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February 09, 2006 - Down-under pine takes overThe Suffolk Times • February 9, 2006 own -under pine takes over LAST WEEK I spoKE about invasive birds that were introduced into the country. This week let's look at a for- eign invader you certainly must have seen if you were ever in Florida. The culprit is the Australian pine, which was introduced into Florida way back in the '20s. There was high hope it would be the ideal tree for Florida at that time. It was fast growing; could tolerate salt spray, was a great shade tree and made an excellent wind FOCUS break that could 0 N be used along the many waterways NATURE and beaches. Little thought by Paul was given to Stoutenburgh what it might The Australian pine is a typical example of an invasive species. It's fast growing and therefore smothers out the native plants and trees. There's a continual program of eradication of these pest trees down here in Florida. Suffolk Times Barbara Sto tive species. The result was the Australian pine quickly started to take over many of the native habitats. Today it's not unusual to see these Australian pines, that tower 70 to 80 feet or more, dominating roadsides, parks, stream edges and just about ev- ery place they can get a roothold here in Florida. There have been untold efforts, many of them very costly, to try to eradicate these pesky pines, which, by the way, are not pines at all; their nearest rela- tive is the hickory. One place that is dear to my heart where the Australian pines have gotten a strong foothold is the Everglades. Regarding the removal of these pines there, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, president of the conservation group Friends of the Everglades, said, "If nothing is done, these trees are go- ing to take over completely." see some of the birds and animals we are familiar with back home. A typi- cal example is the gray squirrel, which down here is not always gray but often has a rusty- colored body with whitish undersides. Barbara and I first saw this squirrel when we were exploring the southern end of this vacation island. Perhaps the main reason we saw this particular squirrel was that the park- ing lot and some of the pathways were outlined with six- to eight -inch posts every 10 feet or so and on top of some of the posts were neat piles of peanuts. Seems Mr. Squirrel has a friend who keeps a fresh supply of peanuts there - just for him. Sometimes squirrels get so tame that they will take the "good- ies" right from your hand — but then, remember, they might "bite the hand that feeds them," so beware. Gray squirrels hole up in a variety of places. Hollow trees are one of the best natural choices for their nests, along with the bulky leaf nests they build high in the treetops. You can see these leafy nests best during the winter, when the leaves are off the trees. Gray squirrels are prolific breeders, usually having at least two broods a Left: Gray squirrels are not always gray. The one pic- tured here has a light rusty color to its upper fur and head. Right: Royal terns often come ashore and rest af- ter a day's fishing off shore. We see these occasionally in our bays, but they are considered a southern species. l ear. As fall approaches our lawn is littered with hickory nuts, which draw quirrels from near and far. Sometimes we have 10 to 12 at one time, all gnaw- ing away on the hard nuts to get at the meat inside. On quiet days during this time the husks and shells falling from the squirrels' activity above make it sound as if it's raining. Their teeth, by the way, never stop growing, so this gnawing is critical to keep them trimmed down; otherwise they would grow out of control and eventually prevent the squirrel from eating. The end result would be the squirrel would starve to death. Squirrels are probably one of the most ingenious animals when it comes to procuring food. Many a person has been frustrated in trying to prevent Mr. Gray Squirrel from robbing the sunflower seed they've put out for the birds. Whether it's gnawing through your plastic feeder or shinnying up the pipe that holds the feeder, "He' shall overcome." Yes, we do have gray squir- rels down here and their antics are pretty much the same as those back home. • Where we're situated here in Florida it's only a five- minute walk to the emerald - colored Gulf of Mexico to the west. This makes a pleasant walk for Barbara and me, especially when the sun goes down. We always look forward to seeing what the beach has to offer. Yesterday on one of our sunset walks we came upon a group of 20 or 30 of these handsome royal terns. Why they were all together on the beach, we could only speculate. Seeing that the royal terns feed mostly on small bait - size fish, I can imagine their having to travel long distances to find a ready supply of fish that could be almost any- where in the Gulf. What we were probably seeing was the terns resting after a long day searching for food. We could walk up to within 20 feet and all they'd do was walk a foot or so and then stop a little ways away. Of course, Barbara was right there to take a picture, and then she backed off, leaving them alone. There's another large tern that might be confused with the royal tern, and that's. the Caspian tern. Both have large, colorful bills. The royal tern's bill is orangish while the Caspian tern's bill is bright red. We occasionally see both of these big terns in our northern bays. The best place to see them is over on the flats in Moriches Bay and along the numer- ous other spoil islands along the South Shore. It's remarkable what you can see along the beach. Yes; any beach has its wonders.