There is much in the news that's important, but I can't resist the lizard story.
This is like Jurassic Park, only the dinosaurs are smaller. The London Times reported yesterday (HT: WorldNetDaily) that one of Florida's islands has been overrun by an unpleasant breed of iguana, presumed to have been brought there as pets decades ago.
AS RESIDENTS of an upmarket community in Florida, they are perhaps more at home clutching cocktails than airguns. But after their island was overrun by 10,000 ill-tempered reptiles, the people of Boca Grande took up arms.
Outnumbered ten to one by spiny black-tailed iguanas — a non-native species with a big appetite and a bad attitude — citizens of the formerly serene town on Gasparilla Island are engaged in a furious turf battle to try to reclaim their homes, gardens and beaches from the prehistoric-looking interlopers.
"I think the iguanas may have met their match in the people of Boca Grande," Bill Sweetser, an animal trapper on the mainland, said. He recently set up a service, Iguanagon, in response to the problem. "It’s war down there."
Bonnie McGee, 60, who keeps a pellet gun at her back door to repel reptilian invaders, acknowledged that she had "taken out a few".
One of her friends, Ann Ingram, found one cavorting in her lavatory after it came up through the plumbing, and she slaughtered it by pouring in a bottle of bleach. Others have found that golf irons come in handy. At the local hardware store, meanwhile, traps are selling fast, and local newspapers have printed recipes for iguana stew.
But wait! No good war goes unchallenged by the Left. In spite of the destruction the iguanas have brought to the island's beaches and the threat they post to endangered birds and tortoises, some people are not so thrilled with the assault on the non-native lizards.
Delores Savas, an environmental columnist for the local newspaper, the Boca Beacon, complained: "These people are supposed to be so refined, but when it comes to iguanas they are like a lynch mob."
The people of Boca Grande should be like a lynch mob. Somebody check Delores Savas's environmental credentials. She's worried about the wrong thing.
6 comments:
Concerned by your view of violence and criticism of a conscientious reporter.
I just came across your essay regarding the frenzy over too many iguanas, a struggle that took place in the resort town of Boca Grande (on Florida's Gulf Coast) last year.
You demonstrated a wry humor and detachment in your account of this contest between two invasive species -- "snow-birds" and "lizards". ('Tho the former are on this barrier island voluntarily, the latter were imported as illegal souvenirs of a trip to Central America).
I read your chilling description of some really violent methods used by panicky people to get rid of these creatures. Then, I was surprised at your glib dismissal of concern expressed in the town's newspaper by columnist, Delores Savas..
Savas had remarked upon the 'lynch-mob' mentality developing (in this erstwhile ’nature’s paradise’), so you over-ruled her objection by claiming that those being inconvenienced by lizards in their pools or bathrms, are entitled to take any measures, no matter how harsh, to kill them ......Seeing that you profess to be a Christian,
I ask you to consider the famous question: What would Jesus do? He may have turned the money lenders out of the temple, but do you think He'd advocate stabbing to death or pouring bleach over them?
I think He would remind you that, with every act of wanton cruelty we commit or witness without protest, we become less humane, and fall farther from the Divine.
As for your questioning Savas' credentials: she's won multiple awards and been praised by readers of all political parties for her thorough, balanced investigative reporting and journalistic ethics.
Her columns range from human interest stories, information on island fauna, as well as addressing encroachment of habitat, issues of animal cruelty & other relevant environmental concerns.
I was also disturbed that you introduced her viewpoint by labeling it as, "coming from the Left" which is a smear tactic in the worst tradition of Joe McCarthy.
I do not understand these inconsistencies btwn what you wrote and who you indicate you are: I'd hope that someone who lists Lord of the Rings and Princess Bride among favorite films, would be on the side of Light and Truth and Compassion in the eternal struggle against the powers of darkness..
Yet you insulted a writer who's work you obviously knew little or nothing about, ridiculing both her objection to cruel acts and her worry at mob hysteria.
