Welcome to summer… Hurricane season. It’s muggy and buggy, and hot as a hairdryer. I love summer. Two things you need to live in the Keys: air conditioning and mosquito control. How did the first settlers of the Keys survive the mosquitos? The Indians smeared mud on themselves, and created strong smelling pastes from mint and sweetgrass, or rubbed rancid alligator fat on their bodies to “hide” from mosquitos. They also used smoke from campfires to ward them off, and chose campsites that were windy and dry. Mosquitoes are two-winged flies that live everywhere except areas that are permanently frozen. The Aedes aegypti, known as the “container bred mosquito”, prefers urban areas rather than forests. Aedes aegypti make up just 4 percent of the local mosquito population, but cause 100 percent of mosquito-borne illnesses, for which there are no human vaccines… Dengue, Zika, West Nile, encephalitis, and Chikungunya. The black salt marsh mosquito Aedes taeniorhynchus lives in the coastal salt marshes of the Everglades and Florida Bay; they emerge in large numbers after it rains., and are not a major vector of disease… though they may drive you crazy. In 1980, an old-timer Ken “Blinky” Vechan, whose father helped build the Flagler railroad, once told me: “There are just enough mosquitos here to keep the people out.” One particularly unique structure in the history of the Keys is Perky’s Bat Tower. once located on Lower Sugarloaf Key. Originally owned by an English sponge farmer named C.W. Chase, the tower property was sold to Richter C. Perky who wanted to establish a fishing camp there. In 1929, as a solution to the pesky mosquito problem, Perky built a bat tower to house the mosquito eaters. Unfortunately, Mr. Perky’s thousands of dollars flew off, as quickly as the bats did, when he placed the bats in the tower. The bat tower succumbed to its final “swat” in 2017 by a lady named Hurricane Irma. Another flying fiend, the dragonfly, provides great natural mosquito defense. Dragonflies live to eat mosquitoes and consume up to 100 a day! They live in areas near wetlands, ponds, or rivers and lay their eggs in mud or water. Invite dragonflies to your yard by installing a pond. You can also stock your pond with mosquitofish or Gambusia to eat mosquito larvae. Birds in turn, prey on the dragonflies, and Voila! … you’ve reduced the number of mosquitos, and created a pesticide-free natural environment that is full of life. Citizens can exercise least toxic means to prevent mosquito breeding on their property by the following practices: DRAIN: Empty flowerpots and trash containers. Flush outdoor plants such as bromeliads and crotons on a regular basis DISCARD: Old tires, drums, bottles, cans, pots and pans, broken appliances EMPTY and CLEAN: Birdbaths and pet's water bowls at least once or twice a week. Empty plastic swimming pools when not in use. PROTECT: Boats and vehicles from rain with tarps that prevent them from holding water. Cover open gutters and plumbing pipes. MAINTAIN: Maintain proper chemistry in swimming pools. Repair broken screens on windows, doors, porches, and patios. Place BTI (naturally occurring bacterium) in areas that hold water; it only kills mosquito larvae. Think of the accumulation of toxins along the way when chemical pesticides are used in the landscape to keep our grass chinch bug free. The birds leave due to lack of food, and insecticide residue makes its way to our waterways, and indirectly to the fish and the lobster… our “bugs” of the sea. Better living through science… how about genetically modifying the mosquito so it eventually dies out? In 2021, Oxitec released genetically modified mosquitos in the Florida Keys despite local opposition. During their study they collected 22,000 eggs, and found only male mosquitos made it to adulthood. They also found the Oxitec gene that killed female offspring lasted only 2-3 months. Mosquitos never go away; the problem requires constant management. Despite local opposition in the Keys, the government in 2022 approved another release of 2.4 million more genetically modified mosquitos in two states, Florida and California. I can’t help but wonder how many of these government decision makers have shares of Oxitec stock. The big issue whenever you do any genetic manipulation is how will this impact the study species and the environment as a whole? Researchers from Yale visited an Oxitec experiment site in Brazil, surveyed the mosquitos and found Oxitec genetic markers in the reproducing population. That the gene is still in these mosquitos well after that trial was over suggests that they didn't all die out. The whole Jurassic Park hypothesis… the fear of what we could create? Perhaps a more resistant bug? Speaking of bugs… the modified mosquitos are treated with an antibiotic. Does that mean when they bite, they transmit that same antibiotic to you?
