TiStF | Pythons taking over the Everglades

I was born in south Florida, some many years ago. As a child living on the west coast with relatives on the east coast, my father and I took many road trips down "Alligator Alley." At the time, it was an unlit, two lane highway cutting through the Everglades. 90 miles or so. No gas stations, no guard rails, no traffic lights. If you were a five year old and had to pee, you held it - or took your chances on the side of the road that a gator or a panther would come up and eat you.

The upshot of that trip was that sugar cane grew wild on the Miami side. Hack a stalk down with a machete and it would last longer than any tootsie pop. Very 1970's, hmm? Yes.

This article on Yahoo caught my eye. According to it, The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the largest so far was a 156-pound, 16.4-foot one captured earlier this month.

And now, the smaller mammals that live in the Everglades are slowly disappearing. Imagine that.

Two things happen. One is that pet snakes get too big for their owners - so the clever owner turns it out into the wild, thinking to do both himself and the pet snake a favor. Good idea, bad implementation. Better to take it to a zoo, or a place devoted specifically to the species.

The other thing that happens in south Florida, is hurricanes. When hurricanes hit, people are saving themselves, their children, their bread and water - and not necessarily their pets. Maybe their dogs, but your 10' python isn't fitting in the back of your toyota when you're trying to evacuate. Also, homes and pet shops get storm damage, and those creatures go free. Animals tend to be a bit more resilient to natural disasters than humans, survival instinct and all that. Flooding and power outages and debris keep some storm-ravaged areas unoccupied for days and weeks at a time.

What we end up with is an over population of animals that aren't designed for the particular environment where they end up. A Burmese Python will have no natural predators in the Everglades - because it doesn't belong there.

Although scientists cannot definitively say the pythons are killing off the mammals, the snakes are the prime suspect. The increase in pythons coincides with the mammals' decrease, and the decline appears to grow in magnitude with the size of the snakes' population in an area. A single disease appears unlikely to be the cause since several species were affected.

The report says the effect on the overall ecosystem is hard to predict. Declines among bobcats and foxes, which eat rabbits, could be linked to pythons' feasting on rabbits. On the flip side, declines among raccoons, which eat eggs, may help some turtles, crocodiles and birds.

What's so fantastic about this? Throw this scenario into a fantasy setting. There's some predatory exotic pet that is fashionable to keep. A mighty storm - or war - or dragon fire - ravages the community in question, and suddenly these exotic pets are free. They take up residence in the nearest geographical haven, multiply because their life cycle is uncontested, and next you thing you know you have the cliche' of "The Haunted Forest" filled with man-eating creatures.

Interesting video clip on the situation. Alligator vs Python - it's a draw!



But! Let's go to PBS, where the first python gets eaten. Yay? The second one, however, eats a gator half of its size! Do the math.



Better book those air boat tours to the Everglades now, before it becomes the Python Glades, hmm?

Video: Red Hartebeest vs. Cyclist

I know I've been lax lately. Very busy boy, and yet, not busy doing the things I should like to be doing. Not yet. Don't worry, content will resume soon.

In the meantime, I caught this via a Facebook link this morning - it was too good to not share.




The most compelling aspect of the video is the size comparison between the prancing antelope (always so victimized in fiction) and the human on a bike. This creature is big and clearly NOT skittish.

Aside, comment on humanity: What do you think is going to happen when you go cycling through the savannah, hmm?

Read the full article here.

Creatures in my Backyard | Tibicen Cicada

My last foray into this feature taught me a couple things. One is that my cell phone takes horrible pictures. The other is that it was less interesting to me to post photos on my blog of creatures that I knew nothing about.

Perhaps when I get up to a thousand viewers or so, I can post the mystery beasties. Until then, I suppose I'll do my research.

This big fella spent its final days on the screen door to the "mudroom" (an architectural feature of southern homes, apparently) . After which it fell off and fed a colony of ants.

A little google research led me to identify it as a Cicada from the Tibicen genus. The website bugguide.net had a bunch of (significantly better) photos - this one by Larry Clarfeld most closely resembles the one I found.

