it's happening today -- the Florida Everglades python hunt

Herpetologists are scheduled to search the 'River of Grass' to find and capture perhaps thousands of imported constrictor-type pythons roaming freely -- with the knowlege that 'imported' means the reptiles feel welcome here.

That suddenly small mammals appear in yards and other human properties where they know they shouldn't be can be attributed to the presence of such large and curious roaming snakes, which are known to coil swiftly around our mammaliam relatives and ingest them whole. When displaced from their ecological niches, foxes appear and nip children, large cats collide with hikers, and stinking small-mammal carcasses lay infested with worms.

This past Sunday a raccoon pelt/carcass lay in the driveway of nearby Ocean Palms Retirement Center, another feast of fat white grubs linked as a sort of mat upon the sizzling-hot asphalt, which was removed to the property line and piled onto the remains of a dead armadillo.

Only a few days ago, a small metal tool/instrument was found in the roadway at the intersection of Monterey Road Extensions and U. S. 1/Federal Highway; lacking sharp tip, the tool resembled a six-inch poker. The evening's TV journalism included an account of a sudden stabbing in Palm City, when an adult confronted a teenager, and a re-showing of liposuction-procedure video footage. The location of the 'drop' was coincidental with multiple fast-food restaurant addresses, such as Long John Silver, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Boston Market.

Wednesday's short walk to the newsracks at the far end of Martin County Golf Course showed large piles of plant matter heaped beside the roadway, removed from private properties as the taskwork of the multiple landscaping firms operating in the city of Stuart, and some private-property owners at work maintaining their own lawns and constructing. The return walk -- not a minute too soon, having already strolled causally past discards with empty backpack -- included very-hot glass-bottle (multiple Heineken, some broken, plus clear-glass specimens) removal activities from berm and other sidewalk-side grass, together with the gathering of cut grass, pink flower blossoms (large and small) , and a few cut plants (e.g., a damaged succulent) to toss in for the perusual of the fish grouped at the slough water-flow exit merging with the St. Lucie River.

One of the small-size cut branches among others piled alongside the road showed tightly-curled green buds each about the size of a golf ball that resembled artichokes. One aged BiC disposable lighter was found discarded, with rusting metal parts and a faded black fluid-container (empty).

Small lizards and other neighborhood fauna appear to wax delirious near the peat-pot 'fez' avocado plant placed outside the condo building beneath roof-top overhang -- there should be more space for all when the python hunt winds down later today. While setting out household veggie discards one past night beneath some nearby foliage, the neighborhood bunny soared across the road from a niche in Cedar Pointe condo complex, landing with a loud 'thump' just inches from my bent head.

I have inquired at a Topix.net 'Chinese-drywall' entry about any information that can be made available about the 'Made in China' planter-tub purchased at Dollar General, listed on store receipt as 'whiskey barrel p'.