In New Orleans, alligators are being dragged out of backyard swimming pools. On top of that, foxes are being removed from the airport, coyotes are attacking rabbits in the middle of busy streets, and armadillos are living under air conditioning units.
Opossums are living under homes and in gardens, raccoons are eating everything in sight, and snakes are hanging out in backyards. You can find deadly brown widow spiders everywhere, along with swarms of flies, roaches, and mosquitoes. The worst part is that New Orleans has turned into a rat’s paradise. What the heck is going on?
While Hurricane Katrina pushed people out of New Orleans, it pushed wild animals in. Some were blown in by the winds or redistributed by the floodwaters. Others came to investigate the piles of rotting garbage and the available shelter from all the abandoned homes. Rick Atkinson, curator of swamp exhibit at Audubon Zoo, said that “The three things wild animals need is food, water, and cover.We’ve always had food and water, but now, there are no people, so the animals have all the cover they want.”
But as people have started to move back in, complaints have gotten out of control. The city of New Orleans has set up a hot line to take complaints about rodents and other pests. Greg duTreil, who is licensed by the state to remove nisance wildlife, said “In 20 years of trapping animals here, I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m getting calls night and day.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15251721/