Image: Tibicen Cicada by Larry Clarfeld
BugGuide.Net

Early in their season, I made the mistake of tapping one of these buggers with the end of a broomstick - I thought it was a dung beetle - and lemme tell ya, this cicada screamed like a scarab out of a mummy horror movie. Incredible, really. According to this wikipedia article, "Some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB (SPL) "at close range", among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds."


Some more information from Wikipedia...

The Tibicen genus of cicadas are large-bodied Cicadidae appearing in late summer or autumn. Like other members of the subfamily Cicadinae, they have loud, complex songs, even (in many cases) distinct song phrases. Tibicen are the most common cicada in the United States. Unlike periodical cicadas, whose swarms occur at 13- or 17-year intervals, Tibicen species can be seen every year, hence their nickname "annual cicadas." The lifecycle of an individual, however, is more than a year. Nymphs spend two or three years feeding on tree roots before they emerge. Their annual reappearance is due to overlapping generations. Many other colloquial names exist for Tibicens: locust, dog day cicada, harvest fly, August dry bird, jar fly, bush cicada.

The article goes on to state that the cicada is edible by more than ants,  "Cicadas have been eaten in China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin America, the Congo and in the United States. In North China, cicadas are skewered, deep fried or stir fried as a delicacy."

I guess I missed out on a good snack.

The short life span of the cicada, its distinctive mating song, and its transformative process all have provided plenty of material for folklores of different cultures, which I won't cite here - my challenge will be to come up with something original in my own writing.

However, something that I will use is the cicada as medicine. Some quick research gave me this information...

The pharmaceutical name of the substance made from this insect is Periostracum Cicadae or chan tui. [...]

Cicada's healing effects are due to its antispasmodic (reducing spasms), antipyretic (fever-reducing), and sedative (sleep-inducing) effects.

Cicada can prevent or reduce muscle spasms by reducing the tension of the striated muscles. It may also delay transmission of nerve signals at the neuromuscular junction, thereby reducing muscle spasms. Its activity may be similar to that of barbiturates, well-known sedatives, and anti-seizure medications. As an antispasmodic drug, it may be effective as supportive treatment for febrile seizures.

You can read the rest of the article here - some pretty interesting stuff.

And that's all I have for today - I could go on about bugs and medicine and so forth, and maybe I will, but for now, we'll keep it nice and simple.

Creatures in my Backyard | Smiley Face Moth?

Most of what I write in fantasy, takes place out of doors... primitive, undeveloped areas, with rough structures or things carved from rock. The bitter irony is that, for all intents and purposes, I am a city-slicker. I live now in the smallest town I've ever lived in, in a terrain that (five years later) remains mostly strange to me.

I have done research, have watched an unmentionable amount of NatGeo, Discovery, NOVA, etc. However, when it comes to the outdoors, I remain a city boy.

I'm working on it. I took this picture with my phone a week or two ago, been meaning to figure out what it is.

Smiley Face Moth(?) says, "Have a nice day!"

For starters, I have only cropped the photo to show its relative size against the bricks on the home exterior. Colors are unadjusted.

Death's Head Hawkmoth
Image: Wikipedia

If you look on its back, between the wings, behind its head, there looks to be a big ole smiley face. Now, I've heard of Death's head (hawk)moths, but this doesn't appear to be that.

Until I figure out what it is, I'm a gonna call it the smiley face moth.

Is this the most exciting thing I've found in my backyard? No, but it's the only one I managed to get a halfway decent photo of.

Anyone know what this is? Educate a city boy!

Video: Coyote vs Canadian

Things are a little hectic on this end lately, and content may be a little thin in coming days. But there's always time to show a coyote video!



Beautiful pup. For those concerned about the man's sanity, note that there was no growling or barking, the tail was wagging and the neck fur wasn't bristled. Having said that, I think he toed the line between having fun and needing a rabies shot.

Enjoy!

Video: Singing Coyote Cubs

While you're watching this, I'm having a yard sale. This is far more entertaining, I assure you.



For those who wonder why Coyote is my totem, and not the ever-so-popular and much more machismo Wolf (to match my pseudonym), the answer lies not only in this video (SOO CUTE OMG), but in the BBC Series that this clip comes from, Coyote - The Ultimate Survivor.

