03/09/2005
Unwanted Floridians
As I started this column, my wife called my attention to a boat floating out in the middle of the little bay we overlook. It’s a nice sleek boat; the most interesting thing about it, however, is that there’s nobody in it! Apparently, someone didn’t tie the boat very firmly to its mooring. Hopefully, it will be retrieved before it floats out to the Gulf, from which recapture would no doubt become more difficult.
I’ve been walking the beach here on Marco Island for over a month and have only seen one dolphin in that time. Now 20 or so dolphins have died in the Florida Keys after a reported 68 dolphins beached themselves, possibly because of submarine sonar exercises in that area. While walking on the beach before dawn, I’m not concerned about dolphins or other animals but keep a sharp eye out for manmade holes and monuments dug into or molded from the sand. I was surprised last year or the year before when an alligator appeared in the waters of the Gulf off the beach where I walk. This morning, I did spot a dim dark form on the beach ahead of me and was relieved when it turned out to be just a part of a tree washed up on the sand.
The chances of stumbling upon a dangerous animal on our beach are pretty remote. However, I’ve just read an article in the March issue of National Geographic that gave me pause. The article, by Susan McGrath, is titled “”Attack of the Alien Invaders”. These are not aliens from outer space, but animal and plant species that have been transported from their native habitats to other lands, Florida being one of those lands. The article opens with an account of the author’s slow drive at night on a road in the Everglades, which is virtually next door to Marco Island. Ms. McGrath was hoping to come upon a particular alien and, sure enough, there it was sprawled across one lane on the road - a Python molurus bivittatus! You probably know it as the Burmese python!
This was a relatively small one, a mere 10 feet in length. These pythons can live for 25 years and McGrath notes they can become as wide a telephone pole and 20 feet long. An adult deer makes a nice meal for this size python! The Burmese python is flourishing in the Everglades and, according to a report dated June 3, 2004 on the National Geographic Web site, rangers had captured or killed some 68 Burmese pythons since the mid 1990s. Pythons have gone after alligators but it seems that the alligators have so far come out the winners or least managed a tie in those battles that have been witnessed between the two species.
The pythons came to the Everglades when people who owned the pythons as pets became disenchanted with their ability to handle them and dumped them. Unfortunately, the pythons are quite self-sufficient and have found discarded pets of the opposite sex and the result is as expected – more pythons. Of course, I’m thinking, hey, could they slither over to Marco and set up shop in the grassy dunes along the beach I walk on?
I was surprised to find that you can still go online and purchase one of these Burmese pythons. I personally can’t imagine wanting one as a pet. There was a warning on one site that the snakes may harbor a “Burmese disease” of some sort that doesn’t show up right away but that eventually kills the python in a few years. Apparently, those discarded pets in the Everglades didn’t carry that disease.
I was surprised to learn from the Geographic article that the nearby town of Cape Coral also is playing host to an unwanted and troublesome alien species. This one is a lizard. In Florida, one becomes used to the presence of lizards, typically only a few inches long and harmless. Actually, some homeowners welcome them to help keep down the insect population. However, when the lizard is black and yellow and 5 feet long, one cannot ignore the critter. This is the carnivorous Nile monitor lizard and it’s one mean dude, as I found out on a visit to the University of Tampa Web site. It has claws like an eagle’s talons, a tail like a bullwhip and a “serious set of teeth”, according to Dr. Todd Campbell, ecology professor at the University of Tampa. Cats in Cape Coral do well to avoid the Nile monitor. Campbell is in charge of an effort to get rid of these unwanted Cape Coral inhabitants, believed to number in the thousands.
As with the python, young Nile monitors were and are being sold as pets. Campbell says that they are mean, make very bad pets from the start and never get any better. To make it harder to get rid of them, they’re excellent swimmers, can climb trees, can hold their breath for an hour, have a range of about two square miles and have a diet that’s pretty all inclusive. Aside from cats, they’ll eat clams, oysters and other mollusks, tortoises and their eggs, birds and their eggs, and just about anything else they can lay their claws on. They’re also smart enough to run away, at up to 18 miles an hour, when they hear or see you coming.
They love the Florida coastal type habitat, which reminds them of their native Africa, if only subconsciously. The development of communities like Cape Coral and others in Florida provides additional incentive for their survival. Typical developments here in Florida involve the laying out and building of homes, with many developments never getting completely filled in. This leaves vacant lots and estuaries bordering these lots, which provide just the environment that the Nile monitors love. How the first Nile monitors were established is a matter of conjecture. Conspiracy theorists might say that pet sellers saw that, instead of having to worry about the red tape and expense of dealing with African suppliers, they could establish a local population of the lizards and harvest the young ones for sale.
Hopefully, such a nefarious scenario is not the answer and it may have been misguided pet owners turning loose their unmanageable lizards to roam free in the environment. Either way, the Niles are there and what to do? Campbell and his group hope to continue a trapping program, attracting the lizards with bait and then gassing them in a humane manner. There will also be a natural diminishing of the lizard’s habitat as Cape Coral fills in those vacant lots and the canals are sea-walled. Of course, the question then will be where do the lizards go? They could just move on to other surrounding communities. Could they swim down to Marco?
I’m wishing Campbell and friends all the best in ridding Cape Coral of the beasts but would you believe that some groups are fighting the eradication program. There’s even a “Save the Nile Monitor Society” and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has joined the fray. They argue that the lizards shouldn’t have to suffer but the counter argument is that the native species shouldn’t have to suffer either and that we should side with our own.
We’ve talked of global warming on many occasions. The invasions of these alien snakes and lizards are only two examples of what McGrath, in the Geographic article, terms “global swarming”. Back home in New Jersey, we have to worry about the alien Asian long-horned beetle that threatens our trees; nearby towns have already had to cut down many trees that the beetle had penetrated. We’ve also had our bouts with the alien West Nile virus in Jersey and we all have to worry that the Asian bird flu stays contained in Asia. If it spreads, there’s the threat of a global flu pandemic, the likes of which most of us haven’t seen in our lifetimes. Global swarming is here to stay, the price of being a mobile society.
Incidentally, I had no idea that mention of a problem we’ve had with our condo deck on Marco Island would prompt such an outpouring of information from my readers. First it was Tony from New Jersey, then Harry K from Canada and now Ken S from Nebraska. The problem was related to the corrosion of the reinforcing metal bars in the concrete. Tony likened the problem to grid growth in lead –acid batteries; Harry K noted a similar problem with some roads in Canada and Ken S points out that bridge decks in salty areas are also subject to corrosion that breaks up the concrete and that corrosion is responsible for the decay of curbs and walkways in New York City. Thank you all.
Finally, I see that wayward boat is now back in its mooring and I have no idea how it got there.
Allen F. Bortrum
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