New Orleans infested with wildlife

[Marnieworld]

NEW ORLEANS - Alligators have been dragged from abandoned swimming pools. Foxes had to be removed from the airport. Coyotes are stalking rabbits and nutria (a sort of countrified rat) in city streets. And armadillos are undermining air conditioning units.

In the year since Hurricane Katrina drove out many of the people of New Orleans, wild animals have been moving in. Some were blown in by the winds or redistributed by the floodwaters. Others were drawn by the piles of rotting garbage and by the shelter afforded by all the abandoned homes and tall weeds.

"In 20 years of trapping animals here, I've never seen anything like it," said Greg duTreil, who is licensed by the state to remove nuisance wildlife in the metropolitan area. "I'm getting calls night and day."

Marilyn Barbera said opossums are living under her home and in her garden, and one moved into her house, a white 1859 Greek Revival in the city's Riverbend area.

"It was about the size of a big cat and it just made itself at home," she said.

More at link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061013/ap_on_re_us/new_orleans_wildlife;_ylt=AhenZRs7z0oojX3ZbJD0dapH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA4dW1uZXIwBHNlYwMyNzQ3

I can't believe this is happening in the United States of America. I wish I could win the powerball to help that place. If only Warren Buffett decided to donate 3 billion to NOLA instead! They could fix the levees and get people back. Without this wildlife. So sick. It's a shameful sin.

[datavg]

1. New Account...

(testing)

[Marnieworld]

3. Success!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Uncle Joe]

13. Welcome to D.U. datavg

:hi: A word of caution though, do not hit the red button!:nuke:

[bdamomma]

95. welcome to DU datavg

you are testing in the right place.

[NOLADEM]

24. BULLSHIT ALERT BULLSHIT ALERT

Let me tell you, as a New Orleans resident, fellow DUer and residential contractor, this is bullshit.

There are rats.

There was one gator in a canal.

There are raccoons.

That is it. There arent any nutria.

This is a bullshit article designed to scare, sensationalize, or make you discount the city recovery.

Come see for yourself.

We are coming back.

DO NOT BELIEVE THIS BULLSHIT.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

29. The French Quarter, yesterday morning:

[LostinVA]

53. Photo of the Garden District my friend took last week

Jeebus.

[depakid]

61. LOL!

Around Portland Oregon, we actually do have nutria in the streams, ponds and swales. Some fool from Louisiana thought it would be a good idea to import them for their fur (and maybe- down South- to eat).

Similar fools introduced them here.



Hey look- there's one now!

[bhikkhu]

66. A better picture would catch the big orange teeth

I always appreciated wildlife that could coexist with us in urban settings, but a while spent in the neighborhood with nutria was not entirely pleasant. They breed like rabbits and do quite a bit of eco-system damage, and have a nasty habit of charging and hissing at people or children who get too close.

[LostinVA]

67. Not quite as exotics as lemurs....

I can't believe people used to wear coats made from them -- rat coats!

[pitohui]

79. they make a beautiful soft coat

occasionally they still turn up in the flea markets, they are soft as silk

[DBoon]

63. and this is a nearby wildlife preserve

[Shakespeare]

86. OMG--I have photos at that same clearing!!!

I know EXACTLY where that is!! It's a tiny glen just off 101 north of Eureka (and the elk love to hang out there--mashy at one end). When I was there, it was a herd of bachelor elk, at the beginning of rutting season. They had massive antlers. They were just massive, period.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

93. Redwood Highway.

Awesome place.

[intheflow]

109. OMG!

Thanks so much, I needed that laugh this morning before I head out to a meeting in New Orleans. I'll be careful to watch for the herds!
:rofl:

[Dover]

33. You are probably right. The article also says...

Claudia Riegel, assistant director of the New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board, which handles rodent complaints, said the problem is not as bad as people think.

"People are also seeing them in areas they did not see them in before the storm," she said. "That makes them think it's worse than it is."

But I wonder if people in New Orleans are examining the whole issue of whether rebuilding is wise considering the accelerating problems associated with global warming and it's affects upon the Gulf Region, New Orlean's particular set of problems due to its location, etc.? I'm sure rebuilding is one's first emotional response to such destruction, but what makes the most long term sense? And how many of those developers quick to jump on the rebuilding wagon are as opportunistic as the rats?

