I just had a razor confiscated

[Natedawg]

Sorry to hear of your trouble, BBCnorthants. It does indeed seem like the official may have confiscated it for his/herself. I personally stopped flying years ago, mainly because of the increasing prices/fees, and poor treatment of the public by TSA officials....Of course, I understand some people have no choice.
Still, nuts to air travel! 

[Gary~]

There is a green tree viper that has decimated the bird population of Guam and is just one unguarded pallet from Honolulu. The few birds that could be caught were moved to Saipan but only a few species even survive. I will understand a certain level of outrage and security but we brought this on ourselves by having no consideration for others and assuming an "exception" would be made for whoever wanted one.

I've seen this on TV -- it has decimated the place. It would be unacceptable for this to  ever happen to Hawaii or anywhere else. Still, interesting to see how much the local eco-system can be so easily compromised and so greatly changed.

[BBCnorthants]

Natedawg, I hate flying. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT. But I have no choice To get to Florida by sea, it would take me almost 3 weeks

[RoWilJr]

Brown tree snake.... Spent 2 yrs on that rock...or shall I say, coal reef

[Beardman]

There is a green tree viper that has decimated the bird population of Guam and is just one unguarded pallet from Honolulu. The few birds that could be caught were moved to Saipan but only a few species even survive. I will understand a certain level of outrage and security but we brought this on ourselves by having no consideration for others and assuming an "exception" would be made for whoever wanted one.

I've seen this on TV -- it has decimated the place. It would be unacceptable for this to  ever happen to Hawaii or anywhere else. Still, interesting to see how much the local eco-system can be so easily compromised and so greatly changed.

Similar story, on a small island between the north and south islands of New Zealand, called Stephens Island, every day for a year the Lighthouse Keeper's cat, was bringing home a bird it killed, for however long this was happening the Keeper never thought anything of it, just thought it was an unusual looking bird and left it at that, turns out this was the highly endangered Stephens Island Wren.

This 1 cat single-handedly brought this rare and endemic bird to the small island into extinction.

I hate clarifying facts... turns out that story is not ENTIRELY true... urban legends as they are... Wikipedia give an amazing timeline of events... but doesn't actually comment on the truth of the legend, just that is isn't entirely true.
 Still a great read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephens_Island_Wren

[Blitzed]

If you visit the island of Guam, you won't see many of the birds illustrated on this page. The Mariana Fruit Dove, Guam Flycatcher, Rufous Fantail, Cardinal Honeyeater, and other native forest birds of Guam have become extinct since the late 1940s, when the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) is believed to have first colonized the island.

These snakes are native to New Guinea, northern Australia, eastern Malaysia, and the Solomon Islands. They may have arrived as accidental stowaways in lumber shipments from New Guinea as islanders rebuilt from the devastating effects of World War II.

On Guam, brown tree snakes found dense forests that were teeming with the birds and small lizards that are their natural foods. No enemies slowed their spread, and their numbers mushroomed. The snake populations moved steadily north at a rate of a mile per year from their southern landfall. The forests fell silent in their wake.


Sorry I got it wrong, brown not green but the damage it has done is there and it is literally one pallet away from Hawaii. Just as it got to Guam, innocently but it's there now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[tomcj2]

It is a shame that mankind has hastened the demise of different species ,  however do not underestimate the power of Mother(Father) Nature to restore and improve upon what we now have.  We are truly arrogant to think that we can make an everlasting change to our environment.

[Gary~]

It is a shame that mankind has hastened the demise of different species ,  however do not underestimate the power of Mother(Father) Nature to restore and improve upon what we now have.  We are truly arrogant to think that we can make an everlasting change to our environment.

Quite so -- in the long run everything is fine. The problem is though that we both as individuals and as a species are only here for a short while.

Would be nice to live in a pleasant placed while we're here.

[Blitzed]

Brown tree snake.... Spent 2 yrs on that rock...or shall I say, coal reef

;....and watch the sun go down on Tumon bay....

"Where America's day begins. Badly."

Dear old Anderson AFB. Out of boredom, a state of being there, the guys would send a crawler over the hump in the field and attach it to a PAA 747 and tow it back over the hump. Such fun looking for it. I never quite knew how badly you had to piss off New York to get sent there....This was in the days of Air Mircronesia and Continental was THE thing. I always wondered what happened to their hotels-most of which were prefabricated and hauled in from Australia. I do know the one on Palau was already suffering from rot of a sort generally not discussed in public.

Sorry, Brown Tree Viper. Thanks for the correction and also knowing what a danger this is. What will Dole do if the Pineapple crop fails?