NO MORE INVADERS! Stop releasing pets into the wild!

   The everglades are a natural ecosystem in south Florida, home to many native species of plants and animals. These include palmettos, saw grass, American alligators, cranes, and many other living things.  They once were abundant and flourishing in our marshes, but now they are being killed and choked out by invasive species. An invasive species in a plant or animal not native to an area, that either found its way there or was introduced by careless humans. The eggs of some reptiles or fish, as well as seeds of exotic plants, can be eaten by birds and discarded through droppings, then grow. Seeds can also catch wind and %u201Cfly%u201D to its new home where it will germinate and cling to the native plants.  Now the everglades are a home to over 200 invasive species. These can include insects, mammals, amphibians, birds, and plants. Many of these are potentially toxic and/or dangerous.          
  Invasive species are dangerous to the everglade%u2019s ecosystem because they have started to feed on the native plants and animals. Boas have been seen with excessively large lumps in their abdomen, a tell-tale sign that they had a big, probably native, dinner. One story is about a python vs. alligator. In the picture below, a full grown American alligator was swallowed whole by a ball python in the everglades.                                                 
  The everglades are a delicate balance of predators and prey. These new animals are breaking that balance by introducing more carnivorous hunters.  As a result, the predators are becoming prey. They are eating each other, thus messing with the balance and causing the wrong species to die out or become endangered and the invasive species to thrive.  The same goes for plants, if a palmetto palm has to compete for water, is having its sun soaked up and it%u2019s branches entangled with vines, it will eventually die. Then the palmetto %u201Ccorps%u201D becomes a host plant for the invasive weed. There is not much we can do about the plants coming and going into the everglades and other places, that is just how nature works, things will spread eventually. We can however control the invasive animals in our marshes. The exotic pet trade is at its high right now. Everyone wants a pet snake or neon colored lizard, but the consumers do not understand that a reptile or other animal is a long term pet. Having an exotic animal in the family can be fun, sometimes the animal is even affectionate. When people rush into the ownership however, they do not understand the behavior of their pet, and their lack of knowledge leads to confusion and boredom with their animal, and sometimes mistreatment and dangerous use of it. When they do not want it anymore, they release it into the %u201Cwild%u201D, where it will grow to incredible sizes and be able to consume large amounts of food, like alligators. 
   Not to mention how much it will reproduce.  A snake can lay up to 60 eggs a year, that%u2019s equivalent to 2,400 in its lifetime.  Some professionals are hired to remove the pests by capturing and containing, then they give them to zoos, or they are put to sleep.  The animal removal services are very expensive, so this is not practiced often.  We and the rest of our country depend on the marshes and swamps for a place for dangerous animals like the Florida panther and alligators, for an environmental balance, and for a connection to our rural past. The animals and plants have a home here too, so we need to protect them and their home.  We can do this by educating people about the pets they buy and how they live and how long they live, educating yourself about the marshes and how they work, keeping trash in the recycling bins, and feeding the neighborhood birds seeds to native plants.  Hove improvement stores sell bird feed that grow millet, grasses and other native plants, so when they are discarded they will assist the ecosystem, not destroy it.  
    The animals in the everglades are also finding survival difficult because of the climate change. The extreme heat and cold can affect their behavior and appetite, messing with the balance again! Another down point to the climate is that some invasive species can adapt and thrive in the weather; they can grow thicker skin for the cold and eat different things according to their appetite. The native animals cannot usually do this. They have already adapted to the moist, semi-warm environment that they are used to, doing things like changing their skin or diet can prove harmful or even fatal to most species.  Please help stop this, sign and leave a comment.