Pete Corradino (Southeast)
By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, February 20th, 2012
Burmese Python by Jungle Pete
In 2008 the USGS released a potential range map for Burmese Pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) in the United States. The startling suggestion was that the lower third of the continental US could be prime habitat. What it neglected to point out was that this tropical weather-loving snake can’t take the cold.
As evidence, in 2000 the Everglades National Park removed two Burmese Pythons. In 2005 they removed 94 more. In 2009 they removed the highest number ever at 367 followed by a decline in 2010 to 322 and in 2011 only 169 were found. In 2010 Florida suffered a sustained period of cold weather. For ten days, the temperature remained un-Florida like and the consequence was the death of many of the invasive species (as well as many of our native one like the West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) and American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus).
West Indian Manatee
The snakes are a huge problem. Necropsies have found the endangered Florida Woodrat (Neotoma floridana), Big Cypress Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger avicinnia), Wood Storks (Mycteria americana), Everglades Mink (Mustela vison evergladensis) and recently a 76 pound deer in the belly of the snakes.
Wood Stork, adult © Arthur Morris/VIREO
Compounding the problem is the protective nature and prodigious offspring output of a female Python. One female can lay up to ninety eggs. Cold will keep them from spreading north. Strict laws are being put in place to ban the importation of the largest and most dangerous of the invaders and most of the locals are intent on dispatching them.
If only I could enlighten the media a little.
1) Alligators rule the Everglades
2) A handful of pet Anacondas have been found and they are not known to be breeding in the Everglades.
3) The Everglades is over four million acres. The study of mammal population declines occurred in the Everglades National Park. The pythons do not have “voracious appetites”, nor are they “picking the Everglades clean”.
4) The media has a stranglehold on their readers. We have a right to well researched, well written information. Not sensationalism.
To those that would release invasive snakes into the Everglades and to those in the media who perpetuate the python myths – Stop it.
Tags: birds, Burmese Python, Everglades, Florida, mammals, nature, reptiles, snakes, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Everglades Guide Jason with a Burmese Python
We must do everything we can to rid the Everglades of all invasive plant and animal species. That’s a seemingly impossible task at this point for the supposed invasive species capitol of the world. We must also prevent the importation and introduction of any new species to protect the currently out of whack balance of South Florida’s ecosystem. Having said that, I am enraged by the ignorant media coverage regarding the “big snakes” in the Everglades. In December of 2011 an article titled “Severe mammal declines coincide with proliferation of invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park” was published and the media-led hysteria that followed offered tabloid style headlines that fed into people’s natural fears.
“Pythons Rule Florida’s Everglades”
“Pythons and Anacondas Dominate Food Chain”
“Burmese Pythons Picking Florida’s Everglades Clean”
“Pythons have stranglehold on Everglades”
A local NBC anchor suggested without a trace of skepticism that the population of the invasive giants was well over 200,000. This is a stunning climb up the food chain from a few years ago when the estimate was 9,000, then 15,000, 30,000 and then inexplicably 150,000. Now 200,000 plus? Stop it.
Burmese Pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) are endangered in their native Southeast Asian range, thanks to poaching and exportation for the pet trade. People buy them as pets because they’re cuddly or they’re constricting. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. They get to be big, growing to lengths over 20 feet. Eventually they’re the ideal pet they once were and owners dump them in the Everglades. Many were thought to have escaped into the swamp in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew devastated Homestead, Florida, home of many reptile breeders and importers.
Northern Raccoon
The scientific paper that has flamed the frenzy claimed that Northern Raccoons (Procyon lotor), Virginia Opossums (Didelphis virginiana) and bobcat sightings (both live and road kill) are down about 99% from a period of time that predated the python infestation. Now one of the co-authors is distancing himself from the suggestion that pythons are to blame. He says it’s possible, but he blames the media for drawing a correlation between the two.
