Home › Forums › Diamondback Terrapins › raccoon control/visiting florida
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allman_p.
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November 28, 2000 at 8:11 am #13832
allman_p
I just have a few comments/concerns about some recent messages. 1.) I am a sea turtle biologists in southwest florida and therefore I am always concerning myself with protecting sea turtle nests from predators, especially raccoons since they are so persistent and will eat an entire clutch of 100-120 eggs before stopping. I do understand everyone’s concern for protecting their DTs in outdoor setups but there are humane ways to deal with predator problems. I also hope you understand there are also laws dealing with nuisance animals. We use have-a-heart traps with a can of sardines and usually catch the raccoon the first night. This past year over 75 raccoons were trapped and destroyed. When a raccoon is captured it is taken to the local animal control division and they give it a lethal injection. The reason we have so many raccoons in this area is because human development has destroyed the habitat needed by the Florida panther and other raccoon predators. The increase in raccoon population is due to human intervention and the raccoons should not be punished. A perfect example of this is with our own species, look at how our own species as exploded since we have learned to control our predators and learned to control many of our diseases. Discussions in this group are designed to promote answers when questions are asked and I think it is everyone’s duty to provide the best all around answers. I don’t know of too many other groups of biologist with more raccoon control experience than sea turtle biologist. I am providing a suggestion based on what we do as a group and what has been proven over the past few decades as the best method for raccoon control when considering not only yourself but the animals themselves. 2.) The past few days a few people mentioned searching Florida for some DTs. Can I assume this is just to observe them in the wild? Someone mentioned wanting a diamondback terrapin and then other people replied about visiting Tampa area and the Florida bay area. I sure hope you are just going to look for fun!! I (with a biologist from Rookery Bay) am going to do some surveys in southwest Florida for DTs mainly around the 10,000 islands area. I am new to this list but I have been working with turtles (not just sea turtles) for many years I thought we as a group have gotten past wild capture turtles. If you guys are still capturing wild DTs for the turtle trade then you are no better than the raccoons. I am willing to let anyone on the list that will be in the area come along during some of the surveys but I will not do this if I feel like I am just pointing to where they are so you can return to take them. 3.) Sorry for all the bashing but I am a member of many scientific list serves as well as this mailing group. Like I said I am pretty new to this group but I am already getting very upset about what I am hearing. The other list serves I am on are much more scientific and focused on research but there is also a general atmosphere of concern for the population and conservation of wildlife, I am not seeing that with this group. Are there any other diamondback terrapin groups that may be more focused on science and/or conservation. 4.) On a positive note, I have become very curious to learn about the Florida laws dealing with wild capture of turtles. I will be checking into that this week and hopefully I will have learned something from the discussions the past few days. In my opinion it should not take a law for us to realize how bad it is to take a wild animal. But maybe you were all talking about just looking at them for their beauty in the wild…..I hope so!!!! cheers, Phil Allman Environmental Specialist Collier County Natural Resources Naples, Florida 34112
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