt. Prey or Pet? The commentary of the reporters is fascinating: "Oh, I don't think this is going to end well" (what could that mean?)
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7005514
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7005514
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
This movie is the true story of a Bohemian St. Francis and his remarkable relationship with a flock of wild red-and-green parrots. Mark Bittner, former street musician in San Francisco, falls in with the flock as he searches for meaning in his life, unaware that the wild parrots will bring him everything he needs.
link to the trailer:
www.wildparrotsfilm.com
CM
Monday, March 2, 2009
peanut dog to the rescue
Well, we know so far that dogs can smell for bombs, for snakes & other stowed invasive species stowed in mail, and also for evil bedbugs! Now it turns out that they sniff out peanuts for the deathly allergic now as well.
Perhaps a new career for all those dogs displaced by the ponies that are taking their jobs as seeing eye dogs?
AY
the Monkey Bite Bill
Also known as the "Captive Primate Safety Act" - this piece of legislation has been around sonce 2005 but now has gotten serious (or in the case of the Daily Show, not-so-serious) attention after the chimpanzee Travis critically attacked a human.
One thing unfortunate thing about this whole congressional discussion regarding Travis and the other chimpanzees shown throughout the daily show clip: chimpanzees are NOT monkeys! Both are a kind of primate for sure, but chimpanzees - like us - are apes my friends, not monkeys.
AY
I know we talked about pets, and if it's right or wrong. What do you guys think about fish ponds? which is very separate because you really don't even interact with them. This is from this website. GMF
What is it about a fish pond? There must be something as so many of us treasure them. Are there really any benefits in having one or are they an unnecessary chore.
I personally think the benefit of owning a fish pond is well worth the time and effort involved in creating it and looking after it.
A well designed fish pond can actually add value to your home. As gardens are now seen as an additional room to your house a well laid out garden that comes complete with a fish pond is actually an asset that will encourage that potential buyer.
Wildlife in your garden will increase considerably. The frog population will thank you as there are fewer and fewer natural ponds in which they can spawn. Similarly Newts are also becoming an endangered species and having the facilities to live near water should boost the population in your area.
Birds love ponds especially if you have a shallow leader pond or waterfall. We spend hours watching the birds 'line up' to take there turn in having a bath. It is hilarious to watch.
Are you stressed at work? Coming home to a lovely pond with fish that come up to great you is a wonderful antidote. Fish can be trained to take food from your hand. You will eventually get to know their characters and they will become part of the family. They don't judge you they just love you!
Do you need a hobby, somewhere to potter? If so designing and keeping a fish pond can be a very absorbing hobby. You may start out with a basic pond but I bet in time and with more knowledge this will turn into a fascination that will grow and grow.
Start planning your fish pond now, click on the link in my resource box and you will find plenty of information and a free e-book that should get you started
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Bird Skinning at the Field Museum - Step by Step
I've been working in the birds division of the field museum for several months now. My job is to skin the dead birds that are brought in by citizens or collected by volunteers around the city of Chicago. When the birds first come in they look like this:
The birds are kept in a freezer prior to their skinning, and the process can begin as soon as the neck is fully mobile. The feathers on the breast are parted down the middle and the skin in slit from the throat to the end of the ribcage. The spinal chord, trachea and esophagus are severed in the neck and the skin is peeled back from the torso.
The wings are clipped at the elbows and the legs below the hips, allowing the torso to be removed. The skin of the neck is pulled up over the head and the skull is opened in order to remove the brain stem, brain, eyeballs, and tongue. The neck skin is then eased back over the head. With the removal of the contents of the skull, the torso, and the muscled of the appendages, the bird is ready to be stuffed.
Unlike traditional taxidermy, when stuffing the bird skin for the museum's archive, there in no intention of imitating a lifelike pose. The birds are stuffed with cotton, with a small stick running from the skull down the back of the skin to act as a structural spine. The eye sockets and throat are stuffed with small pieces of cotton. The wing bones are tied with string to approximately the distance of the shoulder blades. A wad of cotton the size of the torso is sewn into the body of the bird, and the feet are tied together at the ankles. The bird is posed to be dried on its back with its wings folded beneath - essentially the most efficient pose for storage. They are then dried and filed in the archive, and a corresponding flesh sample is kept in the freezer so that scientists interested in the bird in the future will have access to it.
Not all of the birds brought in to the Field Museum are archived as skins. Many - especially those in poor condition - are preserved as skeletons, which are cleaned by flesh eating beetles in the beetle room. For a video of the beetle room, click here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)