Virginia Opossum with young © Jack Dermid
They did note that top predators like the Florida Panther (Puma concolor coryi) and Coyote (Canis latrans) (an Everglades new comer), populations had increased but did not suggest that they could be culprits in the population declines of prey species such as raccoons and opossums. Nor did they mention the severe drought the Everglades National Park has experienced and what effect that might have on the need for certain species to seek out better habitat.
Florida Panther © Brian Kenney
The analysis of the scientific paper was lacking and the media did not do their due diligence to understand the entire issue. The shocking headline was enough to craft an exciting tale of reptile Armageddon. I’ll explain more about the biology of the pythons, the threat they pose and what we need to do to stop it. Next week.
Tags: Burmese Python, Everglades, Florida, invasive species, mammals, nature, reptiles, snakes, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, February 6th, 2012
Osprey by Jungle Pete
By the year 2000 Ospreys and Bald Eagles will be extinct.
That is what my 3rd grade teacher told me in 1978. Chemicals were killing the birds including Brown Pelicans, Cormorants and other fishing eating birds. The year 2000 was a long time away and seemingly in a galaxy far, far away and yet for my eight year old, Star Wars-obsessed brain, the notion of extinction was real and saddening to me.
Brown Pelican - adult, breeding, Eastern © Arthur Morris/VIREO
My teacher had oversimplified the problem but I wouldn’t understand that until years later. In fact the ban on harmful chemicals, such as DDT, years earlier had begun the reversal of misfortunate that many of these birds had endured. DDT, an effective chemical pesticide used in the control of malaria-spreading mosquitoes was considered to be the culprit in the decline of many fish-eating bird populations. The chemical bioaccumulates in fatty tissues of animals as it works its way from the base of the food chain, from plant, to invertebrate, to fish, to bird. When the female birds would lay eggs, the DDT inhibited calcium deposition in eggshells resulting in thin eggs that were often crushed by the incubating adults.
http://audubonguides.com/species/Birds/Osprey.html
After DDT was banned from use in the United States in 1972, the chemical slowly worked its way out of the environment, including wildlife and humans and the affected bird populations began to recover.
Twelve years after my teacher’s apocalyptic prophecy, the sight of an Osprey taking flight over a body of water in Florida is relatively common. I routinely have the opportunity to watch Ospreys swoop down over the water and with spiculed-talons, grab a fish to eat. The spicules are sharp spines that impale their prey and make it easier for them to catch slippery fish. Nests are conspicuous accumulations of hefty sticks in trees, on utility poles or on human-made Osprey nesting platforms.
The population rebound for many of the species affected by DDT and other chemicals is very encouraging. Yet I would say to the children of today, the health of our ecosystems is still in jeopardy and unless we fix drainage issues, stop nutrient overloads and prevent further habitat loss, species such as the Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill and Florida Panther will be extinct by 2030.
Tags: birding, birds, Endangered, Florida, mammals, nature, Osprey, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Water Lettuce with Pied-billed Grebe & American Alligator by Jungle Pete
People are often surprised to find I don’t like to swim. Considering I was born and raised in South Florida, it shouldn’t be a surprise. When the ocean is warm enough to swim in, the air is disgustingly hot and humid. In the winter when Florida is full of Canadians, the water feels Polar Bear cold (anything below 68 for me). To add to it, just about every fresh water lake, pond or river is occupied by an alligator, which leaves swimming pools. I didn’t have one and the local community pool was full of something far more insidious than alligators: public pool peers.
Aquatic wildlife species have it tough when it comes to waterways choked with Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes). This floating plant, which is often found in Bald Cypress swamps, grows vegetatively as well as sexually and can blanket the surface of fresh waterways. It looks like a head of lettuce growing on the water and has the green vibrancy of a week-dead treefrog trapped between my sliding and screen door.
There is debate as to the origin of the plant’s native status in the United States with some saying it was introduced from the ballast of ships coming from Africa or South America. Native or otherwise, it is considered a noxious weed in many U.S. locations where it is found clogging up waterways.