Random Things of Interest

I'm chewing on a new catchy feature, this thing, where uh, it is basically random internet links! I am certainly *not* the only one doing it!

But it's telling, no? We see if we like the same things? Fun, exciting, or NOT COOL YOU SUCK! I don't know. Let's try!

Okay, by way of weblog camaraderie, this blogaraderie (I am a master of language OR NOT), let's begin...

I was reading Bryce's post It's News to Me, and found this SF Signal post, which contained a link to the best vampire powerpoint presentation ever. It's a little lengthy, so wait til your lunch break. (Oh, and because I couldn't NOT look, a rendition of Steampunk Sarah Palin. The horror!)

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Mead! The drink of the gods. Tis a funny thing, to write about the stuff, and to never have tried it, no? Well, now you can try to make your own, with this mead making e-book. Am I being asked to promote this? No, he probably doesn't even know I'm mentioning it; I just think it's cool.

Edited to add: Well, hell, the dude's got a video!



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Getting a little buzz on Yahoo, this 2 minute Star Wars video.



The timing of this video was all the more interesting, as Lucasfilm recently announced that it would be reproducing the Star Wars saga in 3D. And yes, you aren't the only one who is horrified by a three dimensional Jar Jar.

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Speaking of, scientists have discovered a new (potentially) habitable planet. Sharpen your pens, sci fi writers.

(And come up with a better name than Gliese 581g, for crimony's sake.)

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In the "Why it's a miracle that humans haven't gone extinct" category, a viral video of a Ukrainian lion trainer getting chomped on.



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I predict this year's hot new Halloween costume will be "Cigar Guy". Here he is, knocking out Sonny Liston...



If you haven't heard of Cigar Guy - he was standing in the background when a photographer got nailed by an errant Tiger Woods shot.

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I have some actual news and publishing information to share, but I think that I will wait and put those together. My guess is that if you need to know something bad enough, you can find it. My goal here is to show you things you might have missed. (Or really, reasons to mock/praise randomly.)

Have a great day.

Video: Research, News - Killer Giant Squid

SyFy network has a new show called Beast Legends, in which a team of people digitally recreate, through science and legend, some of the mythical creatures.


I'm finding the show to be a little corny, but it's interesting in terms of the information they work with.

Recently, (episode 2) they recreated the Kraken myth, relying primarily upon their (spoiler alert) discovery of giant squid scientific factoids.

Aside, SyFy producers, you blew it on the "armor". An underwater predator that large will be capable of diving to such depths that their skin will have evolved into something very incredible, and believable. Sharkskin isn't armor, but it ain't no joke. Etc.

Getting info on the giant squid was difficult, as the animals are very elusive. Until now. (cue dramatic music)

As reported in the Express online paper, Humboldt squids are attacking fishermen and devouring fishing stocks.

Two Mexican fishermen were recently dragged from their boats and chewed so badly that their bodies could not be identified even by their own families.

No wonder the giant squid are called “diablos rojos” – red devils.

...

Marine biologists wear chain-mail to protect themselves from creatures that can measure 8ft, weigh 100lb and carry an armoury of more than 40,000 fearsome teeth along two “attack” tentacles.

The creatures have another eight “legs” for grasping and swimming and can reach speeds of more than 15mph.

(Ironically, or poetically, this story came from reading Dinosaur Comics. Comics are your friend, people.)

Now if you watched the SyFy episode, you would have learned that there's practically no footage of giant squids, due to their swimming depths and general intelligence. But I managed to find a little video to show you.



A tiny one, alas. (Which is amusing to consider that three feet is tiny. Such a cynic I am.)

If you're not in a hurry, there's a nice 13 minute documentary that's far more detailed here. Imbedding was disabled, so you'll have to clicky clicky.

To be able to explore these things, it's almost worth it to create a race of creatures that can breathe underw... hmm. Okay, back to work for me. ;-)

Truth is stranger than fiction, yes?

Video: Research - Squirrels vs the World

Well, I'm a little behind on my word count this week, so my latest review will have to wait. In the meantime, I would like to share a couple of squirrel videos.

Yes, squirrels.

