And they want to take our rifles away!
Posted on 06/16/2016 10:18:58 AM PDT by C19fan
Florida has a gator problem. The animals live and walk among us, close to us. They live in our lakes and reservoirs and swamps, and we set up our businesses and parks around them, as if nothing will ever happen.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Well said.
Florida also has a wild hog problem:
“Although they are a popular target for hunters, wild hogs are coming into conflict with people and wildlife,” Giuliano said. “Farmers are not happy when feral hogs root up their fields, and health officials say the animals carry diseases that could affect wildlife, live- stock and people.”
Giuliano, who conducts research
on the animals with George Tanner, a professor in the UF wildlife ecology and conservation department, said hogs can also host many diseases and parasites, including hog cholera, psuedorabies, brucellosis, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, anthrax, ticks, fleas, lice and various flukes and worms.
“Wild hogs, which usually weigh 100 to 200 pounds, are dangerous,” Giuliano said. “Although they prefer
to run and escape danger, they can be aggressive when they’re injured or cor- nered. They can move with great speed and can cause serious injury with their tusks.”
Acorns are their favorite food, but they will eat almost anything, including dead animals, and it seems like they’re always looking for opportunities, he said. When natural foods are scarce or inaccessible, hogs will forage on almost any agricultural crop and livestock feed. They will also feed on tree seeds and seedlings, causing significant damage
in forests, groves and plantations. In Florida and the Southeast, this may be a problem in regenerating long-leaf pine forests.
In addition to the effects of consum- ing, knocking down and trampling large
amounts of native vegetation and crops, the rooting behavior of wild hogs causes significant damage, Giuliano said. Rooting — digging for foods below the surface of the ground — destabilizes
the soil surface, uprooting or weakening native vegetation, damaging lawns and causing erosion. Their wallowing behav- ior destroys small ponds and stream banks, which may affect water quality. They also prey upon ground-nesting wildlife, including sea turtles.
“Wild hogs compete for food with other game animals such as deer, turkeys and squirrels, and they may consume the nests and young of many reptiles, ground-nesting birds and mammals,” he said. “With their fine sense of smell, wild hogs can find and consume young domestic livestock, including poultry, lambs and goats. Millions of dollars are spent each year to prevent damage from hogs.”
Tanner said it may be possible to limit further population expansion by hunting, various trapping methods and exclusion.
http://www.research.ufl.edu/publications/explore/v10n3/pdfs/Extracts-HogWild.pdf
:-). ...and while I’m loading 900 pounds of 357 riddled bloody carcus into my Pilot...well I’m 74...can’t only not run from one, too heavy to pick up, and they smell funny in a day or so if you leave them in the yard.
How about a hatchet from behind? A pipe bomb? A hand grenade?
Marjorie Rawlings Kinnan never mentioned these problems! She lived in a Gainesville swamp (Cross Creek) and complained about mosquitos!
A wonderful museum by the way. I’d love to live at Cross Creek.
Disney had the alligators shot after this. They shot 9 dead.
There is easy access for more alligators to show up.
You realize that gators migrate, right?
And they want to take our rifles away!
Oops. Uh, OK, little problem there.
See my previous, the animated *.gif version of that.
Gatorland is awesome! It’s been 15+ years since we were there, but it’s the best entertainment value in Central Florida if you have middle-school-aged boys.
We have relatives in Palmetto, Lakeland and Orlando. My brother in law in Palmetto has 2.5 acres, part of which is a sunken area that holds water. He has seen alligators, but never wild hogs. The most vicious thing that I encountered there was a fire ant that bit me on the foot.
So, not a chain-link fence, then.
>>It is odd isn’t it...at Disney, there isn’t a blade of grass out of place, yet they’ve got gators in the lagoon. Seems if nothing else their insurance company would be worried about it.
Let’s think about this for a minute. DisneyWorld is several thousand acres of what is basically swamp land with some theme parks inserted. It’s not reasonable to think they can control *everything*.
Said another way, this event is analogous to the theme of Jurassic Park, only with a real life prehistoric creature.
Oh, my God! Florida!
What - are you Africa? What next? Lions and tigers in South Beach?
I wonder how many Brits are cancelling their Disney World plans. Silly people. Stay away from the man-made lakes.
Nice!
As someone previously stated, one of the biggest problems is that most of the visitors to Disney World are not from Florida. They visit there with young children and are encouraged to feel safe. It is Disney’s responsibility to provide that safety, especially given that it is an insulated, artificial environment. This is one of the reasons that people visit Disney World and pay the prices they are charged.
People still need to use their heads and learn about a place before they visit, whether it is DisneyWorld, Europe, South America or an island somewhere. A bit of time spent researching before booking can make a world of difference.
Ever been to Disney? Its not at all analogous to Jurassic Park. Instead, it has a distinctly artificial feel to it. They do an amazing job of artificially controlling all types of critters (to include mosquitos which I find amazing).
No, not throughout the entire property and its thousands of acres...but definitely within the ‘manicured’ parts of the park. They’ve got law chairs ten feet from the water’s edge, on a pure white sand beach...I think in the very near future, Disney will find a way to discourage the alligators from going near that area.
Absolutely! One of the problems with most travelers is that they don’t investigate. Even Fodors or Frommers will tell you most of the problems in travelling. One of the most astonishing things about living in NYC is encountering Brits who don’t know about our tipping practices! How can you be so stupid?
In my estimation - as someone who worked there for awhile - it’s a hygienic Auschwitz without the violence. It’s extremely controlled - even to not being able to get radio shows broadcast in Florida. With the exception of Epcot, the food is terrible, the fun is manufactured, the thunder and lightening is horrific and the capos...er, I mean the Disney characters are harassing and annoying. Add in turkey drumsticks, fat tourists and I couldn’t wait for my two weeks to end. This went on for years...
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