Water Lettuce makes life tough for the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), a freshwater diver that seeks crayfish, fish and aquatic insects. Not only does the Water Lettuce block the light and limit visibility for diving birds, it also prevents the growth of other plants, leading to the reduction of nutrients and biological diversity.
Pied-billed Grebe - adult, breeding © Garth McElroy/VIREO
For the carnivorous American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), there’s no chance in partaking of a salad but I have watched gator pups lounge about on several heads of water lettuce like they were tubing down a slow-flowing river. Sounds like fun, but still no chance of me going in that water.
American Alligator © David M. Dennis
Tags: alligator, birding, birds, Florida, nature, reptiles, wildflowers, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Cattle Egrets by Jungle Pete
There are certain birds that you can say with certainty exactly where you will find them. As their name suggests, where there are cattle there are Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis). Spot a roadside mower or a tractor in a field and there will be Cattle Egret and where there is smoke in the grasslands, there will be Cattle Egret. Much to my surprise, after departing a well-known fast food chain drive-thru, I discovered that the habitat of this bird can be extended to here as well.
Cattle Egrets found their way to the New World from Africa sometime in the late 19th century and flapped and grazed their way north into the US by the mid 20th century. They have a distinctive head bob that makes them appear to strut like a chicken. In addition to the bovine company they keep and their amusing gait, adult Cattle Egrets are easily identified by the colorful plumage on their chest and cap that has the appearance of lightly toasted marshmallow.
The habit of following in the wake of cattle, mowers, tractors or wildfires tremendously assists the birds as they forage for insects. As they are stirred up by each, the egrets take advantage of the chaos in the insect world. While most birds are escaping a wildfire, the Cattle Egret will swoop in soon after and enjoy the BBQ.
Cattle Egret Adult, Breeding © Arthur Morris/VIREO
When the egrets are full or have tired of walking the tall grass prairies, they hitch a ride and go cattle surfing. The grazing goliaths seemingly ignore one bird on their back but a second bird is the start of a party and a tail slap rectifies the situation.
I don’t make a habit of eating anything that comes from a drive-thru nor do I use Photoshop for any of my Audubon Guides photos, but in this instance, for my amusement and to avoid commercial endorsement I have touched it up a bit.
Why was the Egret in the drive-thru? I hope it wasn’t looking for its surfing partner.
Adult Cattle Egrets © Arthur Morris/VIREO
Tags: birding, birds, Cattle Egrets, Egrets, Florida, nature, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, January 16th, 2012
Softshell Turtles and American Alligator by Jungle Pete
There’s a tremendous advantage to having a tall carapace (upper shell) and sturdy plastron (bottom shell) if you’re a turtle in the southeastern United States. Here there be alligators and despite the fact that an alligator can exert thousands of pounds of pressure of chomping power on their prey, if they can’t slam their jaw shut on their oversized meal, they have to look for lunch elsewhere.
Sliders and Cooters are the SUVs of the turtle world. They’re hefty, relatively slow moving but strong bodied. I’ve often seen tooth marks where an alligator has cracked a hole in the carapace but got no further. Florida Softshell Turtles (Apalone ferox) on the other hand have soft, flexible upper and lower parts that are covered in skin as opposed to the keratinous, fingernail-like covering on other turtle shells. Softshells are the Ferraris of the turtle world. While the shell doesn’t afford them much protection against the crushing bite of an alligator, I have seen them use their speed to their advantage. The bottom right photo shows the head of a large female softshell in the toothy grasp of the alligator. The turtle didn’t panic and seemed content to be escorted around. Instead of struggling and wasting energy, it was biding its time. When the alligator opened up to get a better bite, the softshell took off with a burst of speed. Sorry gator.
American Alligator © Robert P. Falls Sr.
