Food for Thought
By ice rivers
- 715 reads
When I sat down to type this morning, food was the last thing on my mind as I had already consumed my breakfast, the same breakfast that I have every Saturday when I allow myself two slices of heavily buttered and peanut buttered slices of toast.. Then I came to inspiration Point and found food for my next group of thoughts which will follow immediately as I imagine and capture them..
Okay, here we go.
Racoons and opposums became unexpected food sources when Burmese Pythons were introduced, intentionally or accidentally into the Everglades in the 1970's.. Since that time, 99% of opposums and racoons have disappeared from the area.
Millions of years had passed since snakes of that size had last been seen in North America so their sudden re-appearance took the racoon/opposum community by surprise. Rocky Racoon, Ozzie Opossum and pals continued their previous habits and blundered their way into the python realm where they were met with the friendly, overwhelming persuasion of constriction followed by digestion and excretion. The pythons weren't hunting their racoon food as much as the racoon food was naively going where they had always gone, doing what they always had done. You can't blame the snakes for the naivety of the opposums. Most of us will eat what is served to us if it tastes good. Rocky and his opposum friends could be commended for their good taste if not their inability to cope with change.
More than 2,000 have pythons been captured which suggests that one of the world's largest snakes is now entrenched in the local food chain.
When a species becomes vulnerable due to a change in its environment, particularly a demotion in its place on the food chain, that species must adapt or face waves of death nearing extermination within the danger zone of that changing environment. The pythons are out there but they're not really hunting. Why bother hunting when food is delivering itself and pretending that nothing's changed and life will just go on the way it always does?
Until, suddenly, it doesn't. And an opposum begins its journey into python turdsdom.
The opposums and racoons are gone from the Glades.
Oh yeah
Alligators and full grown deer have replaced Rocky and Ozzie.
Alligators have never been accused of naivety. The pyhons are gonna have to hunt for these meals and hunting is a whole different ballgame.
Most of the pythons will not be able to cope with the food chain disruption.
They don't belong in the neighborhood anyways. The pythons were better off in Burma with the leopards.
Eventually they will disappear..
And that, my friends concludes an unexpected torrent of thought on food. Thank you for suggesting such an organic food for thought.
And wear your masks because things are different now.
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Comments
Enjoyed reading this. Am
Enjoyed reading this. Am hoping then too that raccoons and opossums might make a gradual comeback or be reintroduced eventually perhaps once the pythons have declined, unable to cope with their loss. Definitely all food for thought and food chains are an interesting take on the IP. Rachel :)
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Sometimes all of us are drawn
Sometimes all of us are drawn to swamps...and then we get eaten for lunch.
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