MONST SKILL. Nonfiction

Transcription

1 MONST of the Eve Nonfiction SKILL SPOTLIGHT Cause/Effect As you read this story, ask yourself, what caused the python invasion of the Everglades? What have been the effects of this problem? (Everglades) Ocean/Corbis; (bottom) Martin Harvey/NHPA; (top) Juan Castro/AFP 1 STORYWORKS

2 LOOK FOR WORD NERD S 8 WORDS IN BOLD ERS rglades By Lauren Tarshis Deadly snakes are taking over one of America s most prized wilderness areas. Is there anything we can do to stop them? One January morning in 2003, a group of families was exploring Florida s Everglades National Park. It is a unique and beautiful wilderness, 2,500 square miles of protected wetlands. The visitors were admiring the wonders rivers of golden grass that stretch in all directions, the songs of frogs and crickets chiming in the humid air, the smell of orange blossoms from distant orchards. The group had high hopes for the day. Perhaps they d see pink flamingos or majestic blue herons. Maybe they d catch a glimpse of an endangered Florida panther. 2

3 Burmese pythons can't eat every animal in the Everglades, as this picture shows. A snake split open when it tried to eat an alligator. As it turned out, the visitors were about to see something more unusual and horrifying than they could have imagined. Not far from the park s entrance, they noticed a violent splashing in the water. As they approached, they saw a massive alligator wrestling with an enormous snake. They would later learn that the snake was a Burmese python, a species not naturally found in the Everglades or anywhere in North America. The alligator had its jaws clamped around the snake. The snake was wrapped around the alligator. The animals struggled like two monsters in a horror film. Some of the visitors had video cameras. Within days, the footage was broadcast on TV and Web sites around the world. To most people, this match was little more than a thrilling and gruesome show. But to many wildlife experts, it was a symbol of a problem a big, slithery problem. For years, some park officials in the Everglades had been warning that Burmese pythons were living and breeding there. They 3 STORYWORKS LeBron James a giraffe How long is a Burmese python? Burmese pythons can grow up to 25 feet (left). Taller than Justin Bieber an elephant a German Shepherd worried that these enormous beasts could destroy the fragile environment of the Everglades. The wrestling match helped capture the world s attention. But was it already too late? The Arrival The first Burmese pythons arrived in the U.S. innocently enough: as pets. Americans 20 feet (top) MichaelBArron/AFP;(inset) Bob DeGross/Everglades National Park; (LeBron James) Access/WireImage.com; (giraffe) Johan Swanepoel/istockphoto.com; (Justin Bieber) Scott Weiner/Retna, Ltd/Corbis; (elephant) Wolfgang Amri/istockphoto.com; (German Shepherd) Eric Isselee/istockphoto.com

4 have always enjoyed keeping strange, beautiful, and even dangerous creatures in their homes. Today, many Americans own pets that are exotic. Want a white tiger? How about a baboon? Or maybe you re more interested in a mamba a snake whose bite can kill a grown man in minutes. All of these animals are easily and legally available for sale in the U.S. Burmese pythons first appeared in pet stores in the 1970s and were immediately popular. They were cheap just $50 a snake. They are not aggressive towards humans or venomous. As babies, curled up into tiny coils, they look almost cute. Almost. But then these adorable hatchlings grow. And grow. And grow and grow and grow. An adult Burmese python can be three times as long as LeBron James is tall. They have enormous appetites for live animals. Not surprisingly, many buyers of Burmese pythons soon regret their purchase. And then what? Maybe your Uncle Clive is happy to adopt the kitten you re allergic to. But a 20-foot snake that eats live bunnies? Perhaps it s not unexpected that many people set their unwanted snakes loose in the wild. In many areas of the U.S., an abandoned snake would die of cold or starvation. But not in Florida. The semitropical climate is ideal for pythons. And nowhere in Florida is more perfect for pythons than the Everglades. Carried by Winds The first of these snakes started showing up in Everglades National Park in the mid-1990s. Had just a few cast-off pets made their way into this protected wilderness? Or had the snakes reached the park in other ways? Nobody could be sure. In an article from The New Yorker magazine, author Burkhard Bilger takes us back to 1992, when Hurricane Andrew slammed into Florida. The storm was a whopper Category 5, the strongest. It killed 65 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. Among the wrecked buildings were several exotic-pet businesses. Their collections included hundreds of baby Burmese pythons. Most of those babies died in the storm. But as Bilger suggests, some could have been carried away by the winds, like reptilian Dorothys from The Wizard of Oz. The winds were blowing west that day. It was a straight shot to the Everglades. Perhaps a few babies made it to the park? At this point, it no longer matters how the snakes got to the Everglades. The population is out of control. By some estimates, there are now 150,000 pythons in the park. Their exact numbers are unknown. Their greenand-brown markings blend uncannily well with most park backgrounds. But there is no doubt that they pose a grave threat to the fragile Everglades ecosystem. Photos courtesy of Deborah Dinger Stuart: My Killer Pet We've had our pet African Clawed Frog for 10 years. We don't pay much attention to him anymore. Last year, my mom almost let him loose so he could be free. But then we found out that in the wild, Stuart's breed of frog is a crazed killer. They eat baby frogs. In some areas, they've wiped out other frog species. So we're keeping Stuart. We hear he could live to be 30 years old. Reese Butler, 13 If you knew an animal would live 30 years, would you still want it as a pet? 4