And how will these problems be dealt with and funded if/when similar disasters hit other regions, particular right on a coastline? Seems to me a the long view might actually save lives in the future.

[Swamp Rat]

47. Tru dat

We still need a lotta outside help, though.

[bdamomma]

96. Swamp Rat, help may be coming to you guys soon

HBO's Comic Relief is coming up in November 19 I think and all proceeds will go to Katrina survivors, being hosted by Whoopi, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams.

[yardwork]

74. Yeah, this sounded like b.s. to me too

New Orleans is being terribly neglected but the city's problem is not wildlife. Wildlife is everywhere.

[krkaufman]

76. Are there any special websites ...

... highlighting travel resources and accommodations?

[pitohui]

80. if you would like help PM me and i'll try to do a search

i'm on the road and away from some of my links, short answer is YES, there is a million dollar budget allocated to helping tourist visit and get deals

PM me, nag me to help me find something, and i can try -- if you answer in this thread it may drop off where i won't see it before i can log in again since i'm traveling

as a local, i do not stay in hotels so i'm not the BEST source but the least i can do is find you a link

short story is that there is now excellent availability of hotel rooms most weekend (halloween, a popular masking and costuming holiday may be an exception)

[krkaufman]

104. No worries, I can do the legwork ... *if* I'm to venture that way. Thanks

[pitohui]

78. i saw way more nutria in the 80s

the nutria should surely be controlled for they are reckless vegetarians who will eat your damn wetland just for a hobby but what we have today is nothing to the 70s/early/mid 80s

i remember one time in the early 80s going to a site and seeing literally thousands of nutria shoulder to shoulder choking a large pond covering several acres (not recalling which parish but obviously well outside new orleans city limits) -- a chilling sight indeed

there is nothing like that now

there are alligators in st tammany (esp. slidell) and people are enjoying photographing them but they are not hurting anything and i have not heard of them hurting anyone

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

28. beep

[Jamastiene]

105. Amazing. Where'd you find that? (off-topic)

I sure miss hearing the national anthem and seeing the ariel views of the Statue of Liberty when the television stations logged off the air for the night. Those were the days. There were no infomercials back then. :)

[calimary]

43. Welcome to DU!

The online thinktank without walls, but WITH the will!

[marmar]

2. Sad, sad, sad...

Maybe if Haley Barbour had a house in NOLA, the situation would be treated with more urgency.

[dogman]

4. It always was infested with wildlife.

This is just non-human wildlife.

[msongs]

5. are you picking on mardi gras again? :-)

the claim "..infested with wildlife" is ridiculous. wildlife was there long before humans came along and began their deliberate destruction of the bayous and deltas.

sounds like a victory for nature against humanity, though at a terrible price for the humans. what goes around comes around eh?

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

PS - we have opossums around here and they are no trouble at all, plus they like to eat snails and crickets.

[Marnieworld]

12. I guess you just don't know "What it means to miss New Orleans"

Yes everything in theory was all the property of wildlife but that city was long past that and to revert back because of neglect is such a tragedy. It's not an abstract, it's affecting real people, real places destroying something very special. A rat infestation in a place where there are very few doctors and hospitals is a crisis. Would you suggest this just be accomodated?

[Dover]

26. Rats? Have you been to NYC lately?

While there hasn't been a natural disaster like that suffered by New Orleans, they have nonetheless
had a major problem with rats.

NYC also originally encroached on what was swamp and coastal areas, and it really is amazing and some would say alarming, how little it takes to tip the scales back to those "natural conditions".
Nature will endure in the end, so it seems to me that cooperation, participation and seeing ourselves as a part of, rather than separate from, nature is a better solution. Insurance companies are getting a clue about this as certain areas succumb to natural disasters, many of them due to their proximity to water (ocean or river). I think what New Orleans and the Gulf Coast has suffered will become more common and through the tears of loss we must face the question about how we will proceed in these areas. Should they be rebuilt? Is building taller levies really the answer?
Some states (along the Mississippi) have, after repeated flooding disasters, declared areas along it's banks as undevelopable and have bought out property that falls in these areas. To me that makes good sense. You didn't see native Americans building in these areas for a good reason. They accepted nature and their place in it, and acted accordingly. And they used the flooding for crops, etc.

How would things be different if we actually had a relationship with nature?

