Python Patrol? Uh, I Pass

'Python Patrol' Hunts Snakes in Florida

MARATHON, Fla. (March 30) -- Juan Lopez reads meters with one eye and looks for snakes with the other. Lopez is a member of the "Python Patrol," a team of utility workers, wildlife officials, park rangers and police trying to keep Burmese pythons from gaining a foothold in the Florida Keys.

Officials say the pythons -- which can grow to 20 feet long and eat large animals whole -- are being ditched by pet owners in the Florida Everglades, threatening the region's endangered species and its ecosystem.

"Right now, we have our fingers crossed that they haven't come this far yet, but if they do, we are prepared," Lopez said.

Burmese Pythons are rarely seen in the middle Florida Keys, where Lopez works. The Nature Conservancy wants to keep it that way.

The Python Patrol program was started by Alison Higgins, the Nature Conservancy's Florida Keys conservation manager. She describes it as an "early detection, rapid response" program made up of professionals who work outside.

Eight Burmese pythons have been found in the Keys.

"If we can keep them from spreading and breeding, then we're that much more ahead of the problem," Higgins said.

Utility workers, wildlife officials and police officers recently attended a three-hour class about capturing the enormously large snakes. Lt. Jeffrey L. Fobb of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit taught the participants how to capture pythons.

"There's no immutable laws of snake catching. It's what works," Fobb said as he demonstrated catching a snake with hooks, bags, blankets and his hands.

"We're doing it in the Florida Keys because we have a lot to protect," Higgins said. "The Burmese pythons that are coming out of the Everglades are eating a lot of our endangered species and other creatures, and we want to make sure they don't breed here."

Where the snakes are breeding is just north of the Keys in Everglades National Park. An estimated 30,000 Burmese pythons live in the park.

The Everglades, known as the "River of Grass," is a vast area with a climate perfect for these pythons to hide and breed. And breed they do: The largest clutches of eggs found in the Everglades have numbered up to 83.

The snakes grow like they're on steroids. With a life span of 30 years, these pythons can weigh as much as 200 pounds. And the larger the snake, the bigger the prey. Biologists have found endangered wood rats, birds, bobcats and other animals in their stomachs.

Two 5-foot-long alligators were found in the stomachs of Burmese pythons that were caught and necropsied, officials say.

Officials also say Burmese pythons can travel 1.6 miles a day by land, and they can swim to reach areas outside the Everglades.

This nonvenomous species was brought into the United States from Southeast Asia. Everglades National Park spokeswoman Linda Friar says biologists believe that well-intended pet owners are to blame for their introduction into the Everglades.

"These pets were released by owners that do not understand the threat to the ecosystem," she said.

Higgins says 99,000 of the popular pets were brought into the United States from 1996 to 2006, the most recent data available. She says they are an easy species to breed, and you can buy a hatchling for as little as $20.

The problem with these pets, Friar says, is that they get too big for their owners to handle.

Making the owner aware of what to expect when the animal becomes full-grown is a priority.

"The pet trade is pretty supportive in educating people," Friar said. She hopes a "Don't let it loose" message campaign makes an impact on pet owners.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a supporter of restoring the Everglades, has introduced a bill that would ban importing the python species into the United States. The senator saw the need after learning about the effect these snakes were having on the park.

"Finding out many endangered species are being found in the stomach of the python," Nelson spokeswoman Susie Quinn said, "we need to do a better job at protecting the resources."

In the meantime, Lopez and the Python Patrol will continue to protect the Florida Keys by capturing the snakes and turning them over to biologists to perform necropsies. The Nature Conservancy plans to expand the program to all the areas that surround the Everglades, making these predators their prey.

"I would like to find them and get rid of them," Lopez said.

Just keep in mind, "these animals did NOT ask to come here. I realize they can present problems, however, they need to be respected and dealt with humanely. They deserve to live their lives as do all of us.