The Florida Softshell can be distinguished from other softshells by the bumpy ridge above the head on the carapace. Males grow to be around 12 inches while females are sizably larger at 20 inches. Florida softies are omnivorous and aquatic, although they do bask out of the water and cross roads as necessary. In the spring the females will find a soft-soiled area to lay their eggs or if they’re feeling lucky, the female will sneak her eggs into the side of an alligator’s nest where ironically they are protected from nest predators by the mama alligator.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter if you’re an SUV or a Ferrari. What matters is how long you’re in the race.
Tags: alligators, Amphibians, Florida, nature, reptiles, softshell, Turtles, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, January 9th, 2012
Top left: Poison Ivy covering a hickory in Ipswich, MA
Top right: Poison Ivy reaches for the sky through the top of a Cabbage Palm
Bottom left: The glossy, dark green, lobed variety in ht Everglades
Bottom right: Jungle Pete collapses in the Poison Ivy after a 6 hour hike in the swamp
I’ve told people to roll in Poison Ivy. To be fair, I’ve only asked people who insist they can roll in it but never develop a rash from it. So far no one has taken me up on my challenge.
Flowing through the vascular tissue of Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and its relatives are liquid resins called urushiols that are contained in the sap. If exposed to skin, these oils can cause rashes varying in severity depending on the person. Generally speaking, only primate species are allergic. That includes us humans. I’ve never seen a monkey with a poison ivy rash nor have I seen one rolling in it. So far no monkey has taken me up on my challenge.
Deer browse on it. Turkeys, grouse and other ground grazers feed on the fruit to no ill effect. In fact, the seeds come out the other end with sufficient natural fertilizer, a bonus for the ivy.
Identifying Poison Ivy is so tough for some, they wouldn’t know it if they had rolled in it. It can grow as ground cover, a small shrub or a climbing vine. In the swamps of the Everglades I’ve seen Poison Ivy winding 60 feet up the trunk of a cypress. Leaves can be dull to glossy, light to dark green and rounded to lobed based on location and time of year. Each leaf has three leaflets, but occasionally they do fall off and in the winter the leaves will turn color and fall off completely, even in Florida. Urushiol still flows through the plant at this time so beware.
There are some people that insist they are allergic if they just look at Poison Ivy. Were they looking at the plant as they held it? Some say they have never gotten it and others say they have developed or lost immunity to the oils. All of these are possible. But if you’ve developed immunity don’t tempt fate. Or do. Go roll in it. I think you’d be a complete sap.
Tags: Florida, nature, poison ivy, trees, Urushiol, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, January 2nd, 2012
Half of the Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) alive today will not survive to 2013. This does not ease my mind regarding the predicament I find myself in on the day when a small, slightly-furred and sightless creature was found on a boardwalk deep in the heart of the Everglades. What to do?
The lifespan of a Gray Squirrel averages 11 to 12 months which means half of them can live longer and some as long as ten years of age in the wild. It also means that from birth through adolescence there are plenty of hardships that lead to their demise. Poor nut crops and cone production can lead to insufficient food supply, and diseases combine as the two greatest causes of Gray Squirrel mortality. Predators including hawks, bobcats, raccoons and the tree climbing snakes also reduce the population size.
In the cypress forests of the Western Everglades, Gray Squirrels are relatively abundant and more frequently seen than their larger and more colorful cousin, the Big Cypress Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger avicinnia). Mating season begins earlier in the south with courtship involving routine male competition, chasing of the female and a one-minute mating affair that results in 2-6 pups being born 44-46 days later.
Doe squirrels will build a secluded nest in the cavity or fork of a tree but still must protect their young from nest predators and cannibalistic squirrels. Pups are blind and naked with only the vibrissae whiskers to help them locate their mother in the nest. Within a few weeks they begin to grow fur and by week four they can open their eyes.
After only a week they have doubled their size from half an ounce to an ounce and as the pups grow, space in the nest dwindles. Occasionally they are accidentally pushed from the nest or dropped by the mother while transporting them.