[Swamp Rat]

49. My cousins in New York

Dey get real big, an' mess up da sewers. :evilgrin:



Yes, building levees in and around New Orleans is worth all the gold in Fort Knox. If you came to here, you would learn to understand why it's really worth more... it cannot be be quantified in language or numbers.

[Dover]

51. Yes, I've been to dat place and understand, as best an outsider can,

it's unquantifiable gifts. But is that something that can find new life in a new location...whether 50 or 500 miles away? I don't know if that can be answered. But those forced to leave ARE bringing those gifts to the places where they landed and will influence them. New Orleans lives in them not in a place, per se.
Not to paint a rosy picture where there is still much hardship...either in N.O. or in the disrupted lives of those who were forced to leave and live elsewhere.

But the long view is worrisome and some foresight and planning might prevent this disaster from recurring. We, in this country, might have to move away from our shorelines as oceans rise. It's just one of those things that must be weighed.

[Jamastiene]

107. I love Neil.

"First, we sow the seed, then nature grows the seed, then we eat the seed, then..."

I loved that skit. I miss the Young Ones.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

62. Plus you have Donald Trump.

And that possum he wears on his head.
:spray:

[RebelOne]

6. We have taken away the homes of the wildlife

through development, so maybe they are just trying to reclaim their territory.

[CrispyQ]

7. You might be interested in this thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x69516

I thought the linked article was fascinating!

[Webster Green]

8. No shit!....That was always a great reason to go there!

Party time!

[Demeter]

9. That's Nothing! We Got Skunks, Racoons, Rabbits and Deer

roaming the streets of Ann Arbor every night, city of 100,000+. And Opposums, foxes and coyotes. Heron, swans, geese, ducks, hawks, and I thought I saw a bald eagle one day overhead. And college kids. Fortunately, there's a good leash law!

[reprobate]

14. In Florida we have gators. Both undergraduate and amphibian kind.

Betcha my gators can eat your college students.

[Marnieworld]

16. Are they roaming around Miami though?

Are they in the swimming pools?

[reprobate]

23. Certainly. At least between classes. Yuk, Yuk, Yuk.

[oldcoot]

39. My Sister-In-Law lives in Florida

It seems like every time I visit her, I hear stories about state wildlife officials removing an alligator from someone's swimming pool in an urban environment.

[Nolo_Contendre]

42. Florida Gators are the largest reptiles in North America

They are not amphibians. I guess college sports get so much attention and funding that they don't have the resources to teach much in college classes any more. Pity. Maybe that's one reason Florida has become so Republican in recent years. Dumbing down of America. Makes it easier to steal elections, too.

[pitohui]

81. our gators get just as big

i have seen gators in southwest louisiana as big or bigger than anything i ever saw in florida

however, louisiana gators are quite passive and i am not aware of them harming anyone

just in case, a recent law was passed asking people to no longer hand feed any alligators or risk a fine

the theory i heard is, louisiana alligators have not been inclined to harm people because we have so many nutria that it would be silly for them to chase down a jogger when a nutria will just swim into their mouth -- reptiles are not into wasting energy to catch food

i actually have a cute photo taken a couple years back of an alligator eating a nutria but i can't get to where i can post it right now


you guys in florida should take on some of our nutria, heh heh heh

[Nolo_Contendre]

102. No offense intended against Louisiana's gators!

They are all considered American Alligators and, in fact, the largest alligator ever recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches long (5.3 meters) while the largest alligator ever recorded measured 19 feet 2 inches (5.8 meters) and was found on Marsh Island, Louisiana.
Louisiana wins!
Send in the nutria!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligators

[Jamastiene]

106. Oh, this is too irresistable.

North Carolina has gators bigger than both of ya'll's gators. :P

Disclaimer: I'm only joking because I know there are some large ones all over the southern states and it's fun to throw in a third state of "mine's bigger than yours." I couldn't resist. :P

[reprobate]

103. You are, of course, right NC. Thanks for the correction. What do I know,

I'm just a dumb cracker.

[catzies]

70. If a Gator eats a gator, is it cannibalism?

:P

[MidwestTransplant]

15. Can't complain about the college kids

They make AA what it is! Go Blue!

[LostinVA]

54. I had six deer (at once), a hawk, many tree rats, and a neighbor's kid

in my yard this evening. The squirrels were, as usual, acting sociopathic and trying to kill each other. AND throwing acorns on my car. Grrrr....

