After years of excellent control of the B. peppers at
Tomoka State Park, it got hopeless and out of control
following the hurricanes and the huge influx of robins
last year. And, there is no state money for putting
anyone salaried to carry out the once effective
project. I do the same, pull them up when and where I
can but they grow fast and are into areas that are
impossible to get to. Birds will continue to spread
the peppers so I don't hold much hope for eradicating
them any longer. Good luck over there!!!
Meret Wilson
Ormond
--- Lee Snyder <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hey y'all,
>
> With the arrival of our first trickle of spring
> migrants, we can officially
> claim spring is in full swing. That means the
> frugivores have consumed the
> winter's Brazilian pepper crop and made their
> appropriate seed deposits.
>
> The park-like manicure of the area we refer to as
> "the mulberry tree" on
> Mullet Key has been left to go wild. It may take a
> little getting used to
> but already the birds seem to be enjoying it with a
> good flock of Palms and
> Yellow-rumps I watched a couple of weeks ago
> covering the out-of-control
> Bermuda grass. I'm willing to bet the buntings and
> grosbeaks will be thick
> there in a couple of weeks.
>
> I also noticed a scattered collection of young
> Brazilian pepper saplings
> between three inches and three feet tall were
> beginning to make themselves
> obvious. The thought of an impenetrable tangle of
> mature bushes inside of
> a year made me shiver. I began pulling them up by
> the roots until I was
> satisfied I had reclaimed enough of the area to
> continue birding.
>
> I was back there last weekend and believe I am not
> the only one hoping to
> eliminate the trees before they become a problem.
> While a few new saplings
> had sprouted, for the most part there were few
> peppers and lots of salt bush
> dotting the field.
>
> I stopped at the ranger station and spoke with the
> two guys on duty who
> encouraged me to keep pulling the insidious devils
> wherever I find them.
> With that endorsement I asked if I could post a note
> to the other birders
> who enjoy the area and was told they would welcome
> the assist. It seems the
> park personnel are already working on controlling
> several other
> things--tourists, racoons, Australian pines and a
> lone coyote!
>
> On the way home I was going over what one of the
> rangers said about how it
> might be impossible to keep the peppers out of the
> area and then quickly
> added, "but if there are enough of you, I suppose
> you can pull them up
> faster than they can grow."
>
> Let's hope so.
>
> Regards,
> Lee Snyder
> St Petersburg
>
>
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Meret S Wilson
Ormond Beach, FL
TBBS, Tomoka State Park
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