"Animalz Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Global Peoplz Newz": Nuked Twice, Now 93 "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2

Dragons Kill Indonesian

Komodo Dragons Kill Man in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (March 23) - Two Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death in eastern Indonesia, police and witnesses said Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks on humans by the world's largest lizard species.

Police Sgt. Kosmas Jalang said 31-year-old Muhamad Anwar was attacked on Komodo, one of four islands where the giant reptile is found in the wild, minutes after he fell out of a sugar-apple tree on Monday.

He was bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs and neck after two lizards, waiting below, attacked him, according to a neighbor, Theresia Tawa. He died at a clinic on the neighboring island of Flores soon after.

Attacks on humans by Komodo dragons — said to number at less than 4,000 in the wild — are rare, but seem to have increased in recent years.

An 8-year-old boy was killed in 2007 — the first recorded deadly attack on a human by one of the endangered lizards in three decades. A park ranger narrowly survived after one of the animals entered his hut last month and started biting his hands and legs.

There have been several other attacks in recent months, according to Metro TV.

The reptiles, which can grow up to 10 feet long (three meters) and weigh as much as 150 pounds, have shark-like serrated teeth and a bite that can be deadly. Its saliva contains roughly 50 different known bacteria strains, so infection is a risk.

Komodos can be found in the wild on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Padar and Rinca. Tiny numbers also can be found on Flores.

YOU know, "I don't think YOU need to be messing around with these things". Matter of fact, "I don't think YOU need to be anywhere near these things. Pretty nasty critters.

"Animals Rule, Even Komodo Dragons",

Bobby Sharpe "Dragon, Book Of Shang": "Dragon, Book Of Shang" / Vermithrax Video "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2

Orcas In The Gulf Of Mexico

Killer Whales Seen in Gulf of Mexico

(March 25) - It was a fish story that even veteran boat captains found fascinating: As many as 200 killer whales feeding on tuna in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

"It was like being at Sea World because they'd come right up to the boat," said Eddie Hall, captain of the Shady Lady, the 60-foot charter boat that spotted the shiny black sea beasts with white eye patches and undersides. "It was pretty neat."

It was also hard for some skeptics to believe: Orcas, as killer whales are also known, typically are thought to live in cold water and eat seals.

But Hall's description of what he saw last Oct. 31 was no tall tale: A government biologist who saw video taken from Hall's boat confirmed the captain had spotted the creatures. And last week that same scientist, Keith Mullin, explained at a public meeting in Orange Beach, Ala., that yes, contrary to common perceptions, killer whales really do live in the Gulf, far from land.

Mullin, whose outfit has been working for years to get an accurate count of the Gulf's whale population, said it may be time to dramatically increase estimates on how many killer whales are lurking in the deep waters off the Gulf Coast. He's taking part in a research expedition this summer that could determine if his hunch is right.

Scientists believe the whales have been in the Gulf for years, Mullin said, and that their presence — though startling to some anglers — isn't a sign of climate change or other manmade condition. Their relatively small population and the speed at which pods move make them difficult to count, which could have led to lower estimates.

"I've got good records of them in the Caribbean. We see them almost exclusively in deep water, 600 feet and more," Mullin said. "I think they've always been there. It's just in the last 15 to 20 years that we've been trying to study them."

Hall told The Associated Press on Monday that the Shady Lady was 95 miles off the coast of Alabama when anglers and crew saw scores of the marine mammals feeding near an offshore rig in water more than a mile deep.

"There were four different pods. We estimated there were about 200 maximum. One pod had 75 in it," said Hall, who runs charters out of Zeke's Landing in Orange Beach, about 40 miles east of Mobile.

People on the boat took video and photos, including some with the offshore rig in the background to identify their location. But Hall said they got laughed off the dock when they returned.

"It was a joke because no one would believe us," he said.

Hall sent photos and video to Gary Finch, whose Fairhope-based Gary Finch Outdoors company produces a syndicated fishing and hunting television show. Finch then showed them to Mullin, who works at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Pascagoula, Miss., an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that researches marine life.

Mullin didn't have to look twice: Hall was right about seeing killer whales, although he couldn't tell by the video how many were near Hall's boat, he said in an interview with AP.