This pup was found in the middle of the Fakahatchee Strand State Park boardwalk. It was seemingly unharmed and breathing fine. My choice was to find a rehabilitator to care for it or delicately move it from harms way and leave it for mama to come and get it. Having seen a squirrel close by, I left the pup and wished it well in 2012, hoping to see it in 2013.
Tags: Florida, mammals, nature, squirrel, sub-species, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
The way I see it, I started 2011 off a bit unfocused. The blurry sonogram image of my unborn son promised an exciting future with fatherhood mere weeks away. I certainly knew that the year would be unlike any I had enjoyed before, but my vision of what to expect was still a bit cloudy. Twelve months later I find myself scrolling through over 10,000 pictures from 2011 (I have a hard time deleting even the blurry pictures of my boy). The photos are all well organized with the nature stuff all mixed with the family stuff, just as it should be. Despite my fear that the early stages of fatherhood might impinge on my time outdoors, I look back now was resolute glee at the incredible adventures our family embarked upon even with an infant.
The result is fantastic color wheel of fruits, bibs, berries, diapers, birds, strollers, sunrises, flowers, teething rings and butterflies. Here’s to 2012. More adventure awaits!
A) Dad and Theo enjoy the Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve, North Fort Myers, FL.
B) Wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata) over Cabbage Palm (Sabal palmetto) frond
C) Theo reaches for a Hibiscus
D) Theo the fearless with a fake Southern Florida Green Swamp Snake
E) An abandoned alligator farm in the Everglades
F) Reflections on the sawgrass prairie
G) A call for quiet at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, FL
H) Late afternoon light on Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii) and Saw Palmettos (Serenoa repens)
I) Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) draped Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) in Clermont, FL
J) Waving goodbye to 2011 over a Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia sp.) choked canal at the CREW Land Trust’s Bird Rookery Trail in Naples, FL
Tags: birds, exploring, family, nature, new year, postaday 2011, travel 2011, wildlife
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By Pete Corradino (Southeast)
Monday, December 19th, 2011
As a child growing up in South Florida I had the good fortune of living on a 10-acre rural sanctuary for primates, operated by my parents. The property was covered with native Slash Pines (Pinus elliotti), Sabal Palms (Sabal palmetto) and Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana), but was persistently threatened by the noxious weed of a tree known as Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolis). As a human primate, I had far more freedoms than the other inhabitants and like a modern day Jungle Boy I would often take to the trees and explore. There were times when the property had become so overgrown with what some call “Florida Holly” that I could ascend into the canopy of the pepper trees and climb from tree to tree for several hundred feet.
The problem for a kid is you end up with ripped up jeans and sticky sap all over you, as well as the possibility of a poison ivy-like rash. The problem for the ecosystem is the highly invasive tree has spread throughout South Florida, establishing dense monocultures where little else grows.
Brazilian Pepper was introduced to Florida sometime in the mid-1800s as an ornamental. It grows natively in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. In Florida it flowers from September through November and by December has fire engine red berries that express a festive spirit around the holiday season, when Florida’s native hollies had already lost their rosy red fruit. Certainly the intent upon introduction was not malicious, but 160 years later the tree is so pervasive we could easily deck the halls with boughs of pepper if only it were legal to transport it.
Fortunately the tree is not cold tolerant. Unfortunately it produces an abundance of berries that are perfect holiday snacks for birds and mammals. They digest them and poop them elsewhere with homemade fertilizer.
Every year at this time, the sight of the bright evergreen leaves and candy cane red pepper berries brings me back to my days on the sanctuary, either climbing in the trees or hacking them down with machete or chainsaw.
I learned long ago that wherever I am for the holidays, I am perfectly content to celebrate it by enjoying it with native style and tradition. This year I’ll be enjoying the sun, the sand and berryless hollies. Happy Holidays.
Tags: Florida, Holidays, nature, postaday 2011, trees, wildlife
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