Updates on the Key Deer, Marsh Rabbits and the Miami Blue Butterflies
Key Deer
David Sutta, a reporter for CBS in Miami, shared a video of a trotting quartet of deer on Big Pine Key, where the refuge sits. Sutta's video certainly means they're not extinct. Key deer have been on the islands for 13,000 years, weathered many a previous hurricane and are strong swimmers. Evacuating the herd — which some fans have suggested should have been done — would have been impractical and might have caused some deer to die of stress, he said. The biggest immediate concern now is fresh water, though the nature of the storm — which dumped down fresh water — makes it unlikely the deer will go thirsty. The deer eat more than 200 species of plants and have plenty of habitat, so food shouldn't be a problem.
Marsh Rabbits
Clark said he's more worried about other threatened and endangered species on the refuges he manages. Among the most vulnerable are Lower Keys marsh rabbits, whose little legs would have prevented them from moving fast or far to seek shelter. "They exist in very small pockets," Clark said. "Their host plants could be damaged."
Miami Blue Butterflies
The very rare Miami blue butterfly, which was thought to have gone extinct after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, might also be in trouble.
I'm sorry if I'm posting silly little things like this. We have vacationed in the Florida Keys every Christmas/New Years for over 20 years now, on Bahia Honda, Key West, and Key Largo. It just breaks my heart seeing this area badly, badly damaged and the effects of the wild animals that roamed the islands. I don't own there (although my husband and I look at real estate whenever we're down there as we have for a long time thought about trading in the beachfront home in NJ for something in FL - but, it's was out of our price range).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...e-know-about-its-fate/?utm_term=.337a36eef4bb
In other news the death toll didn't rise since last night. I've been watching videos on YouTube, Twitter, SnapChat Maps and Periscope (NEVER heard of this app until Irma - love the app!) and some people have rumored that the death toll will rise, that they are still assessing the damage on Cudjoe, Marathon and Sugarloaf Keys and a few of the smaller keys to the right of the approaching storm, or the "dirty side", another reference I learned during Irma.
Forgot to add, here is aerial footage of Big Pine Key, the hardest hit of the Keys. Big Pine Key is a big key (in Keys terms). When we were looking at real estate Big Pine Key's real estate prices (on the bay side, not the ocean side) were within reach for a middle class family. Marathon and Big Pine Key were mostly homes where people lived year around, these are actual homes, not trailers. I see some 2 story homes in the video that had been lifted off their foundation and in streets, some appear to have been shattered in pieces. Truly heartbreaking.
[video]https://youtu.be/Hl-9BdPkp-0[/video]