The Shady Lady sighting "created a stir" over killer whales in the Gulf of Mexico, Mullin said; about 80 people attended the informational meeting he held in Orange Beach last week.

Gulf orcas are just like the ones that live in cold water, Mullin said, save for their diet of dolphin and tuna instead of seals. Male killer whales average 20 feet in length and weigh as much as 12,000 pounds, but females are smaller.

Fifteen groups of killer whales have been sighted in the Gulf since deep-water surveys began in 1992, he said. Past estimates have varied widely, from a low of 49 to a high of 277 living in the Gulf north of a line extending from Key West, Fla., to Brownsville, Texas.

The actual number of killer whales in the Gulf could be closer to 500, Mullin said, and a two-month expedition this summer could help nail down an answer. The trip was planned independently of the boat's sighting, he said.

Either way, Hall's glad Mullin's outfit is involved. He knew what he saw, but he was still happy to get confirmation that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

This is so cool! Once again, it is another case of we, as humans, thinking we know everything about everything and in reality, except for the rare occasion, we don't know "jack" about very much.

"Orcas Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Global Peoplz Newz" Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": You, The One & Only

Killer Croc, Smart Dolphin

Crocodile Grabs Girl Swimming in Creek

DARWIN, Australia (March 16) - Police said they found human remains Monday in an Australian swamp where a crocodile snatched an 11-year-old girl.

The remains would undergo DNA testing to determine whether they belong to the girl who vanished Sunday while swimming with three children in a swamp on the outskirts of the northern city of Darwin, Northern Territory Police Superintendent Michael Murphy said.

A police statement said the find "strongly indicates she has died from a crocodile attack."

If confirmed, it would be the second fatal crocodile attack in northern Australia in five weeks.

Murphy declined to give details on the remains, which were found in water 500 yards from where the girl was last seen, he said.

The three children who had been swimming with the girl, including her younger sister, told police that they saw the head and tail of a crocodile "splash the surface" of the water near where she vanished moments earlier, Murphy said.

A search of the swamp late Sunday and Monday failed to find the crocodile.

The swamp is not far from crocodile-infested flood plains, but local Michael Dobrovitch said he swims there regularly.

"I get in, I get out quick, but I always have somebody with me" to watch for crocodiles, Dobrovitch told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

A 5-year-old boy vanished from a river edge in northeastern Australia on Feb. 8, and officials later confirmed an attack when his remains were found in the stomach of a 14-foot crocodile.

Last September, a 62-year-old man was killed by a crocodile in another northeastern river while checking crab pots.

Crocodiles have become plentiful in Australia's tropical north since they became protected by federal law in 1971.

Obviously, this is a sad and tragic story, however, I have questions! Why were there not any adults around with these kids swimming in this swamp? Why were they swimming in this swamp when the area is known to have crocodiles. Why can't the authorities find the croc? Is the croc smarter than they are? Probably!!

On a lighter note, check out this story on "smart" dolphins dolphin bubble rings

"Animalz Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": Bobby Sharpe - Shields Down(Today) - 4 Words Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": Weed - Grow It, Smoke It, Tax It!

Giant Seabird With Teeth

Fossil Skull of Giant Toothy Seabird Found

LIMA, Peru (Feb. 28) - The unusually intact fossilized skull of a giant, bony-toothed seabird that lived up to 10 million years ago was found on Peru's arid southern coast, researchers said Friday.

The fossil is the best-preserved cranium ever found of a pelagornithid, a family of large seabirds believed to have gone extinct some 3 million years ago, said Rodolfo Salas, head of vertebrate paleontology at Peru's National History Museum.

The museum said in a statement that the birds had wingspans of up to 20 feet and may have used the toothlike projections on their beaks to prey on slippery fish and squid. But studying members of the Pelagornithidae family has been difficult because their extremely thin bones — while helpful for keeping the avian giants aloft — tended not to survive as fossils.

"Its fossils are very strange, very rare and very hard to find," Salas told The Associated Press.

