Maybe it’s the fire, or the thumbs, or the reality TV weddings, but humans are number one on this planet. And we’re proud of it. Give us a chance and we’ll puke an Old Navy all over your Everglades.
So maybe we don’t take certain things into account. Trees. Brain cancer. Pedestrians. Who notices? In the grand scheme of things, we’ve got the sheer volume to last for a long time, multiplying leagues ahead of our death rate.
Well, tuck your pants into your socks and hold the cat over your head. Things are getting a bit more serpentine than we’re used to; something new has joined the ranks of environmentally detrimental factors heading into a new decade: Pythons.
I can’t really imagine a single other thing I would hate there to be too much of. When I was in grade school, my sister’s corn snake got out of its cage and I wanted to move to another house three countries away. But I like to say I’m environmentally-minded, and it can’t be all adopted penguins and rants about the atmosphere. So snakes are going to get some attention.
It’s not that I’m in favor of killing them; it’s really the only solution. The fact that I’m terrified of them just makes it easier to digest. But truly, it’s not the pythons’ fault. They’re not from the Florida area. They’re some asshole’s “exotic pet,” the novelty of which wears off after a year at best. Trapped in a cage between bookshelves to be ogled by the brave visitors ignorant enough to find it “interesting,” these pythons couldn’t be more out of place.
That’s why they escape, or better yet, are released into the wild by their brilliant owners. I mean, wildlife is wildlife, right? They’ll be fine.
Wow, no. Ecosystems are fragile, working models of nature’s instinctive cycles, and the Everglades are the most “hemophiliac baby” of them all. Which is to say: delicate, and constantly in danger.
So now there’s this mess of new predators slithering through the swamps, taking a huge chunk out of what used to be the natural order. The only thing that will eat a python is an alligator, but that battle could easily depend on who sees who first.
And oh yeah, a two-year-old girl was strangled to death by a python in her home this past summer.
It’s a disaster, one that has politicians scrambling to pass a bill that will make owning a Burmese illegal, and the Florida Wildlife Commission handing out licenses to kill the beasts for sport.
You know it’s important if they’re naming a week after it.
The National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) convention is being held in Washington D.C. from January 10-14, which, no, is not the entire week, like the name implies. But whatever, that’s not the point.
The point is issues such as a terrifying horde of pythons spindling its way out of the Florida marshes and into the office air vents of more populated areas will finally be addressed. Already on the docket are several key note speakers, one of whom, Ernest Delfosse of Michigan State University Department of Entomology, has named his presentation “Johnny Appleseed was a Bioterrorist.”
So… subtle.
Yes, Florida’s python swarm is a mere facet of the ongoing problem of invasive species, both plant and animal: Wild boars. Air Potatoes. Glassy-winged Sharpshooters. Japanese Honeysuckles. Light brown Apple Moths. Witchweed. Zero are indigenous to the U.S., but all have elbowed their way into a home here.
I know what you’re thinking. “Didn’t you just pick the funniest-sounding species to mention?” Yes, I did. But the list goes on and on, with both names and effects on the environment that are much less uproarious than the labels would imply.
One species, new to the area, may wipe out another that has been there for generations and built a critical niche, not just for the animal population, but humans as well. There are many small parts making up a whole, and in some cases, these parts are being wiped out by flora or fauna that are remarkably far from home.
It may not sound like a very big deal. A plant or animal showing up in a strange place? Seems microscopic compared to the universal horrors connected to global warming and air pollution. But non-native species have their own gargantuan numbers attached to their threats, with 4600 acres of land infiltrated daily by a species of plant that’s not supposed to be there. In the end, this means $137 billion are lost every year.
What good is sitting here complaining about it? How can we help?
Well, for starters, and this is just off the top of my—DON’T ADOPT A BURMESE PYTHON. To willfully bring in a foreign species just for the sake of having it is incredibly pompous and idiotic, and more than likely, it’s doing a massive amount of environmental damage. NISAW is the first step toward a solution to this overlooked issue.
Let’s start the next decade by not just working on the damage we’ve caused, but eliminating the steps we’re taking backward. On purpose.
There may be a lot of us, but we’re all in this together. Making a change begins with education. Here are a few places to start:
http://www.nisaw.org/summary.pdf
http://www.nisaw.org/agenda.pdf
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/main.shtml
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/main.shtml
http://www.jaxobserver.com/2009/09/24/state-senator-seeks-to-ban-exotic-snakes-as-pets/
http://www.myfwc.com/WILDLIFEHABITATS/Nonnative_Python_FAQs.htm
