Recently one of my young friends, Seth, was talking to me about his “history changer project.” Specifically, Seth’s concern and interest is in snakes.
You might ask, why would Ms. Ann care about snakes? Many of you may not know that I grew up in the desert. The desert I grew up in was the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, which is one of the great deserts of the world. It has a very unique ecosystem that contains a variety of endemic plants and animals, such as the Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) and Organ Pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi).
One of the threats to the health of the beautiful Saguaro cactus was people killing snakes. As the snake population decreased, the cactus mouse (which is the size of a field mouse) population increased. These little mice like to eat holes in the base of the mighty cactus, which is not healthy for the cactus.
From the time I first started hiking and rock climbing in Arizona, I learned that when you saw a rattlesnake, you backed up and went the other way; but it was important you did not kill them.
My friend Seth is trying to protect one of his favorite creatures…the snake. Please look at his History Changer Brochure Let’s help him spread the word!!!!
Seth,
I really enjoyed sharing this post…it makes me so happy that someone so young is trying help protect our environment. Thank you very much!!! Keep up the good work. 🙂
Ms. Ann!!!
Having grown up in Florida it was not in uncommon to run into a snake every now and then. Because of this I don’t have a fear of snakes. I have handled them in the wild many times. While I have never owned one, my daughter Rebecca did have one as a pet.
My concern with snakes now is what is going on in the Florida Everglades with boa constrictors takings over the glades. It seem like with lion fish one or two releases and now we have and over population of boa constrictors. The problem in the glades like with lion fish there is no natural predators in the glades. The boas are growing to enormous size and people are afraid. Like you I feel people need to be more responsible with fish and snakes. Keep up the good reporting and help with people becoming more responsible.
Loved this article and Seth’s brochure. Seth you are right on about snakes. Thank you for spreading the word!