The first one is a bit lengthy, I'm afraid. But you can watch it for a minute and get the idea.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

This second one, (and pardon the cheesy music background, but the original video wouldn't imbed), is something I saw on Nat Geo. The squirrel is protecting its babies in a nearby den from a gopher snake. Don't give up too early (after about 2:30, there is nothing but snake) on this one, as the squirrel wins and keeps going, but it ends up in a draw.



Again, I say truth is stranger than fiction.

Video: Research - Caracal vs Guinea Fowl

I can't recall if this was Discovery or NGC, but I had never heard of this particular cat, common to South Africa.



Did you see that vertical leap? Kapow! Aside, the Guinea Fowl is a fairly muscular bird. The one video I saw (not this one) gave it good odds for outrunning a predator with a nice burst of speed. Unfortunately, in that video, the fowl can only fly like 100 yards before they tucker out. Jumpy Cat caught it on the descent.

What's writeworthy: I recall from the original program that these are early morning hunters, so I imagined a scene with a leaping cat while my adventurers are eating breakfast. With that kind of vertical leap, the fiction possibilities (not rooted in science, as much of mine is) are pretty endless.

I'll try not to inundate the blog with animal videos, but it's my current research, and I can't get enough of them, so I hope you don't mind me sharing just a little.

Video: Research - Rhino vs Tourists

I found this one while watching National Geographic; the name of the show escapes me.



I like how the lady rolls her eyes when the guide is trying to scare the rhino.
I found it laughable to think that slapping a rifle butt could scare a rhino.
The winner is that one man is attacked, the other gets hit twice and is lying in a heap on the ground, and then the guide decides to shoot the damn thing.

What's writeworthy: Taking a direct hit from a rhino charge, getting knocked down and being able to scamper. The rhino, in the bush one minute, attacking the next. The rhino, changing targets, giving up on one, but sticking with the second. Bonus: Of all the people, he went after the brothers. Statistically, 1 in 8 x 2, right? Rhino sixth sense, the brothers smelled funny, were weak, something.

Seriously, why aren't there more rhino's in fantasy fiction? They're great! What's not to love about a temperamental, fat, horned quadraped in tank armor?

Video: Research - Dog vs Bull

I've been watching a number of animal and wildlife documentaries lately, so I'm going to share snippets of things that I find interesting/inspiring.

This first one I saw while watching Animal Planet, and found a partial clip on YouTube.



Ironically, I was just chatting with Raine the other day about bullfighting. Some folks think it's cruel to the animals, and I don't disagree, but the festival is an ancient tradition in Spain (and other Spanish countries). There are worse, more cruel and/or wasteful traditions that still take place all over the world.

I digress.

Once you add the human element, stupid things happen. The bull was 1600 pounds. The man lost his footing. He should have died.

A bull terrier is a spunky, fun-loving dog. The edit on this video is a little rough as it jumps out of sequence. The dog was panting (as opposed to growling), and taunting the bull before it finally scurried off back into the crowd. They are solid, and that one was probably on the low end of about 50 pounds. Vs. 1600 pounds. Didn't even get hurt.

Oh, and since it's not obvious from the video (unless you notice the beginning where the dog scoots in from the right side), that wasn't the man's pet. That was just a terrier having fun.

What's writeworthy: Seriously? What isn't golden about that whole scene? Tiny dog saves man! Tiny dog was chewing on the bull's face (and perfectly situated to not get mauled, only tossed about)! The episode was epic, the cause was heartwarming.

Awesome. I love dogs.

Truth is oft stranger...

Okay, while researching some stuff, I stumbled across an article on a giant isopod - a Bathynomus giganteus - that attached itself to a submarine.

Before I show you the picture, you ever play those games where you're a newb and you have to kill like a hundred "giant crabs" to level up? How completely unrealistic is ... uh...

that? (Coconut crabs apparently fight back, too.) On the other hand, with a little butter....

So, moving on, this dude found this thing...


Not too bad, right? Ugly, sure, but it's an ocean bottom dweller, what did you expect? Take a look at the SIZE of this thing.



Wow! You can write some creepy nautical tales with that sorta thing (The giant octopus is soooo overdone, no?)

Anyway, I had to show someone. Aren't you glad you stopped by? ;-)