The Snail Kite Returns to Lake Okeechobee

This story brings hope for the most abused

A male Snail Kite

Bird in our state, the Everglades Snail Kite. 

You notice that I said Everglades, because just

a few short years ago, the Snail Kite was driven

out of its ancestral home on Lake Okeechobee,

north up to Lake Toho, where it was just beginning

to get a break and then bam.....

Whining, complaining, boaters forced FWS to clear Lake Toho of the fast growing and now most abundant Hydrilla plant because it clogged up their boat propellers.

Unfortunately, Hydrilla is the primary food of the Snail,

which is the only food that this Endangered Bird can eat,

so, no more Snails, no more Kites.

But joy untold, it would seem that for some reason the Snail Kite has returned

to Lake Okeechobee in numbers, that make even the most doubting of all Thomas's,

that would be me, believe that there just might be hope yet for the Snail Kite.

A great story, hope the news will continue to be so positive for the Everglades Snail Kite.

On Lake Okeechobee With Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Greco