Last December, I had frigging FLYING SQUIRRELS get under my crawl space, chew a huge hole through stuff, and get INSIDE MY WALLS. They had to be trapped.

Raccoons, foxes, bunnies, opossums, skunks, and other possibley rabies-laden mammals of all sizes run all over my yard. And I live in an exurb.

Let's not even talk about the damned copperheads.

[AnneD]

58. Try dealing with...

bear and elk. Bears are like giant rats when they see a trash dumpster. When you hear noise at night in the mountains, you don't investigate...you pull the covers over your head and hope you remembered to lock the doors. Yeah, and try hitting an elk. You don't kill them, you just piss 'em off and they turn around and attack you car. And God help you if they go over your hood...there goes your windshield and they'll slash you seats and you with their hooves.

[LostinVA]

59. People who live closer to the mountains here have the bears

I live the opposite way. Some of my coworkers have big bear "problems."

Don't sk me how I haven't hit a deer yet -- they are as thick as sins on a Republican's soul around here. We al sways have alot of mommies and fawns in our yard every Spring and Summer... and Yearlings. One of the Yearlings had some small antlers the last time he was hanging out with his family a few weeks ago. I haven't seen him since, so I guess he's a grown up boy now and has left his mom and sisters for good.

ANYWAY, a coworker's sister has had over 30 plastic surgeries because of a deer doing the very thing you mentioned in your post. The glass and hoofs almost destroyed her face.

[hedgehog]

99. We've had good luck with deer whistles.

I've had them on the cars for years and have seen deer, cats and raccoons stop or move away from the road when I approach at night. My husband lost his in a snow bank one year and saw all kinds of deer along his daily commute that he hadn't seen before. Once he replaced the whistles, no more deer.

[AnneD]

101. Deer whistles

are great...I used them too. They worked fairly well...unless the whole heard decides to cross the road (love that salt). They just shoot you a dirty look when you try to drive through. These elk can weigh from 800 to 1600 lbs, and they have the right of way too.

[kineneb]

75. NorCal foothills

Lemme' see. We got bear, mountian lions, elk, deer, 'possums (damn things are everywhere), skunks, raccoons, squirrels, 'way too many turkeys (the feathered kind, as well as tourists), and lots o' birds. Here, the wildlife still outnumbers the people.

[AnneD]

92. YUP

sounds just like Cloudcroft New Mexico:rofl: Our fav saying amongst ourselves...Well if it's tourist season-why can't I shoot one.

[ItNerd4life]

97. If it's tourist season...why can't I shoot one?

Love it! :rofl:

[Jamastiene]

108. Bwahhahahahaa.

You forgot to mention the partridge in the pear tree. :P

You shouldn't say bad things about the squirrels. Be grateful those were only acorns. If they were monkeys, you know what they'd be throwing instead, don't you? :P

[Coventina]

10. Um, wildlife is NOT an "infestation". For gosh sakes, they were there

FIRST!

I'm so sick and tired of this dumb assumption that we are the only species with property rights.

Ugh!

[MessiahRp]

11. LOL

Which then reminds me of how ridiculous we can be by buying stars through the International Star Registry or that guy out there selling plots of the Ocean...

Stupid.

Rp

[Kali]

20. eh not necessarily true.

things like coyotes, raccoons some cat species, obviously many rodents and birds, increase with human presence where previously they may not have been in a particular area.

We aren't always "the bad guy" from all of nature's perspective.

[Coventina]

21. oh please, if we could measure out the harm vs. the good humans have

brought to this planet, it would show without doubt where the REAL "infestation" lies....

[Kali]

30. All I said was it depends on your perspective.

Change, impacts - yes of course. Good vs bad - those are value judgements and while I tend to agree, it wasn't my point.

[oldcoot]

36. It depends on the species

Yes, humans do create semi-natural habitats such as parks and golf courses, which provide food, water, and habitat to many species of wildlife. However, for those mammal and bird species with specific habitat needs, humans remain the "bad guys."

[Lorien]

44. Amen Coventina!

I have raccoons, possums, owls, hawks, cotton mice snakes, geckos and many other species living on my tiny downtown plot of land. I've found ways of peacefully coexisting with all of them because it's their home too. No chemlawns or traps here!