The cranium discovered in Peru is 16 inches long and is believed to be 8 million to 10 million years old, based on the age of the rock bed in which it was found.

"Rarely are any bones of these gigantic, marine birds found fossilized uncrushed, and to find an uncrushed skull of this size is very significant," said Ken Campbell, curator of vertebrate zoology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Campbell, who examined photos of the find but was not involved in the dig, said he knows of "no specimen of comparable quality."

Dan Kepska, a paleontology researcher at North Carolina State University who also was not part of the project, agreed that the skull is the most complete ever reported.
He called the birds "one of the great enigmas of avian paleontology."

With fossils discovered in North America, North Africa and even Antarctica, Kepska said, the birds were ubiquitous only a few million years before humans evolved and scientists puzzle over why they died out. Some believe they are related to gannets and pelicans, while other say they are related to ducks.

Campbell said the Peru find "will undoubtedly be of great importance to our understanding of these gigantic birds, and it will help clarify the relationships of the other fossil pelagornithids found in the Pisco Formation."

The formation, a coastal rock bed south of the capital, Lima, is known for yielding fossils of whales, dolphins, turtles and other marine life dating as far back as 14 million years.

This is a really good find. The section of the paragraph above that is written in red, brings up a theory that was brought to my attention about a year or so ago about dragons. I was told by a knowing gentleman that YOU will not find dragon fossils because the bones were hollow(for flight)and would not stand the test of time as fossils. Is that a possibility? Could be.

"One Step Closer To Dragons",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Techertainment": Porn Loving Religious Conservatives "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2

Shark Attack & Giant Shark - Australia/Hawaii

Shark Attacks Teen Off Popular Beach

SYDNEY, (March 1) - A shark badly injured a teenage boy while he was surfing with his father at a popular Sydney beach on Sunday, police said, the third shark attack in Australia's largest city in a month.

The 15-year-old boy and his father were in the water off Avalon on Sydney's popular northern beaches around dawn when he was attacked.

"Half an hour later the father heard a scream and turned to see his son thrashing about in the water. Fortunately the shark swam away and the boy was helped to shore by his father," police said in a statement.

The teenager was airlifted to hospital for treatment for leg injuries. Police said the bites "cut through to the bone" but the boy did not appear to have sustained any fractures.

Several beaches were closed after the attack. Water police and lifeguards were searching for the shark, while police hoped to identify its species by the shape of the bite marks.

Many shark species live in the waters off Sydney's popular beaches, but attacks on humans are still relatively rare.

However, there were two attacks on successive days last month, one on a navy diver in Sydney harbour and another on a surfer at the city's world-famous Bondi beach.

Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise. Marine experts say environmental protection has created a cleaner environment which is attracting sharks closer to shore as they chase fish.

Many shark species, including the Great White, are protected in Australian waters.

Huge Shark Caught at Teahupoo

Last Thursday, two local brothers, Didier and Grard Parker, had been catching the Crown of Thorn starfish with fish nets, ridding the reef of the invasive species. As they pulled up one of their nets it became obvious there was something tangled in it bigger than a starfish, at first they thought it was a swordfish, but to their surprise it was a massive tiger shark. The shark had already drowned and was no threat.

In a weird way, it only makes sense that a shark this big would live in the surf at Teahupoo; raw power begetting raw power and all that. The waves at "Chopu" are nothing short of breathtaking. The Tahitian break isn't incredibly tall, but the surf there is thick, powerful and perfectly glassy. Honestly, even just watching it on TV without anyone surfing it is a wonder to behold, so it's no surprise that Billabong holds one of the WCT's marquee events there every year.

The 2009 Billabong Pro Teahupoo is scheduled to take place from May 9-20. Here's to hoping the surfers have the guts to hit the break after seeing what lurks below.

There is a way to avoid being fish food, "STAY OUT OF THE WATER"! It's their territory and home.

"Animalz Rule",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Global Peoplz Newz": Dalai Lama - Chinese Take(opinion) "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2