Author Topic: Exotic Pests (Read 3423 times)

Corley5 · « **on:** December 01, 2002, 07:20:54 pm »

Here in North America we've had to deal with exotics that have and are really screwing things up. The chestnut blight, Dutch Elm Disease, Asian Long-horned beetle, emerald ash borer, gypsy moth are some tree related ones that come to mind. Then there's zebra mussels, Eurasian millfoil, nasty fish that can walk from pond to pond, starlings, purple loosestrife etc. So the question is... Have we given as good as we've gotten? Have we inadvertently, we wouldn't have done it on purpose I hope, sent anything/things overseas that are now causing them problems?

CHARLIE · « **Reply #1 on:** December 01, 2002, 07:50:42 pm »

Down in Miami there are huge frogs from South America that has poisonous skin that'll kill a dog if one trys to eat the frog.

Don'T forget Dandelions! The settlers brought the DanG things from Europe 'cause they liked to eat the greens! Grrrrrrrrr.

L. Wakefield · « **Reply #2 on:** December 01, 2002, 07:57:42 pm »

You have GOT to be kidding!! Dandelions are an import? Who knew?? Ah well, there is always the comfort of dandelion wine. When well made it is comforting indeed..bottled sunshine..lw

Tom · « **Reply #3 on:** December 01, 2002, 08:12:02 pm »

yeah and the white catfish(walking catfish) has been loose in south Florida for years with fears that it will go north.The imports for pets are causing a lot of the problem. How about the Formosan (drywood) termite. It came into the USA in dunnage.The BeeKeepers are fighting for their lives. because the mites and now beetles are decimating the honeybee population. Huge pythons are living under houses in Miami. Big Lizards are loose in the everglades. Tropical fish from South America are loose in the canals. The Mediteranean Fruit Fly periodically threatens the existance of citrus. That's not to mention the influx of immigrant people that have changed the demographics.

Read about the Eucalyptus and Water Hyacinths for a horror story.

Noble_Ma · « **Reply #4 on:** December 01, 2002, 08:26:51 pm »

I thought I read something about a plant/vine that was planted in the Southern states to feed livestock? It became a real pest and started to grow into the trees and choke them out? I don't think it was an urban legend? No clue what the name was or where it came from? Maybe someone else can help out? Senior moment here

CHARLIE · « **Reply #5 on:** December 01, 2002, 08:36:29 pm »

Tom, you forgot to mention the African killer bees that have made there way to the U.S. from South America....and....the fire ants! They are everywhere down south now.

Noble_Ma, that ain't no urban legend. Go down to Georgia and look at all the Kudzu vine. It literally covers trees. It's very hard to kill and has a huge root system. I think they were brought to the U.S. to help control erosion along highways.

Tom · « **Reply #6 on:** December 01, 2002, 08:49:25 pm »

Kudzu was also to have been for fodder for cattle but it grows so fast that nothing can keep up with it. It's reported to grow 3 feet per day and cross a highway inside of a week.

Your right Charlie, Fire Ants have been a problem that has never found a control. Aficanized bees were created in South America and occassionally come int ports in Florida. The main influx has come from their own migration path through Central America, Mexico and into Texas.

Did you know that those white cattle birds with the brown crests that you see in Florida in almost every cow pasture and land clearing site wasn't here before 1930? It is supposed that they flew over from africa to South America sometime around the first of the century and thrive in areas of land clearing..

CHARLIE · « **Reply #7 on:** December 01, 2002, 08:53:13 pm »

And AIDS and the Nile Virus!

Jeff · « **Reply #8 on:** December 02, 2002, 02:21:05 am »

I'm interested in Greg's initial question, but have enver heard of any cases. Have we ever got even by sending something somewhere else that came from here that caused problems?

Noble_Ma · « **Reply #9 on:** December 02, 2002, 05:17:36 am »

Thanks for filling in the gaps guys. I read that years ago and thought they might have found something to combat it by now. The West Nile virus has started to make a showing up here too. I think Japanese beetles were brought here too? They sure are pests in my area. Not sure about the gypsy moths? In the bad years they will completely strip oaks, maples and even pines of their leaves and needles!

swampwhiteoak · « **Reply #10 on:** December 02, 2002, 07:21:52 am »

Where's KiwiCharlie? I've heard cats and bunnies are a big problem in Australia, DonT know if that holds true for New Zealand as well.

What about Black locust in Europe? I know I've seen it a lot when I was over there, I wonder if they consider it an invasive?

I sure do hope we've given something to the Chinese, seems like they love to give us there favorite insects and diseases.

north_bugtussel · « **Reply #11 on:** December 02, 2002, 08:12:38 am »

Swamp, I don't think it would matter what we gave them, they would find a way to mass produce it and market it back to us

Tom · « **Reply #12 on:** December 02, 2002, 08:18:58 am »

I'd like to see some wild stuff immigrate to the Mid-east (selectively perhaps). A bout of seven years of pestulance might slow some of the radicals down. What's the next number he likes to assign, forty years? Well maybe that would be to harsh. Besides I wouldn't be able to see how it turns out.

