The following article, from the front page of the Thursday, November 10, Miami Herald, closes with this welcome line:
"They're homeless and trying to get by just like we are. We have to live with them and respect them.''
You can send an appreciative letter to the editor at http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/contact_us/feedback_np1/
The Miami Herald
November 10, 2005 Thursday
A; Pg. 1
Scattered wildlife draws too close for comfort;
Animals in South Florida are facing the same housing plight that people are facing after Hurricane Wilma -- no place to stay.
TODD WRIGHT, twright@herald.com
Armed with a flashlight, hand mirror, and ladder, animal trapper Corey Holender tried to evict a tiny tenant from a three-bedroom Miramar home.
The unwanted houseguest, an opossum the size of a small dog, snuck into the house through a hole that Hurricane Wilma punched in the roof. Much to homeowner Alessandra Bond's dismay, the marsupial has been squatting in the ceiling above the master bathroom for several days.
''My roof is caving in. My house is a mess and we just got power,'' said Bond, watching cautiously as Holender tried to capture her new roommate.
''I love animals more than anything, but this is too much. I have enough problems,'' she said.
Hurricane Wilma left behind a growing number of problems for homeowners, like Bond, already hit with power outages, roof damages and a ruined landscape.
Now, piles of curbside debris and holes in roofs and porches have become inviting, temporary lodging for wildlife in search of new sleeping quarters after having their tree homes destroyed.
An auto-body shop's garage makes a good home for burrowing owls.
Attics are comfortable spots for iguanas.
Raccoons, usually seen scurrying into the nearest bush as humans approach, have been caught napping in doorways.
Mice, rats and other rodents seem to prefer setting up housekeeping in the mounds of debris.
Yards have become a happy hunting ground for hawks, vultures and snakes.
FREE HOTEL
''There are a lot of displaced animals out there and your home is just as good a place as any for them to live in,'' said Gary Curto, a supervisor at Fort Lauderdale's Wildlife Care Center.
``It's like a free hotel room.''
Although more wild animals are surfacing in neighborhoods, people are in little danger, he said.
''Nothing is going to be jumping out of the wood pile,'' he said.
``Most animals, when given the opportunity to leave, will always leave.''
But the situation could become worse if debris piles are left standing and vacant buildings are not patched up quickly, Curto said.
THIRTY ANIMALS A DAY
After Hurricane Katrina in September, the Wildlife Care Center was admitting about 150 displaced and injured wild animals a day, mostly babies.
The center is averaging about 30 animals per day after Wilma, Curto said.
The hurricane also may have affected the flight pattern of migrating birds, which has made for good bird-watching for people and harrowing times for pets.
Baltimore orioles, woodpeckers and warblers all have been spotted in neighborhoods across Broward since the storm, Curto said.
Normally, the birds would be on their way farther south.
Curto said his center has received calls about red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks attacking birds in backyards and eyeing the family poodle or cat from telephone wires.
''Until we get some of our canopy back, we are going to hear about a lot of animals moving close to people,'' Curto said.
"They're homeless and trying to get by just like we are. We have to live with them and respect them.''
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Date: Thu Nov 10 14:43:41 2005
