When Animals Invade: Rats in Florida, Mussels in Michigan
If you think New York City has the nation’s biggest rats, you’re wrong. Florida wildlife officials are currently tussling with 6-lb, cat-sized Gambian pouched rats that were imported as pets and then released into the local ecosystem.
The Gambian rats, used as land mine detectors in Africa, began populating the Keys about eight years ago, and local enforcers are now starting the last phase of a two-year-long eradication campaign. They’ve set out about 1,000 traps baited with peanut butter and anise in hopes of stopping the rats from infiltrating the Florida mainland. Florida’s hot, humid weather makes it a welcoming home for exotic animals, like the 13-foot Burmese python found in the Everglades in 2005 with an alligator in its belly.
In other invasive species news, environmentalists are calling on Congress to stop all ocean vessels traversing the Great Lakes to reduce the introduction of foreign flora and fauna. About 180 non-native species, including the pipe-clogging zebra mussel, have already been introduced to the lakes, most often by ships discharging ballast water.
National legislation to treat ballast water has been stalled for five years, The Washington Post reported, but environmentalists want it up for vote ASAP. Who can blame them? Controlling species and cleaning up the damage they cause costs the US nearly $137 billion a year.
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Until the public becomes aware of the enormous threat, that ballast systems provide for terrorist,or foreign sea captains, who do not like our country, to use ships flying under foreign flags with foreign crewmen, to contaminate and pollute our waters the federal government will not act on this problem. Unfortunately until we demand protection by exposing this threat, lobbyist will push the senate to continue to consider it a states rights issue, which, for industry will create a myriad of conflicting regulation that are impossible to enforce. This approach has served industry well for decades. Unfortunately virus and invasive s in water do not recognize the lines man has drawn on maps. Anyone who has worked in industry knows that log books and record keeping, are mere paper work that dose not prove procedures are followed. Without the Coast Guard willing to take this on as a national security issue, with monitoring and, one national policy, the lobbyist for industry know the cost to follow procedures correctly will in reality, never have to be incurred. The mentality that international sea captains can be trusted is reflective of the 1800’s not of the reality of 2001. In the airline industry terrorist are called hijackers. We need to realize in the shipping industry they can be pirates. It is time for those who care, to tell are law makers to do the right thing for the national security of our country as a whole. Sincerely
Don Mitchel
Comment by Don Mitchel — December 17, 2008 @ 10:07 am