Shoot The Aliens!

South Florida has been invaded.

Okay - maybe not by what you are thinking but it has been invaded by plants and animals that do not belong in South Florida.

The Sun Sentinel pointed out on Sunday (Oct 12th) that lionfish are multiplying in the Caribbean waters and disrupting native fish populations. They supposedly escaped (or released) during hurricane Andrew in 1992. Now they are spreading through the Caribbean and up the east coast.
Unfortunately, man is to blame for most of the aliens. We grow tried of pets and release them (or allow them to escape). Or we try to introduce new species to "improve" our ecology. In the end we have just disrupted the balance of nature that God put in place.

We see other native species around like iguanas, nandy and quaker parrots, boa constrictors, peacock bass, and oscar fish. In addition we see non-native foliage taking over like Australian pine, carrotwood, prickly pear cactus, Brazilian pepper tree, and melaleuca trees.

My vote is for open season on all of the critters that do not belong. You might ask why - isn't that cruel? It is cruel for the native species in Florida because they are being pushed out.

I am in favor of gigging lionfish when you scuba dive, popping an iguana with a pellet gun (always be safe), or pulling out those non-native trees. We need to return Florida to the way it was. In the end this is another way to go "Green" because we will save natural resources.

These aliens are destroying Florida's ecology:

• Most of the animals have no natural enemies in Florida - they are able to multiply at will and beat out native wildlife for food.
• They are distributing ecological balance that was in place - lionfish eat small fish on reefs. This includes fry of commercial fish that puts food on tables.
• Non-native foliage typically have greater water demand than native foliage - melaleuca trees are drying up parts of the everglades.

The government spends millions of our tax payer dollars fighting these aliens.

After Hurricane Wilma, I took advantage of the city picking debris by cutting down two carrotwood trees. My neighbor (non Florida native northerner) scolded me for cutting them down. I explained to her they they are non-native weeds that are a problem. She didn't buy it. In the end I replacing them with palm trees (more native than carrotwoods). She continues to water her backyard every other day to keep her non-native foliage from burning up - what a waste of our water.