The Newest Member of the Crew

Howdy Folks!

My name is Alex Newman-Caro and I am the newest Conservation Intern here at Corkscrew Swam Sanctuary.

I am a Texas boy, born and raised in San Antonio. I recently graduated from the University of Dayton with a with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Biology with a minor in English. I had never stepped foot in Florida until arriving at this internship, but I can already tell the wildlife here is awesome.

I am a big fan of reptiles, having spent a previous summer as a herpetology intern at the San Antonio Zoo. In fact, I have even had the opportunity to help capture and relocate an adult female Tomistoma (Tomistoma schlegelii) during my time at the zoo. It was a textbook Steve Irwin style, top jaw rope, crocodile catching adventure! Back home, in San Antonio, my little brother is watching over my pet Florida King Snake and Kenyan Sand Boa, while I am here at Corkscrew.

I have spent some time as a teaching assistant for both an ecology class and an invertebrate zoology course. Thus, I have a passion for floral and faunal identification and marine invertebrate ecology.  I love the opportunity to facilitate learning situations in the communities around me. 

 

Another fun fact about me is that I absolutely love LUCHA LIBRE, and any form of wrestling. Nacho Libreis basically my favorite movie. It is a rare day when I do not quote Nacho Libreat least once. To quote Nacho, played by Jack Black, “It’s the best. I love it.”

I also love nature in general, hence the degree and the new internship. I cannot wait to see what my time here at Corkscrew has to offer. I look forward to working hard and trying to have a positive impact on the Audubon Society. 

I’ll see you around!

-Alex

Pick It Up!

Pick Up Trash you Find!

   Whether it be your trash or someone else's, pick it up. In order to improve the health of our environment including not just our wetlands but also our water supply, our fellow animals, and the coral reefs, humans need to be willing to pick up even a wrapper. 

   Garbage and human waste has increase exponentially over the course of generations continually being added to the waste pile that is becoming this Earth we live on. 

    Many species are suffering from this garbage whether it be poisoning from the mercury of it or being choked to death when consuming or being caught in it. One species in particular is the California Condor which nearly went into extinction from the influx of human trash that polluted its native habitat.

    Another example are the sea turtles who get caught in fishing line, plastic bags, and other suck strangling trash. But they themselves are not just strangled by it but also ingest it. 

    The worst offenders to the pollution problem are plastic products because they don't break down. The majority of garbage found however has been in the cigarette bud category. Stop flinging your used cigarettes all over the place. Dispose of them in designated trash areas for cigarettes. 

    Every species has value, intrinsic or instrumental. We rely on many species for our resources to stay healthy and to be available for us to use. It is as the butterfly effect, if you remove one player from the trophic structure that is our food web, it affects everything else and could crumble in upon itself. 

    How to help? Get involved! There are many opportunities to do beach cleanups, Park clean ups, and road trash clean ups aren't just for convicts! If you don't have time for that you can still do your part by picking up any trash debris you do come across. Other ways to get involved is to have reusable grocery bags, reusable straws, have your own water bottles or coffee cups, etc. We can chip away at this worldwide garbage problem to save the Earth that we live on and share with other beautiful species. 

Species Profile: Peninsula Newt

I had a professor at my university who LOVED newts. He used to teach us lessons using newt memes. I never gave much thought to newts, or salamanders, or even frogs, especially after I found my passion in fish. However, working at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has piqued my interest in herpetology. When we set minnow traps out in the Bald Cypress swamp, we end up catching a couple individuals of a specific newt species. That species is the Peninsula Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens piaropicola).

The Peninsula Newt is a subspecies of the Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) that is darker and lacks red spots. This subspecies received its name (piaropicola) from the fact that it is often found among water hyacinths (Piaropus). It is native to Florida and likes slow moving bodies of freshwater, like swamps, and has a restricted range that includes the part of peninsular Florida that is south of Alachua County. Adults of this species can reach a maximum length of 12.4 cm, reach sexual maturity at 3 years of age and can live as long as 15 years. Adults are also likely to cannibalize on the young and use both chemical and visual cues to locate food. It is typical for the Peninsula Newt to skip the red eft stage of metamorphosis and grow directly into an adult. 

