Human bones find lead to discovery of Saxon warlord's grave

[Digit]

Oh we have Monk! Over thirty plant species here are classified as dangerous or pernicious and some are supposed to be destroyed by the owner of the land they appear on.
We have the same problem with insects, invertebrates, aracnids, fish and mammals. Having said that I believe that overall we have gained.
Our two worst offenders is your Grey Squirrel and the Japanese Knot Weed.
We had serious problems at one time with the Coypu but they were eventually eliminated. The NA Mink has been a pest but predators now seem to be getting on top of them.
One of our problems is that so many people here could identify a Mountain Gorilla from watching too much TV but wouldn't know a Polecat if it stood up waved at them, and they are often violently opposed to any form of pest control.

[stan]

The Japanese knotweed is getting the upper hand here for sure.

[Forum Monk]

Knotweed? I think the southern US would rather deal with that, than Kudzu. Here are some facts about Kudzu:

Now that it covers over seven million acres of the deep South, there are a lot of people working hard to get rid of it!

The vines grow as much as a foot per day during summer months, climbing trees, power poles, and anything else they contact. Under ideal conditions kudzu vines can grow sixty feet each year.

While they help prevent erosion, the vines can also destroy valuable forests by preventing trees from getting sunlight. This problem led Dr. James H. Miller of the U.S. Forest Service in Auburn, Alabama to research methods for killing kudzu. In eighteen years of research, he has found that one herbicide actually makes kudzu grow better while many have little effect. Miller recommends repeated herbicide treatments for at least four years, but some kudzu plants may take as long as ten years to kill, even with the most effective herbicides.

Current research may lead to new medicines made from kudzu, but for now only hamsters and mice can benefit from these drugs. Research with laboratory animals at Harvard Medical School has revealed that a drug extracted from kudzu root may help in the treatment of alcoholism.

Southerners just close their windows at night to keep the kudzu out.

So, can anything stop it?

Dr. Errol G. Rhoden, along with other researchers at Tuskegee University, has successfully raised Angora goats in fields of kudzu which would otherwise be considered wasted land. The goats keep the kudzu from spreading further while producing profitable milk and wool products. Rhoden says constant grazing will eventually eradicate kudzu. If kudzu is to provide a continuing food source, animals must be removed from the fields occasionally to allow the vines time to grow.

Excerpts from "The Amazing Story of Kudzu"
http://www.alabamatv.org/kudzu/

[john]

That's interesting Digit, but I question the wisdom of planting non-native species. I know I may sound like a liberal environmentalist here, but it is true that the impact on other species is often unforeseen. i.e. certain insects which may be driven out of an area by Lebanese cedar may impact birds and the related species which depend on them.

Hopefully you haven't experienced this kind of impact. In the US kudzu (a japanese vine) was introduced into the south to curtail erosion. It flourished to such an extent, it literally choked out other species and in late summer is seen dripping from and clinging to trees, telephone poles, lines, buildings, etc. It proved difficult to kill and is now a fact of life in the south.

Not to curtail erosion, monk. Kudzu was introduced because it was the only thing which would grow on mine tailings (spoilheaps) in the Southeast, and took off from there. And yes it is pervasive, kills off the native broadleaved forests, and, in its own turn, is just about impossible to contain. It is a plant which is incredibly successful on damaged ground, but, unfortunately, is no part of any native North American plant succcession. Thus the problem.


john

[Digit]

Years ago when I was a kid people would often tell me if things weren't going well that there was always someone worse off than I was, funny, but I never found that to be helpful.
That Kudzu certainly sounds nasty stuff, but done properly I'll put my money on the Goats.
One of the problems with these intros is people refuse to learn from previous mistakes and carry on introducing alien species.
There's strong evidence that we've got Panthers and other large cats now roaming wild.
At the other end of the scale some species that we have lost in the past have and are being sucessfully re-introduced, the latest is the Beaver, with talks on the European Wolf.
On the downside the Wild Boar is making a comeback and unfortunately most people simply do not realise what a menace they can be and just how fast they can breed.

[marduk]

Years ago when I was a kid people would often tell me if things weren't going well that there was always someone worse off than I was

my mother used to tell me that too
i used to tell her
"can you bring him here then so I can have a good laugh at his expense"
she never did

[Forum Monk]

That Kudzu certainly sounds nasty stuff, but done properly I'll put my money on the Goats.

Truthfully I think the point of the goats was to demostrate how kudzu could be used to usefully recover otherwise, unplantable land. I made the leap to extermination of the vine.

One of the problems with these intros is people refuse to learn from previous mistakes and carry on introducing alien species.

I assume this is illegal now in the UK.

[Digit]

It is Monk.

[Forum Monk]

"can you bring him here then so I can have a good laugh at his expense"
she never did

I am so glad you never picked up this despicable behaviour.

[marduk]

yup thats right
because of the constant disappointment i finally resolved to go where they were and laugh at them there instead
seems to have worked out much better