Nanci
Alien Lover
From the Gainesville Sun:
Archer man accused of possessing alligator
An Archer man was accused of possessing an American alligator and admitting that he caught the reptile, jail records show.
Mackneil F. Brackland, 39, is facing the misdemeanor charge after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers found him in the area of Bivens Arm and U.S. 441 with an alligator Friday night, according an arrest report.
The officers went to the area after receiving a report that a person had an alligator and found a man, later identified as Brackland, the report stated. Brackland confessed he caught the animal with a large hook and tied it up using rope.
Officers relocated the alligator and released it back into the wild. Florida law states the sale, possession or transporting of alligators or alligator skins is prohibited.
- Lise Fisher
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New reptile found in Ocala National Forest
OCALA - Biologists worry that a new reptile found in the Ocala National Forest could tip the ecological balance.
An exotic lizard called a tegu is a 4-foot-long reptile from Argentina. Wildlife officials say it was likely left in the forest by an overwhelmed pet owner.
The tegu is known to go inside gopher-tortoise burrows and dig out mice and tortoise eggs. They are omnivorous and have a taste for native plants and small rodents, which are food for Florida snakes and raptors.
Biologist Carrie Sekerak says these reptiles are taking away a food source for those animals.
If more of these are found in the Ocala forest, biologists say it may be time to start eradication.
-The Associated Press
Archer man accused of possessing alligator
An Archer man was accused of possessing an American alligator and admitting that he caught the reptile, jail records show.
Mackneil F. Brackland, 39, is facing the misdemeanor charge after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers found him in the area of Bivens Arm and U.S. 441 with an alligator Friday night, according an arrest report.
The officers went to the area after receiving a report that a person had an alligator and found a man, later identified as Brackland, the report stated. Brackland confessed he caught the animal with a large hook and tied it up using rope.
Officers relocated the alligator and released it back into the wild. Florida law states the sale, possession or transporting of alligators or alligator skins is prohibited.
- Lise Fisher
***************
New reptile found in Ocala National Forest
OCALA - Biologists worry that a new reptile found in the Ocala National Forest could tip the ecological balance.
An exotic lizard called a tegu is a 4-foot-long reptile from Argentina. Wildlife officials say it was likely left in the forest by an overwhelmed pet owner.
The tegu is known to go inside gopher-tortoise burrows and dig out mice and tortoise eggs. They are omnivorous and have a taste for native plants and small rodents, which are food for Florida snakes and raptors.
Biologist Carrie Sekerak says these reptiles are taking away a food source for those animals.
If more of these are found in the Ocala forest, biologists say it may be time to start eradication.
-The Associated Press