After looking into and holding this newt species, I  think I can agree with my teacher and add “learning about herps” to my list of passions. 

-Kendall, Conservation Intern 

The Way of the Chainsaw

    It was a nice sunny day with a mild breeze. I was so pumped up because on this day of April 26, I was going to be immersed in the ways of the chainsaw, a skill I had wanted to learn for years.

    At eight o'clock in the morning I made my way to the maintenance shop to meet my Chainsaw Instructor, Sir Pete, who was going to teach me a really great skill to know in resource management.

    I approached a table that was set with two chainsaws, Student Workbooks at each seat, PPE, and chainsaw fluids. I was so excited I let out a little shriek.

     

The Ways of the Chainsaw

Resource Intern, Dana

    At the Maintenance Shop, Pete taught Intern Kendall and I the ins and outs of the chainsaw. From the engine of this powerful tool, to cleaning it, and to the techniques that the Forestry Service uses while using chainsaws.

    The engine of the chainsaw is a 2-Stroke engine. This means that the piston is 'exploded' at every position it moves, giving the machine more power, but also being less fuel efficient. There are two fluids chainsaws commonly use and those are a 50:1 mixture of gas to oil that powers the engine, and Bar Oil that lubricates the chain.   
    Sir Pete had also brought to our attention to be aware of hazards that could potentially be around the area of the tree such as loosely hanging tree limbs known as 'Widow Makers', snags we could trip on while getting away through our escape routes, and other such obstacles like power lines.

   

With the hazards, we also learned how to determine which way the tree could fall. This could be based on the weight atop the tree, insects in the tree, and also wind direction for some examples.

  

    The tools and PPE [Personal Protection Equipment] were also taught to us. For tools, the chainsaws come with Screnches, a screw-wrench hybrid, as well as wedges to help elevate trees while cutting them. Our PPE were chaps (very stylish), hard hats, ear pro, safety glasses, leather gloves, and of course leather boots.

    

    We had also learned various kinds of notches used by the Forestry service and other sawyers but stuck with the Standard Notch where we cut a third of the way into the tree then we make a 45 degree cut into this cut. Finally, we make a back cut about two inches from the initial cut and get ready to move into our escape routes.

    

    Then we were able to do the fun stuff and cut some trees. I had a blast felling the trees and took a slab of my first tree home with me!

As an end remark Id like to Thank Sir Pete for the very informative and hands-on class about Wildland Fire Chain Saws S-212! I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture just as much as the hands-on field experience!

Species Profile: Eastern Mosquitofish

Growing up and spending my whole life in Florida I heard a lot about this particular fish but never knew much about it. Ever since I found my passion for fisheries, I found myself wanting to find out more about the fish species that live in the swamp waters of Corkscrew. 

Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)

Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) is a freshwater fish species native to the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico that is common throughout Florida. Their scales are outlined, giving them a cross-hatched appearance and they have an upturned mouth, indicating they are surface feeders. They have a rounded tail fin and can reach lengths of 5-8 cm, with females being larger than males. Eastern Mosquitofish can tolerate variations in water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, making them one of many unique species suited for the swamp life. Mosquitofish have an interesting history. They were thought to be good mosquito control agents, hence their common name, and were introduced all over the world. In recent years, world literature has not supported the view that they are effective in decreasing mosquito populations but they do in fact feed on mosquito larvae and pupae. Another interesting fact: for such a small fish, Eastern Mosquitofish can do some damage. They are often aggressive toward other fish, often shredding the fins of large fish or eating the eggs and young of cohabiting species. 

Mosquitofish in their natural habitat

Although this species doesn't seem like much, it can be very interesting and I'm happy to work in a place that allows me to see many of them. 

-Kendall, Conservation Intern