5 The Nile monitor lizard is a ferocious and aggressive giant lizard. Like Burmese pythons, they were imported as pets and abandoned by owners. Why do you think people want to keep dangerous animals as pets? We Are at War Burmese pythons are an invasive species: a plant or an animal that is brought into a new environment and causes damage to the species already there. An estimated 4,300 invasive species live in the United States, with more reported each year. In some cases, the damage these species cause is devastating. Just ask bird lovers in Hawaii. They re still suffering from a decision made in Sugar-cane farmers in Hawaii wanted to get rid of the rats that invaded their fields. So they imported 73 Indian mongooses from Jamaica, hoping the weasel-like animals would eat the rats. The plan failed. But the mongooses thrived. Their population grew and grew. Before long, they had devoured so many bird eggs, rodents, and reptiles that some species disappeared completely. The mongoose infestation continues even today. On some Hawaiian islands, the air is eerily quiet not a bird can be heard. This and more is what experts fear will soon happen in the Everglades. Burmese pythons breed quickly and easily. A female can lay as many as 100 eggs in one clutch, or nest. The snakes are well-adapted to the different areas of the park, from the salty rivers to the freshwater ponds to the thick forests. They will eat large quantities of almost anything from reptiles and bird eggs to large mammals, like deer. As their 5 STORYWORKS numbers grow, pythons threaten many kinds of animals, including protected and endangered species. And what eats the python? Rodents will eat python eggs. But a full-grown python is a king (or queen) of the Everglades. So what can be done? The python invasion of the Everglades is an environmental crisis. The National Park Service has hired scientists to work full-time on tracking snakes. Each month, they trap and kill dozens. They even have a python-tracking beagle, Python Pete, which sniffs out pythons where humans can t find them. Soon, the National Park Service might permit hunters into the park s protected wilderness. As one ranger put it, We are at war. So far, the battle looks like that wrestling match between the alligator and the Burmese python. The struggle will go on for a long time. Right now, nobody can say who will win. READ AND WRITE! Write a speech explaining how invasive species can harm an ecosystem. Use examples from the article in your speech. Chris Hondros/Newsmakers/Getty

6 Paragraph Writing WRITE A PARAGRAPH Sentence Chef Directions: 1. Read Monsters of the Everglades. Then reread the section The Arrival and do the Sentence Chef activity below. 2. Use the color-coded boxes and lines as guides to help you write each part of the paragraph. 3. Remember to back up your statements by including information and details found in the article. 4. When you re finished, copy the entire paragraph onto a separate piece of paper. THE PROMPT How did pythons first get into the Florida wilderness? Topic Sentence Burmese pythons are meant to stay indoors as pets in the U. S., but some owners release their snakes into the wild. Supporting Sentence 1 Explain how Burmese pythons first came to the United States. Detail Sentence 1 Provide a detail about this. (Hint: Why were they popular?) Supporting Sentence 2 Explain why many python owners abandon the snakes. Detail Sentence 2 Provide a detail about this. (Hint: How big do pythons grow?) Lance Lekander Concluding Sentence Repeat the topic sentence, but in different words. 6