Thanks for the link Ginger! Yeah, Florida's a dumping ground for these kinds of things. We have that old world climbing fern on our fence, you can't get rid of it. Here are some more links if anybody's interested:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4792478.html http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/exotics.htm http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/SouthFlorida/everglades/exoticglades.html > Good List Ken, > Florida is a haven for exotic species. Many come in through the > Miami shipping ports, they love the warm weather as much as us. > They also cost taxpayers millions of dollars > in exotic removal programs. Many species were introduced to "help" > the Florida landscape. For instance Melaleuca was introduced to > soak up swamp water. If you drive down highway 27 to the Keys you > will see miles of Melaleuca it spreads faster than dandelions. > If you can, purchase Melaleuca chips for your garden instead of Cypress Mulch > which comes from grinding native cypress trees. > Brazilian pepper is the other bad boy shrub plus numerous > vines (old world climbing fern). Water Hyacinth was planted in pretty fountains > and is choking many waterways. Most exotics upset the balance of > our native ecosystems so, plant native, do not release pets into the wild > and do not support third world countries who ship their exotic species here. > There are also many loose parakeeets and parrots in Florida. I did here that > many grass carp that were released in urban ponds were bred not to reproduce > and to die after 7 years. What's the point, create a natural system with > natural > algae eaters (snails, zoo plankton). I'd better stop > here......................... > For a complete list of Florida exotics go to: http://www.fleppc.org/ > > > > At 06:56 PM 7/20/2003 -0400, you wrote: > >Yup, > > > >Add it to the list of "things which don't belong here". It can join the > >ranks of: > > > >Pythons & Boa Constrictors in the Everglades (established populations) > >Iguanas > >Cuban Anoles > >Probably tons of other reptiles > >Oscars > >Mayan Cichlids > >Tilapia > >Butterfly Peacock Bass (exception, introduced by the state and I'm happy > >they did!) > >Snakeheads > >Asian eels > >Countless other aquarium fish > >Melaluca (known to the rest of the world as the tea tree.) > >And a ton of other plants > >Probably a bunch of insects > >I hear reports of Monkeys > >Probably birds too. > > > >Ginger, Jerry, Chuck, Scott - what else did I miss? That was the stuff > >just off of my head. > > > >;-> > > > >Ken > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >On Behalf Of Wes Wada > >Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 10:47 PM > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: [VFB] OT: Nile Monitor lizards run amok > > > >Hello Florida! > > > >photo: > ><img > >src="http://images.fbrtech.com/dnew/Africa2000/ > >Nile%20Monitor%20Lizard%2bweb.jpg"> > > > >article: > ><http://www.msnbc.com/news/941171.asp?0cv=CB20> > > > >comment: > ><http://members.tripod.com/~clarasroad/monitor.html> > > Ginger M. Allen > Sr. Biological Scientist > Florida Master Naturalist Program Coordinator > www.MasterNaturalist.ifas.ufl.edu > www.MasterNaturalist.org > Department of Wildlife & Ecology Conservation > University of Florida/SWFREC > 2686 SR 29 N > Immokalee, FL 34142-9515 > PH (239) 658-3409 (suncom974-3400) > Fax (239) 658-3469 (suncomfax974-3469) > >
