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Should we drain the Everglades?

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Re: Should we drain the Everglades?

#31

Post by pharrington »

ux266478 wrote: post #30
SilverElfin wrote: post #24

One thing I don’t understand is why so many appreciate the Everglades. To me a landscape infested with aggressive animals (gators) doesn’t sound attractive or safe. Between them and the invasive snakes I feel like you would need to be on guard all the time. Maybe drain it, replace it with different animals that are friendly, and then refill it. I’m only sort of joking.

Alligators are the exact opposite of aggressive. If you walk up and pat one on the head it'll probably just hiss and start slinking away at the speed of syrup. You should be more afraid of the spiders and blood-sucking insects.

I'm way more afraid of the humans that want to drain and eradicate the native population of the Everglades!

Re: Should we drain the Everglades?

#32

Post by hitekker »

Cheer2171 wrote: post #7

Halfway in I realized the author is just narrating the Wikipedia article. If you'd rather just read it without the attempts to be funny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draining_and_development_of_th...

In addition, it feels like the author asked an AI to do the narration for him. He made some edits here and there but the humor feels off.

Re: Should we drain the Everglades?

#33

Post by soperj »

SilverElfin wrote: post #24

One thing I don’t understand is why so many appreciate the Everglades. To me a landscape infested with aggressive animals (gators) doesn’t sound attractive or safe. Between them and the invasive snakes I feel like you would need to be on guard all the time. Maybe drain it, replace it with different animals that are friendly, and then refill it. I’m only sort of joking.

I feel the same way about Miami.

Re: Should we drain the Everglades?

#34

Post by soperj »

Rendello wrote: post #14
ortusdux wrote: post #13

Speaking of the uncanny feeling of shallow water, there are parts of the Florida keys where you can paddle a kayak a good half a mile from shore and still be in 2-4 ft of water. It's a great place to learn a new watersport as if you fall in you can just stand up.

Leeches freak me out, I can't imagine swimming with (or falling on) the gators!

Why? That's like being afraid of mosquitoes. You can't even really feel a leech.

Re: Should we drain the Everglades?

#35

Post by ux266478 »

pharrington wrote: post #31
ux266478 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alligators are the exact opposite of aggressive. If you walk up and pat one on the head it'll probably just hiss and start slinking away at the speed of syrup. You should be more afraid of the spiders and blood-sucking insects.

I'm way more afraid of the humans that want to drain and eradicate the native population of the Everglades!

Even putting aside that it destroys incredible natural beauty for land that's not even productively useful, it astounds me that people still buy into major terraforming projects. Every single time it's had absolutely horrendous consequences often with millions of human deaths attached. Don't make large changes to chaotic systems!

Re: Should we drain the Everglades?

#39

Post by squigz »

soperj wrote: post #34
Rendello wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leeches freak me out, I can't imagine swimming with (or falling on) the gators!

Why? That's like being afraid of mosquitoes. You can't even really feel a leech.

Well GP didn't say they were afraid. I have pretty much the same reaction of being "freaked out" by leeches too. And while my reaction to mosquitoes is hardly the same, I'm going to avoid both if I possibly can, which seems entirely reasonable to me

Anyway you don't feel leeches coming off? That's surprising.

Re: Should we drain the Everglades?

#40

Post by throwaway5752 »

Rendello wrote: post #14
ortusdux wrote: post #13

Speaking of the uncanny feeling of shallow water, there are parts of the Florida keys where you can paddle a kayak a good half a mile from shore and still be in 2-4 ft of water. It's a great place to learn a new watersport as if you fall in you can just stand up.

Leeches freak me out, I can't imagine swimming with (or falling on) the gators!

> there are parts of the Florida keys

Then allow me to ease your mind. Leeches are not a problem in the marine environment of the Florida Keys, unless you are a turtle. They person you replied to changed the topic slightly from the Everglades, where they could be a problem. In either case I'd worry about midges and mosquitos first.

Similarly with alligators, they are primarily freshwater and uncommon in the keys. American crocodiles can tolerate the marine environment better, but they are threatened as a species and have just two confirmed attacks in 75 years.

So wear a personal flotation device and you should be okay.

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