I remind you that some of civilization's darkest days were the times when no one had the courage to take a stand against mob panic or cruelty.
From lynch mobs to Jews disappearing from the towns and into ovens, someone needs to question any policy formed this way, someone has to call us to account for our behavior.
I first met Delores when she organized a conference on Florida Wildlife. The panel of experts included famous author, Cleveland Amory, who commended her for bringing so many people together to share information and discuss it in a convivial setting and constructive manner.
It is my hope that you search your heart on this matter, and also rescind your disparaging tone towards Ms. Savas, who is the most highly motivated, dedicated and courageous writer I've ever had the privilege to know.
P.S. I am not a regular blogger, so when I tried to post this, a pop-up asked me to register. In case I do not succeed at this process, I shall also send you the text via e-mail.
My address is
Tender-mercies@hotmail.com
P.S. from Tender-Mercies,
at the risk of overdoing it, I just realized that when posting my comment, I neglected to address your implication that reporter Delores Savas was ignoring the iguana threat to birds and tortoises. I hope to put your mind at rest by informing you Savas has organized volunteers to helped protect, rescue, rehabilitate and release endangered or injured wildlife, and to care for (or transport to centers that provide longterm care)those unable to heal enough to return to the wild. Due to her columns & hands-on efforts,many islanders are educated volunteers who safeguard turtle nests to mitigate the number of hatchlings killed by predators or dune-buggies. Also she reminds people every year to avoid disorienting the hatchlings with beach lighting, when they're about to crawl to the sea. Savas frequently advises readers against buying exotic pets that will disrupt the eco balance in our environment. She covers many more aspects of this topic than i can possibly list here; suffice to say, just because she disapproved of iguanas being bashed to death does not mean she is not a concerned and informative environmental reporter. Amen.
Anonymous (Tender-Mercies),
I can see you are not familiar with my blog style. The portions in italics are the excerpts from the news article I linked to (in this case the London Times). My comments are in regular text. Many of your criticisms are pointed at the Times reporter.
My comment at the end about Dorothy Savas's credentials are to question her apparent preference for the iguanas over the destruction the iguanas are causing to the rest of the environment. When it comes to a trade-off, I would expect an environmentalist to choose the native environment over the introduced, destructive species.
You've accused me of smearing Ms. Savas by saying she comes from "the Left," when on the political spectrum, the environmental movement is considered to be to the Left of Center. But then you challenged me with visions of lynch mobs and the Holocaust, as though my criticisms of Savas put me just a step away from such atrocities. Aren't you smearing me with this?
In terms of violence, I guess I have to admit that I don't place violence against lizards on an equal plane with violence against people. There is a vast difference between the eradication of reptile pests and lynch mobs or the gassing of Jews in Auschwitz.
I still believe Savas was worried about the wrong thing. For normal (not deranged) people, their reactions against invading hordes of pests does not generalize into other arenas.
I've never been invaded by lizards (actually, I had blue-bellied lizards in my yard and loved them because they ate bugs, including wasps), but I've had my yard overrun by gophers. They ate every flower I planted (except petunias) and made my yard such a mess of piled-up dirt and caved-in tunnels that we couldn't even mow the lawn. I still consider the only good gopher to be a dead gopher. But I don't wish death on any other animal (except bugs that get in my house). So for the residents of Gasparilla Island, I would be surprised if there has been a spread of the killing to other species. I doubt Bonnie McGee now goes out to kill rabbits or squirrels for fun, just because she has shot at the lizards.
As for my Christian faith, my heart breaks for the suffering of people. You might want to look at my post on Auschwitz or Stutthof or one of my posts on Zimbabwe.
My heart doesn't break this way for animal pests.
Thank you for your comments. You are welcome here any time.
P.S. from SkyePuppy,
Tender-Mercies, I wrote my reply before I saw your P.S. I'm glad to see that Savas is indeed working to save the environment from the iguanas. I realize news articles edit and sometimes eliminate a lot of what was said.