Bibbyman · « **Reply #13 on:** December 02, 2002, 12:24:03 pm »

I think the New World gave the Old World things like corn, coca, tobacco, potato(?), quinine, and a bunch of other things.

I also heard that VD was a New World disease but I think now they found out it was in pre-Columbus Old World too so we don't know who got screwed here - maybe everyone.

How about feral horses, donkeys, hogs, etc. that we now protect and spend tax money to keep?

Ron Wenrich · « **Reply #14 on:** December 02, 2002, 01:05:03 pm »

I thought we sent jack rabbits to Austrailia. The problem was there wasn't any predators, so the populations took off. Then, they imported coyotes to take care of the rabbit problem.

Rats are an Old World import. They came with the Pilgrims. Where did multi-flora rose come from?

As long as we continue to import a good deal of our goods, we will continue to get these hitch hikers into our environment. Many have come in through our ports.

Sylvus · « **Reply #15 on:** December 02, 2002, 01:09:33 pm »

Regarding North American pests as exotic forest damaging species in Europe . . . yes, examples do exist, but they are far less common than the other way around. Humans have been transporting biological materials in Asia/Europe for millenia and the ecological systems adapted long before anyone even bothered to wonder about it. Those systems are much more resilient to invaders than our North American systems, which is why movement of new species has more negative effects in the new world than the reverse direction. The new world has been receiving human-transported species for only a few centuries.

Tom · « **Reply #16 on:** December 02, 2002, 01:50:07 pm »

welcome to the ForestryForum, Sylvus.

Bibbyman · « **Reply #17 on:** December 03, 2002, 05:12:35 am »

Not all exotics are coming from overseas. Son Chris was out coon hunting and the dogs treed(?) an armadillo!

I've heard they've been migrating further north and have seen them in southwest Missouri for a number of years. But how this bugger got across the Missouri River to the north side I can't figure.

north_bugtussel · « **Reply #18 on:** December 03, 2002, 06:48:20 am »

Bibbyman, I believe the old world had tobbaco, but "snorted" it. Kind of a way to clear the sinuses

. The american natives taught the white man to smoke the tobbaco, kind of getting even with them, ahead of time, for what they would eventually do to the Indians

J_T · « **Reply #19 on:** December 03, 2002, 06:34:30 pm »

Armidillo known as a hard shell possum. Probley hitch a ride.

Phil · « **Reply #20 on:** December 06, 2002, 08:52:36 pm »

Hello, Corley5.

Two exotic species that we dished out were the pine-feeding mealybug and the fall webworm. We carried the mealybug to China and the webworm to Hungary. By "we" I only mean North America, but I don't know if it was specifically the U.S. or not.

I'm going to try to stick a short article on exotics in the Knowledge Base...

Phil

Jeff · « **Reply #21 on:** December 07, 2002, 04:15:50 am »

Cool Phil!

Here is the link to Phil's article in the knowledge base.

http://www.forestryforum.com/tips/tips.cgi?display:1039235847-3888.txt

BRP · « **Reply #22 on:** December 07, 2002, 06:51:47 am »

Down here in the south Honeysuckle is a problem,it takes over no matter where it is and is transplanted by birds,bees,and anything that likes the sweet nectar.This plant was brought to this country from Asia.I have books on plants that show alot of plants we thought were always here but actually came from other countries.
BRP

Phil · « **Reply #23 on:** December 07, 2002, 07:12:09 am »

Does this one ring a bell with anybody? --

A few years ago, a newsletter put out by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission listed exotic pests that were likely to become a problem in the future. One plant that they said was "on the way" to Kentucky was something they described as "kudzu with thorns." (In a related note, has anyone read about the new Terminator flick?) I can't remember the name of that plant. Does anybody know what it might be? Does anyone have experience with it?

Phil

L. Wakefield · « **Reply #24 on:** December 08, 2002, 11:43:43 am »

New like, it would be T3? Hadn't heard that yet. lw

Weekend_Sawyer · « **Reply #25 on:** December 12, 2002, 01:26:12 pm »

About 5 years ago the mile a minute vine became a problem here. It covers and smothers everything, I have an old Cletrack crawler (lawn art) that dissapeared under it. Weed be gone is doing an ok job if killing it (the weed, the crawler has been dead for years).

Den Socling · « **Reply #26 on:** December 12, 2002, 02:17:27 pm »

Japanese Knotweed is a curse in PA. I travel the Susquehanna drainage system a lot and it is taking over everywhere. It's the first up in the spring and then it's the tallest. Then, to make sure it's neighbors are beat back, it leans over and spreads it's leaves to cut off the light to plants under it. I hate the stuff and carry a machete in my truck so that I can get out and wack the stuff when it blocks my view. I believe it was brought in by people who wanted something that looked like bamboo. Why can't people be content with indiginous plants and animals?

Noble_Ma · « **Reply #27 on:** December 13, 2002, 05:42:13 am »

I've had problems with wild grape and bittersweet vines. They're destroying the birch, ash, maple and oaks saplings in my lot. Any cure other than just cutting them all out? I have a well so I'm not keen on using poisons.