Call me old school… I’m willing to take precautions with wardrobe, repellant, mosquito coils, use netting to protect small children and even stay inside if need be.
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The Keys are a sub-tropical mecca, for those seeking a life that is easy and breezy. At least that is the Tourist Development Council vision. In reality, competition for increasingly scarce resources, including housing, is a reality in the Keys… for humans and for the critters that live amongst us. It’s a dog-eat dog world out there, and you better not be wearing milk bone shorts. Not long ago the Green anoles were the majority of lizards found in my yard. Some had tails, and others not, thanks to my cats, but they were plentiful. They were great with camouflage, it’s body green when perched on a leaf, or turning brown when resting on a tree trunk. They did their job taking care of bugs in the yard, and provided a good source of entertainment. But then came the Cuban brown anole, a slightly larger lizard, easily identified by the mating male’s conspicuous bright orange dew-lap, and push-up behavior. They eat bugs and spiders… and other lizards. These Cuban cousins have more offspring than the Green anole; outcompeted and displaced, our native Green anole had to retreat to high in the tree canopy. Head for the hills, my Green anole buddy! See you on the ground someday. While cruising the islands of the Bahamas, I was introduced to lizards that had curly tails. I’d lived my entire life in Florida, but the Bahamas were the only place I’d seen these curious creatures. As it turns out, the Northern curly-tailed lizard was brought to Florida both as pets, and in the 1940’s sugar cane growers released them in their fields to control the insect population. These lizards can reach 11 inches, though most are around 7 inches in total length; they eat bugs and flowers, especially railroad vine, but also other lizards, particularly Cuban brown anoles. Hold your position in the trees, my Green anole buddy! I’ve got your six. Another lizard, the Peter’s Rock agama, began showing up in my yard around the end of 2020. Though first introduced by the pet trade in 1976, this lizard’s population really took off in the Keys, coincidentally during the pandemic, when the Keys were also “discovered” by an influx of new human residents, whose demand for second homes sent prices up, and the local workforce out. During mating season, Peter’s Rock agamas are pretty boys with boldly colored red heads, a black body, with more orange and ending with a black tip. Shy, they quickly retreat from humans, seeking cover under rocks or into the foliage. Both the agama and the curly-tail are sit-and-wait predators, who watch for crawling insects and butterflies. It’s no coincidence their favorite hangout in my yard is a coral rock covered by Corky-stemmed passion flower, the larval host plant for a variety of butterflies, including Gulf Fritillary, Julia Heliconian and Zebra Heliconian butterflies. The Peter’s Rock agama also preys on the Cuban brown anole. Whisky Tango Foxtrot! Take cover, my Green anole buddy. There is a large predator heading your way. It’s an invasion! The Green iguana was introduced to Florida via the pet trade; somehow they got loose and now are found in the Keys, to as far north as Tampa Bay, and all parts in-between. They feed on foliage, flowers and fruit, and will eat insects, lizards, small animals, nesting birds and eggs. The males grow to six foot long including the tail, that can whip you and transmit salmonella; alligators, dogs and raccoons are their only natural predators. They dig nesting burrows that contain an average of 40 eggs. These destructive burrows cause erosion and undermine seawalls, and can cause you to twist an ankle while walking near one. It is hard to calculate how many iguanas there are. A friend hunkered down in his home during hurricane Irma was amazed at how many iguanas were in the trees; as the storm raged on, soon revealed were dozens of iguanas, clinging to the defoliated branches. Cold blooded, they fall from the trees when temperatures go below 45 degrees, an opportune time to reduce their population. Green iguanas are here through no fault of their own, but I’m all for the death penalty due to their destructive behavior; call a Nuisance and Wildlife Management Pro, to do it humanely. There is one reptile in my yard, who can be heard during May at dawn and at dusk, but rarely seen. It’s diet includes insects, baby birds, and small mammals such as nesting mice. It lives in tree crevices, and even inside structures, behind suspended ceilings or within walls. A native of Southeast Asia, the Tokay gecko’s call is described as “tuck-too”, too-kay; it was this sound that prompted U.S. troops in Vietnam to informally dub it the "F*ck You Lizard…” an informal “reception committee,” and