[AnneD]

17. NUTRIA...Countrified rat....

:rofl: more like rats on steroids. The only rats I ever say start to come close were some I say in the dumpsters in NYC, and they were smaller than nutria.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

64. Nutria can be devastating to wetlands...

And LA needs to restore theirs to keep from losing over 25 square miles of land every year.

[pitohui]

82. hope to god they were smaller than nutria

the only rodent i can think of that i've seen bigger than nutria was the capybara!

[IndianaGreen]

18. This shows how quickly wildlife will replace humans

once our cities are devastated by nature's wrath, or human folly.

For those of you Bible thumpers, your Jesus won't prevent the extinction of humanity, or the ultimate incineration of the Earth by a dying Sun eons from now. That's just the way it is!

[OldSiouxWarrior]

19. Nutria picture:

[54anickel]

52. Looks like a muskrat to me. n/t

[pitohui]

83. looks like a nutria to me

but i need a better look at the tail

[54anickel]

89. I don't doubt that it is, I just never heard of them until now. They

certainly aren't the same beast, are they? Muskrat is the closest thing we have around these parts.
I "googled" nutria - they have an interesting history.

[AnneD]

60. Yep

Rat on steroids

[Mythsaje]

22. Coyotes, foxes, and 'possums

have always "infested" urban environments. This is nonsense.

[Dover]

31. and they are predators attracted by the rats, raccoons, nutria, etc.

They do have a purpose. We're just not used to having front row seats are finding ourselves in the midst of nature.

[TheWraith]

25. Any time humans flee an area, nature moves in.

The Demilitarized Zone in Korea, despite over 1 million landmines, is practically a nature preserve--the animals just avoid the mines. Even the radiological exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl, where it's still unsafe for humans to live long-term, is teeming with wildlife.

[AngryAmish]

91. Same thing in Detroit

[Solly Mack]

27. Imagine that - a hurricane that rearranges the habitat of animals

as well as humans...now who could have anticipated that?(sustained eye-roll)

Animals lost their homes and feeding grounds too...and maybe that isn't high on someone's list of things to worry about - but the point is...animals will go looking for a new home and food...so it's no surprise....not a bit....that this is happening...and this was a potential problem that should have been considered and factored in to the equation long before now.


But like everything to do with Katrina...life - human and otherwise - wasn't and isn't a high priority with this government

[xchrom]

32. i live in a very urban environment in norcal --

and my back yard is ''infested'' with opossums, raccoons, and skunks.

i go out to smoke late at night and it's a fuckin free for all back there.

[Dover]

34. .........you mean they smoke too?

Now that IS sad....

[xchrom]

35. i know, huh?

hey bub -- gimme a smoke or i'll pound the skunk over there before you can get in the house.

[SoCalDem]

37. Which only goes to prove that once humans are not on the scene

nature CAN rebound.. All it needs is to be LEFT ALONE..

I saw a blurb on tv yesterday about the no-man's-land between N & S Korea.. without man's interference, it's turned into a huge nature preserve, with birds and animals aplenty..

Every living creature needs food, water & shelter.. Give them taht and leave them alone, and they will manage to survive.
Humans are the only species that seeks to deprive OTHER species of their right to exist. All other speices manage to accomodate each other.. we could learn from the animals.

[Kali]

38. Left alone? Humans aren't a part of nature?

This fantasy of our separation from nature is a big part of the problems we have with managing our impacts. Humans can (indeed MUST) coexist with whatever other parts of nature we interface with that does not too "negatively" impact US. (thinking "vermin", disease and parasites here)

It irks me when people in our wealthy society complain about the "damage" humans do while they sit in their "artificial shelters" utilizing all the products of the very destruction they complain about (agriculture, mining, lumber, paper, fuels etc). Just how much comfort and conveinience is one willing to forgo in order to limit one's OWN footprint?

How do you decide? How do you decide for others?

[SoCalDem]

41. I guess I never considered opossums or raccoons as vermin

:shrug:..

I don't decide for others.. I only commented because nature does have a way of filiing in the spaces we leave behind..

The Aztec & Mayan cultures were HUGE, but once they left, the jungle reclaimed it, and it took centureies for it to be "discovered"..

Nature will reclaim ..and in a way nature (the hurricane) "decided" for everyone. The human structures failed.. nature held her own.

