Alien Niles VS Florida Gohper Torts.

It seems today that there is a very heathy un balanced population of nile monitors here is south west floria, I see one about every other month running across a road or sitting by the water edge basking. well i know that in there natural habitat in aftrica they make a meal of turtle and croc eggs. there used to be a lot of gopher torts around this area as well. not only do the fight to survive against cars, constroction and poching , but now i feel like there fate is seald, i meen maybe they could of made a come back due to no real natural preditors, racoons and foxs would rarly make a meal out of gopher eggs due to the protection by the rattle snakes who share the burrows. i meen babys fall prey to birds coons and a few otheres. but now there may be monitors sniffing out and eating the nests as well as the babys. I remember about 10 years ago there where gophers every where now I see about one a year. does anyone have any more info on this? these niles can real establish and become top of the food chain in florida. I meen what would eat a 6 foot nile , maybe a gator , these niles can whipe out not only the endangerd gophers, but the florida box turtle, and many species of native and endangerd birds. and i dont see any way to stop them from over populating, in 10 years you have niles haning out in your front yard and jumping in the swimming pools. i can picture them all over the place like anoils or even like the green iggs that started poping up about 5 years ago. just something I wanted to talk about and see what other think.

Rattlesnakes do not in any way shape or form offer protection to gopher tortoises or their eggs. Eggs are laid just in front of the burrow in the sand dispersed from the escavations. Raccons are the number one predator along with a few other species. (Man has the #1 impact by far!)However, the biggest impact is from development and continued collection by some for food.(Recent bust...over 100 carcasses found. Three Haitian men charged) The loopholes and limited protection from law enforcement does not help. Now... I do not want to downplay the impact that introduced exotics have on our native species. It is a concern. We have started mapping out areas around Gasparilla and could use as much data as possible. We are also, working on collection/trapping methods which would impact this species the most. If you have specific locality data please contact me at [email protected] or through our site below.

hatchlings are known to live in the parents borrows , and i dont think that racoons go into the gopher borrorws to eat the babys, is that a way shap or form? rattle snakes protect there home witch in some cases is a tort burrow.

I have seen at least 5 differnt monitors, i meen i see one almost once a month but it could be the same one. diffent sizes acount for the 5 differnt ones I have seen. there could be as many as 20 full grown adults, also I have seen 3 on my road that have been hit by cars. this is in the Leecounty area.

hey also in colder areas of there range they are known to make nests in the borrow. and its a damn shame people are actuly eating these torts. they are part of america , people go threw great length to protect sea turtles. yet there are still people eating hunderds of gophers? that is insain. hey you seem to know about this, what do you think about the niles attacking the eggs? these monitors are monsters, they will eat the racoons rattle snakes, torts eggs, and everything else, tell me one thing in florida that would think of eating a 3 foot nile? i wouldnt even want to go toe to toe with one.

We conduct field survey's on Gopnerus. We've done this for over 15 years and I personally have conducted Field work in Florida for over 25 years. The idealism that rattlesnakes protect the burrows they may share with Gopherus is a misnomer. They simply are opportunistic in utilizing them. They will also use abandoned burrows dug by armadillos and other species. Obviously when cornered they will protect themselves. It is not a matter of protecting a particular area or burrow. Also, no offense but, you need to check your facts in regards to biology of Gopherus. I've never found an incident of eggs being laid in the burrow. The eggs are usually laid in front of the burrow. There are several reasons for this... One, it allows the tortoise the opportunity to lay the eggs in a mound/soft sand area that is easy to nest in and if predators happen upon the female during the process she can quickly retreat to the burrow. Two, the front of the burrow is usually cleared and has direct sun which keeps the eggs at a warmer/steady temperature. The burrow stays a steady temperature but, is too cool for incubation. Hatchlings may initially go into a parent burrow but, usually will excavate their own burrow. It may just be that you are not noticing the small burrows. They are easy to miss. I would be more concerned about laws like, "incidental take". This allows a developer to "bulldoze" a burrow/gopher tortoise by paying a fee to kill the animal. The funds are supposed to be then used by the state to buy "environmentally sensitive" land to be used as preserves. Seems kind of a self destructive law...???? Also, killing a gopher is simply a misdemeanor offense. Racoons and other species will go into the burrows. However, most adult gophers have few enemies. Niles do have the potential of adding additional predatory pressure on all species due to the fact that they are an appex predator in this case. Species reduction could also include invertabrates that co-exist with Gopherus such as Gopher frogs etc. However, it is a species which can be controlled. They are not that difficult to capture. A 6 foot specimen is no different than catching a 6 foot gator in regards to handling. The problem is that studies are still ongoing in regards to managing or eriadicating the introduced species. The impact on natives is still in review. Please don't take me wrong in regards to the "potential impact" from V. Niloticus. I was simply pointing out some biological facts in regards to your statements about Gopherus and Adamanteus. Rattlesnakes do not protect the burrow or their homes.(Unless cornered) Gophers do not lay the eggs in the burrow nor do the babies utilize the adult burrow for any length of time. If you really are concerned about this maybe you can help us gather data. Pictures of specimens along with, date, time, weather conditions and specific locality data is important. (Data needs to be very specific I.E. 1/4 mile east of such & such road on east side etc.) Maybe, we can arrange to meet in your area and review those particular populations. Ray. G. HBR 772-519-1376