DanG · « **Reply #28 on:** December 13, 2002, 09:04:50 am »

A couple of years ago, a guy over on the KountryLife forum gave a recipe for a homemade herbicide. It consisted of a pound of table salt, dissolved in a gallon of vinegar, spiked with a squirt of dish soap, to make it stick. He said it was really effective, and it seems harmless enough. I haven' t tried it, but I sure need to. I have a major infestation of Wisteria on what passes as a woodlot on my place.

swampwhiteoak · « **Reply #29 on:** December 13, 2002, 10:59:06 am »

Well lets see, I remember almost enough chemistry from college to be dangerous. Anyone know what happens when you combine salt and vinegar? I don't, but I wonder...
NaCl + CH₃COOH -> ?? Makes me wonder if some of the products could be HCl and NaOH. I dunno though. Maybe they don't react at all.

That reminded me of a story. I went to visit a friend many years ago. He had a party the night before and was cleaning his house. He had the bright idea to combine bleach and ammonia for extra cleaning power. I'm not sure if he was having leftover effects from the party or he was just this stupid. I got him out of the house and we opened some windows so hopefully he didn't kill too many brain cells.

Back to the original side question, plant specific herbicide application, especially if done with injection or a cut stump type treatment shouldn't get anywhere near the groundwater. You would have much worse potential problems from septic tanks, oil from machinery, ect.

On the other hand, what I always tell people who don't want to use herbicides is to cut the vines in the spring when they are pushing sap. They'll use up a lot of their nutrient reserves and will be less likely to resprout. Grapevines don't particularily like the shade, so as long as you don't open up the canopy any time soon they should go away.

Noble_Ma · « **Reply #30 on:** December 13, 2002, 11:08:43 am »

Funny you should mention injection. I got rid of some sumac that way. My parents had a field of it. The more you pull it up the more it sprouts. We found that out the hard way. Anyway, I drilled a hole in the side of the tree and used a glue injector from the workshop. I gave it a steady diet of round up. It died and all the sprouts around it too. I'll take grape vines any day compared to sumac.

OneWithWood · « **Reply #31 on:** December 16, 2002, 08:35:51 am »

Do you suppose that might work on aspen? I intend to harvest as much of the big aspen as possible to use in my saw shed and I want to prevent all the sprouts that will come along. I was thinking of using a mix of diesel and Acme weed and brush killer to spray on the freshly cut stumps.

Jeff · « **Reply #32 on:** December 18, 2002, 02:57:35 am »

Hey! Regenerate that aspen! Thats how I make my living.
We cant get enough of it. It grows pretty fast and it has value. Why kill it unless you are clearing?

Noble_Ma · « **Reply #33 on:** December 18, 2002, 05:26:07 am »

OneWithWood,

I'm not sure about that

I know the sumac sprouts off of the roots. That's why they spread when you pull them up and break up the roots. My dad found that out the hard way. I spent a lot of my summers pulling the darn sprouts even after my dad planted the new grass.

Jeff,

What do you guys use the aspen wood for? Is it similar to poplar? I know they use a lot of poplar for molding and trim that's going to be painted instead of stained.

OneWithWood · « **Reply #34 on:** December 18, 2002, 09:28:26 am »

Noble_Ma,
I believe the aspen sprouts from the roots also. It is in the same family as poplar.

Jeff B,
I don't think anyone would pay enough to make it worth shipping my aspen up to you. Best to let your neighbors grow the stuff, plus you got the climate and proper soil. I am erradicating it because I want to regenerate oaks, maples and cherries. I know I won't be around to harvest them but somebody will.

When I get closer to harvesting the aspen I will start a thread on it. I could use some pointers on the best way to mill it as a straight aspen is a rarity in my woods.

Hey! Talk about appropriate timing - this is my 101st post and it is fitting that it is in part a reply to Jeff B

I wonder if my tree will come in as an aspen

Corley5 · « **Reply #35 on:** December 22, 2002, 12:23:26 pm »

It sounds like we got the short end of the stick as far as exotics

Bro. Noble · « **Reply #36 on:** December 22, 2002, 01:13:08 pm »

I know better than to enter a conversation on erotic pests just before santy time.

Noble

Tom · « **Reply #37 on:** December 22, 2002, 01:53:45 pm »

Exotic, Noble............ e-x-o-t-i-c, ........exotic.....

Sheesh......... No wonder you stay in so much trouble.

Jeff · « **Reply #38 on:** December 22, 2002, 03:14:27 pm »

Noble you gotta get some in door plummin. Yer freezing yer brain going out to the two holer at night.

Ron Scott · « **Reply #39 on:** December 22, 2002, 06:11:36 pm »

For an informative site on Exotic Invasions see the Michigan Invasive Plant Council website at www.msue.msu.edu/mipc

Bro. Noble · « **Reply #40 on:** December 22, 2002, 06:15:52 pm »

It's not my brain that I worry about freezing cause I don't use it near as much anyway.

Noble

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Author Topic: Exotic Pests (Read 3423 times)