[Joe Chi Minh]

40. That's no way to talk about the Republicans.

[Swamp Rat]

45. IT WASN'T ME!!!

I SWEAR!!

I did NOT pass by dat woman's house, no!.. Miss Marilyn's house, and didn' eat no orkra no!!

[TheBaldyMan]

48. I didn't know swamp rats were so cute,

or so innocent looking.

[Marnieworld]

57. LOL!

Well I guess at least one rat can stay! :D

[EFerrari]

69. How much did you have to contribute to Ralph Reed to get that halo?

lol!

[Up2Late]

46. SO What!?! Except for the Nutria, it sounds like my neighborhood here...

...in the Atlanta Metro. I see wild Rabbits, Rats and Possum all the time. We have Armadillos too. My Sister has Raccoons in here neighborhood.

They say the Coyotes are here in Georgia now too. I say good for them, those Coyotes might start to control the over population of Deer here, and those Nutria are nasty accidentals from South America, I believe, and considered a pest.

If the Coyotes start killing the Nutria, maybe the Jefferson Parrish Police won't have to go on as many of their night-time Nutria pest control hunts. Before the storm, they would drive along the levies and canals and shoot the Nutria from the back of a pick-up truck.

If you don't believe me, check out this video from Comedy Central's show "Insomniac with Dave Attell"

<http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=25576>

Note of caution: This video does show the Nutria actually being shot.

[Raine]

50. I got opossums, foxes, raccoons

squirrels, rattle snakes, rats and mice here in a burb of Los Angeles County. I'm not saying what's happening in NO isn't awful...I'm just saying what I got. Course I also have trash being picked up etc and we're not being ignored by the fed government, at least not yet.

[earth mom]

55. Nutria...I know some people that live on a farm who trap em and

eat em. No joke! Makes ya want to become vegan. :puke:

[Up2Late]

71. If they live in the LA, MS, AL, or GA they should try the Wild Boar...

...I heard they are everywhere down in the southern parts of those states, and are becoming a nuisance.

[pitohui]

84. "becoming" a nuisance?

wild boar have been a nuisance since at least the 70s -- people don't eat em because they have worms

[hedgehog]

100. Why not eat them?

It sounds like they are vegetarian and they look to have more meat on them than a rabbit.

[midnight]

56. I can hardly grasp the struggle that goes on day to day

in New Orleans, let alone for our family's, who's loved ones are in this war. Everyday is an opportunity to fix this terrible direction. I keep hope that this November will return our country in the direction it was going before bush took over. Peace and prosperity. When the Dems take back this country, we should restore States that have been detroyed by Katrina, and make sure our vets have healthcare, homes, and jobs.

[BenDavid]

65. Unless the south has a hard winter

then all along the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisanna, next spring will be one of the worse for diseases and much worse than West Nile.....

[54anickel]

73. Friend of mine returned from a business trip to NOLA in early Sept. Caught

some sort of nasty bug while down there. Sicker than a dog for over a month, just now returning to work (half-days). Lost over 60 pounds, not much left but skin over bone. Doctors don't really know what it was or how she got it, but they figure she picked it up there. :shrug: She was in the French quarter for 3 or 4 days.

[pitohui]

85. they should blood test for west nile

it was active at that time in the area

because our mosquito control is so aggressive it is highly unlikely she got it in the french quarter but if she took a swamp tour it is always possible and i suppose you can get a "bad" mosquito anywhere if god hates you enough

there are no other disease problems going around, one thing you have to say for katrina, when we first returned, it had blown away the mosquitos and the drought following the storm meant that the diseases killing us have been murder, suicide, psychological problems, lack of medical care for diabetes and heart disease -- but we've been pretty amazingly free of "bugs"

i cannot think of another contagious disease she would have caught here in mid sept and keep in mind -- you can catch west nile just as well in new york city (the first site of infection in the usa)

i hope your friend gets well soon by the way and i always appreciate more information as you get it if you can get it tactfully (for instance if the illness was hep b there is no tactful way to get more information really)

[54anickel]

88. Thank you Pitohui. I'll be sure and mention that to her. So sorry to

hear about the "diseases" you mentioned that do exist there. Thanks again for the information and take care. :hug:

[outofbounds]

68. In southern Georgia

We have snakes, alligators, bears, boars pretty much any kind of rodent critter you can think of. They don't harm anyone. An armadillo can wreck a yard overnight but you know what, they weren't consulted when they surveyor plotted out my yard. I doubt they would show up in court if I decided to sue them. I am happy that critters come around my place, that is part of the reason I bought it. The most beautiful places to live are places that wildlife inhabit. Animals are beauty.
New Orleans is a beautiful place with diversity and culture all its own, but its never going to be a safe place environmentally for people to live. The fact that its under sea level is never going to change. You build walls and levies but at some point will fail.