Oops. I called her Dorothy Savas, when she's Delores Savas. My apologies.
Thank you for addressing my comments so promptly, although I do not have time at this moment to respond adequately.
I would rather not participate further in an ongoing exchange, because it can easily degenerate into trading insults wrapped in clever rhetoric
Some people can handle debate dispassionately, but it's not in my Irish temper, I guess. That is why I've made it a rule to never participate in blogs to argue a point, and only made an exception today, in defense of this reporter.
As you say,I misunderstood that in the intitial part of your original post you quoted from a news article, followed by your remarks; but that does not change my comment on the manner in which you lodged your opinion.
You're clearly a skillful debator, and it seems to me that you exaggerated my premise in defense of your own. {for instance, when I pointed out the lesson from history that that the absence of a call to conscience can allow evil deeds to go unchallanged, you inferred that I was linking you to insensitivity to genocide or the holocaust.
Now, you didn't really think I was accusing you of that, did you? Although i am tempted to counter each point, for me that process drains energy from pursuing major goals to which I'm committed and have too little time as it is.
So, I"ll merely offer this simple reply to your correlating Delores' objection to animal cruelty with her allegedly placing animal rights on equal or superior level to those of humans. To paraphrase an old Frank Sinatra tune: "You CAN have one without the other".
However, there are cases proving correlation, or progression, between abuse of animals and tolerance for (if not direct abuse) inhumanity to man.
As for animals versus gardens, I raised my child in a poison-free zone. After our lettuce was eaten by rabbits, we just let wildflowers, clover and ferns grow, and let the bugs, snakes, lizards, gopher-tortoises, foxes, raccoons, opossums, song-birds and owls co-exist, although some preyed upon others.
On the other hand, my husband was raised on a farm, where the life-cycle of animals is quite different. Likewise, their methods for preventing critters from foraging in gardens or damaging crops seemed severe to me but I respect the fact they are operating on other terms.
However, they still don't resort to frenzied, brutal attacks.
Whether humane methods may be required at times to control a truly dangerous animal population (aggressive gators for example) when relocation cannot be accomplished, is up for discussion.
I'll have to bring our discussion today to the attention of the reporter in question and let her clarify her views on managing the iguana population.
The reason I entered this forum today is because the comments in question were based upon her observing irrational behavior, and she was calling upon townspeople to remain civilized in finding solutions to the problem.
In closing, my interest in the above subject does not mean that I think we should pay less attention to ongoing wars and other horrifying rampages around the world, such as you suggested I might read about in your other blogs.
Those are extremely important topics and I'm glad to know you are engendering discussion of the factors involved.
.... My family's field of interest has been the prolonged plight of the Palestinian refugees and tragic consequences such as the still escalating cycle of violence it engendered.
It's just that, no matter how major those events, or pressing the need to deal with them, I leave you with this heartfelt question:
Upon reflection, to you still feel justified in having denigrated another writer's concern about unnecessary violence?
I'm hoping you'll choose to either retract your casting of aspersions upon her qualifications for what has been her life's work, and apologize to her for the inadvertant slight.
Then, who knows? Maybe this could lead to a positive dialogue with someone I'm sure you'd admire if you knew more of her good works.
Well, either way, I must retire from activity on this forum, which does not mean I won't read your essays on other topics, and wish you success on educating the public on conflicts in Africa, about which most of us know very little.
I must close now, to go attend a vigil for the thousands of HUMAN victims of war(s, where we shall stand to pray for Peace, no matter how remote the possibility seems.
Tender-Mercies,
I agree that it's a good time to bring our discussion to an amicable end. You've raised other issues on which I disagree with you, and I've got a bit of Irish in me as well.
I believe I've already retracted my casting of aspersions on Delores Savas's credentials. I would hope I can be forgiven for my original comment, when all I had to work on at the time was the Times's reporting of her alarm over the iguanas and no mention of her concern for anything else. You cleared up my misconception very well.
I wish you all the best in what you do.
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