the only ones there telling you the truth. Anyone out there ready to turn back the hands of time to the way things were in our youth? Our house pets were dogs and cats; they taught us responsibility, and were family members. There were also goldfish, a small turtle lagoon, caged parakeets or hamsters, and fluffy white “Blossom B Rabbit” who lived in a pen under the shade tree. Exotic creatures lived in zoos; venomous snakes, alligators and crocodiles were housed at the Miami Serpentarium until the late 70’s. . Soon people began buying a new kind of pet: the harmless looking baby snake, sitting on a rock under a heat lamp in a pet store terrarium without thinking that when mature, the creature would be 20 feet long, weigh 200 pounds, live more than 25 years, and must be fed with live mice, rats, and eventually rabbits. There were reports of pythons in the Everglades in the ’70’s and 80’s, most likely caused by people releasing their unwanted pets, to happily slither off into saw-grass marsh or cypress slough. Look out for snakes in the proverbial grass! If it were only that easy. For years Everglades park managers were convinced these invasive snakes were escapees, or former pets, not part of a breeding population. Florida offers virgin hunting grounds for pythons, who are carnivorous, but aren’t picky. Last year in N. Key Largo 40 pythons were captured. These captures were humanely euthanized, and then necropsied to examine their stomach contents, which revealed a diet of possums, raccoons, woodrats, and cotton mice. Pythons are biological vacuum cleaners, their jaws are fitted with sharp, inward-curving teeth to grab their prey, while they coil their body around it. Pythons are ambush predators, so they patiently wait for animals to go by for their next meal. The number of possums and raccoons in our area is fairly high; this may be because the Keys are fairly early in the python invasion, and/or because there are a lot of food resources available, so more young are born, and survive, Poor Henry the Westie, family member of Julie and Rob, who one day on his regular “potty break” was traumatized by a near fatal encounter with a large python lurking in his backyard. It was the quick thinking of his dad, who snatched him from within inches of the pythons head. Later on Julie got to wondering where had the raccoon gone that regularly visited her pool for a drink. She concluded it must have been nabbed by the python. She said there was a feeding station next door, and that may be why the python has chosen this area to hunt. Soon after hearing this, I began scanning my property for potential food sources that may attract pythons, and guarding my doors from my cat’s possible escape. The snakes have migrated to the Keys over land and by water, and are adapted to hiding underground, in the cracks and crevices of a geological ancient coral reef. There is whole subterranean world under our feet; a space where pythons have the ability to occupy and where man has an inability to detect, and they stay beyond reach in impenetrable mangrove swamps. So how many pythons are there? Too many! Some distrust the agencies putting out the data, and believe the numbers are exaggerated for whatever reason. I'm no scientist, but the fact is pythons never were in my neighborhood before and now they are. EDDMAPS is a website, that shows on a map, the actual places where pythons have been sighted or captured. The best thing people can do is be on the lookout for pythons. The most important thing to do if you see a python is take a photo. Document it, and then report it immediately. Percy the python sniffing dog is successful if it is a very recent sighting, a few hours or a day, but not more than that. If you see a python, call 1-888-IVEGOT1 As homeowners we should adopt cultural controls: things we can do to modify the habitat, without physically or chemically harming animals. We can eliminate food sources that attract small mammals such as rats, possums and raccoons to our homes. To prevent infestation of not only rats, but also pythons. we can close up crawl spaces under our homes, place mesh over vents that may be missing or cracked, and eliminate any holes big enough for critters and snakes to go through.
Indeed, things have changed since our youth. The night watchmen and security patrols have always had an eye out for suspicious human activity while on patrol; now their watch must be expanded to include the night creatures, If you were to drive on CR905 at night, you would potentially see pythons cruising the side of the road. Agencies must make it a condition of employment, and provide the training and incentive, to remove the python, not just drive right by it. |
CAROL ELLIS
This photographic website provides me the opportunity for self-expression, for sharing Archives
May 2024
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