[0rganism]

72. a dream for some...

"In the world I see - you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." (Tyler Durden/Fight Club, 1999)

[pitohui]

77. a quick note from the road, don't take this article too literally

i'm on vacation and only saw this by chance, i may not be able to log in every day but if you have questions about wildlife/pests in greater new orleans area, i can probably answer them or at least try

short answer -- most of the piece is indeed in noladem's succinct words, bullshit

it is not true that brown recluse was only found deep in the woods, i know folks seriously hurt from brown recluse in their own yards going back 20 years at least, if you suspect you have been bitten by brown recluse or (less commonly to my eyes around here) black widow go immediately to get medical help -- today's steroids and other medicines do an amazing job, one lady i know thought her husband would lose his hand (it had already turned black) because he was so stubborn and didn't go to the ER immediately, they injected him with the medication and he was fine -- but, still, the sooner you get treatment, of course, the better the chance of an ideal outcome

raccoons and possums have been a terrible terrible terrible problem for decades but mostly we haven't been able to get our complaints about them in the news

wildlife is a part and an beautiful, important part of life in south louisiana, you will never eradicate every raccoon or every possum no matter how many you hit on your morning commute :-)

alligators, nutrias, rats, raccoons, possums -- i've seen all go boom and bust and boom again, storms or no storms in regular cycles, although alligators are the least common of these BY FAR

my recommend is to report all alligators to fish and wildlife for removal, it's your option how to deal with rats, coons, possums, nutrias -- my preference is to avoid poison, which harms birds including the many beautiful avian predators of this area like bald eagles, red-shouldered hawk, and the wintering hawks we enjoy that are just arriving at this season such as kestrel and merlin

i guess i'm saying i prefer shotgun (but in many urban and suburban areas you cannot fire a shotgun so it's out) because you can target the pest, second choice is traps/poison but monitoring them very carefully to be sure you are only killing rats

i have no clue how to remove coons, possum, or armadillo except to keep the brush trimmed but if you keep the brush trimmed you also "control" such beautiful birds as indigo bunting, painted bunting, etc -- in the end, i'm afraid the stupid coons etc. are the price we pay to have brush and cover for our unique birds

any questions, debate, yelling at me, whatever -- PM me, i'm on the road and won't be able to log in every day and catch follow-ups, i love to hear your ideas and opinions, i'm not ignoring you, but i won't know you replied if you don't somehow let me know

as for the spiders, yeah, in my ideal world, there would be no brown recluse, but they're just part of life and if you get bit by one, get help immediately, today's medicines will save your limb, i stand amazed at what they can do, so don't live in fear

i don't actually want warren buffett to spend $3 billion dollars to kill our wildlife, audubon moved to southeast louisiana for its wildlife, and many of us still treasure it, our flag is still the pelican not the oil refinery

[brentspeak]

90. Pitohui, thanks for the updates on what's going on in New Orleans

When articles and non-New Orleans DU posters misinform about what's going on in NO, I'm glad your posts are here to set things straight.

[heliarc]

87. Nutria

Are quite a bit larger than your average Rat... think ROUS... Police in New Orleans used go out in twos in the beds of pickup trucks and shoot them off the banks of the River and canals. They are more like beaver sized if I remember correctly. Nutria are hardly deterred by human beings and the Police (from the footage I saw) often would shoot very close to private houses where the nutria were wandering around.

And this sort of thing happens when the city is populated too (although I bet on a smaller scale). This sort of Alligator story is commonplace in Miami. One or another always ends up in someones backyard swimming pool. Nothing new there.

[noonwitch]

94. All abandoned cities end up like that-drive around Detroit some time

All the wildlife, except possibly deer, have returned. Rabbits, possums, racoons, all of it.

Rats live wherever there is garbage, whether there are a lot of people around or only a few. Every city has them.

[greeneyedboy]

98. i think the human infestation has caused more damage.