Toxic algae spoils Florida’s beaches
During the summer of 1952, I and nine others about my age were hired by the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission to monitor...
Roadcommissioners
by Bob Sanders
They are (finally) resurfacing the little street by our house in Prestige Plaza. They put the tar on the cracks many moons...
Raccoons, gray squirrels and house cats
by Bob Mount
In a recent column, I came down pretty hard on gray squirrels. I accused them of destroying an expensive bird feeder I’d...
Recollections on Father’s Day
by Bob Mount
My late father was born in 1906 in Stilwell, Oklahoma in an area known at the time as “Indian Territory.” His parents...
Use of Mosquito Fish to control Zika vectors
Mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis, are small live-bearing fish occurring naturally in permanent streams and lakes throughout eastern and southeastern United States. Decades ago, when...
Tumblebugs and horn fly control
A few weeks ago, my friend Dr. Ralph Mirarchi, a wildlife biologist, told me about seeing green tumblebugs rolling balls of dung along the...
Leprosy and other zooneses
Zoonoses are diseases in animals transmissible to humans directly or indirectly, perhaps by infected ticks.. I have, in recent columns, mentioned quite a few,...
Habits and disposition of Gray Rat Snakes
The only terrestrial oviparous (egg-laying) snake inhabiting these parts that hasn’t undergone a sharp decline since imported fire ants became abundant is the gray...
Invasive plants and beavers
Much has been written about kudzu, an invasive plant imported from China in 1876 as a cover plant to reduce erosion on exposed sites....
