Have you had any experience with invasive species or heard real info from local officials? I am curious to know if invasive species are a real problem or just a lot of bs.
My first real experience with invasive species was in 2013 while I was driving OTR. Oregon started taking the threat of aquatic species serioulsy. Going north into OR from CA or going west from ID you have to stop at the first weight station and have your boat inspected.
Next I think also in 2013 someone mentioned an invasive species getting into Lake Michigan [by measuring the atlas my guess is that the lake is 55mi wide at narrowest,75mi wide at widest; going straight north from lowest point in Chicago is more than 200 mi to nearest landfall, and staying in the center following the curve from Chicago to the north east is more than 300 miles] I think it was a shellfish or was it a carp??
Then in 2014 I heard about ferral pigs - Europeans brought pigs with them to America to eat and some of them got away everytime and went wild. Supposedly the SE part of the U.S. has a severe problem of wild pigs destroying agriculture and gardens. The problem according to youtube is so bad that many people have gotten into professional pig hunting and trapping. [according to fencerider - What is the difference between a wild pig and a domestic pig? A domestic pig is inside a fence. A wild pig is outside a fence. ] After seein youtube I looked at the fish and game rules for Florida, Lousiana, and Texas. Neither LA or FL had any special provisions for pigs giving the impression that they don't consider them a problem. Texas did have a provision you were allowed to take any pigs you find as long as you had a hunting licence for other big game.
The last one I just came across at the beginning of May 2017. Nasty critter called the lionfish. Supposedly somebody dumped pet lionfish off the Atlantic seaboard around 1986. With no natural preditors they have quicky grown to be a problem. lionfish live around reefs and eat any fish small enough to get in their mouths at a rate of 30 little fish/ hr. Some of the fish they eat are the colorful fish like Nemo and his blue friend that make reefs attractive. Some of the fish they eat are the caretakers of the reef (so when lionfish show up and eat the care takers the reef starts dying) Some of the fish at the reef are babies that are supposed to grow up to fill the nets of commercial fisherman.
Because they have 13 poisonous spines their only predator is humans ( and they can live at depths greater than the limits of diving equipement), lionfish have taken over all the reefs on the Atlantic seaboard from the Chesapeake Bay down through the gulf of Mexico, Carribean Islands, Jamaica, the entire seaboard of Columbia well down into Brazilian waters. Scientists estimate their spread won't be stopped to the south until they reach the temperature change around Rio de Janeiro.
They say the best hope is to make people aware that if you are careful to remove the poisonous spines the lionfish is not only edible but tasty. By making people aware they hope to encourage the developement of commercial fishing of lionfish.
So what do you know about invasive species? be it fact or fiction
Quote from: fencerider on May 26, 2017, 01:59:52 AMI am curious to know if invasive species are a real problem or just a lot of bs.
It's real. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu_in_the_United_States)
Wasps came to the Faroes some 20 years ago, and now they've pretty much gotten a foothold here, with seemingly no natural enemies.
Fire ants, for one. Coyotes for another. With the demise of their natural foe, the wolf, coyotes are getting into places you wouldn't expect, like downtown St. Louis. If your cat disappears or your bitch turns up pregnant, a coyote might have been involved.
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 26, 2017, 06:51:41 AM
Fire ants, for one. Coyotes for another. With the demise of their natural foe, the wolf, coyotes are getting into places you wouldn't expect, like downtown St. Louis. If your cat disappears or your bitch turns up pregnant, a coyote might have been involved.
Can we sell the puppies? Are they called doyotes?
Quote from: Baruch on May 26, 2017, 07:20:54 AM
Can we sell the puppies? Are they called doyotes?
Coydogs.
Lake Michigan was hit in the 1940s by the lamprey eel, which wiped out the Lake Trout that supported a tourist industry in Chicago as well as other cities. Sounds like it's been hit again by other introductions. Hawaii has it's feral pigs that are now an official nuisance. Sometimes man introduces new species intentionally to control other species that have become problems. Sometimes the cure is worse than the original problem. Montana got invaded by a tenacious species called spotted knapweed that would take over agricultural land, and was useless for anything else. However, the companies that manufacture herbicides love the stuff.
Quote from: SGOS on May 26, 2017, 09:20:56 AM
Lake Michigan was hit in the 1940s by the lamprey eel, which wiped out the Lake Trout that supported a tourist industry in Chicago as well as other cities. Sounds like it's been hit again by other introductions.
Zebra mussel.
And there's The Weed That Ate The South, aka "kudzu". If it adapts to cold weather we're going to have to learn how to eat it.
Supposedly the Mississippi and Ohio rivers were taken over by Chinese carp. I am still waiting for pet alligators to eat everyone in NYC, as they sit on the toilet ;-)
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 26, 2017, 09:23:09 AMAnd there's The Weed That Ate The South, aka "kudzu". If it adapts to cold weather we're going to have to learn how to eat it.
That or goats will suddenly become everyone's favorite pet.
Quote from: Hydra009 on May 26, 2017, 10:30:49 AM
That or goats will suddenly become everyone's favorite pet.
We'll be wearing a lot of wool clothes.
Quote from: SGOS on May 26, 2017, 09:20:56 AM
Lake Michigan was hit in the 1940s by the lamprey eel, which wiped out the Lake Trout that supported a tourist industry in Chicago as well as other cities. Sounds like it's been hit again by other introductions. Hawaii has it's feral pigs that are now an official nuisance. Sometimes man introduces new species intentionally to control other species that have become problems. Sometimes the cure is worse than the original problem. Montana got invaded by a tenacious species called spotted knapweed that would take over agricultural land, and was useless for anything else. However, the companies that manufacture herbicides love the stuff.
Hawaii brought in the mongoose.
Australia the rabbit.
I think Florida has a bunch--python?
Quote from: Mike Cl on May 26, 2017, 11:00:03 AM
Hawaii brought in the mongoose.
Australia the rabbit.
I think Florida has a bunch--python?
All the water-dwelling snakes did well in the Glades after that hurricane.
And who can forget rabbits in Oz? Or the Norwegian rat every damn place.
Quote from: Mike Cl on May 26, 2017, 11:00:03 AM
Hawaii brought in the mongoose.
Australia the rabbit.
I think Florida has a bunch--python?
I think the pythons were illegally released by exuberant snake enthusiasts who got tired of their pets. Weren't the rabbits a government disaster; I can't remember? I don't know if the mongoose thing is working out or not. I had a girlfriend who is a wildlife biologist and she use to attend various conferences. She said the herpetology conferences were especially colorful with a lot of tattooed attendees wearing black leather.
I'm not sure I'd want a python. They're kind of cool and all, but mostly they just lie around in a sleepy daze. If they get out of their enclosure, it can take a couple of days to find them in the house. I like affectionate pets that come when you call them and do tricks.
Zebra mussels in Lake Erie. They give the power companies on the lake shore fits because they pile all over intake pipes, but... there are now so many of them they filter the entire lake on the order of once a week. For the first time in my life, Lake Erie is a (relatively) clear-water lake, not a muddy/sandy/silty lake.
Quote from: SGOS on May 26, 2017, 11:28:12 AM
I think the pythons were illegally released by exuberant snake enthusiasts who got tired of their pets. Weren't the rabbits a government disaster; I can't remember? I don't know if the mongoose thing is working out or not. I had a girlfriend who is a wildlife biologist and she use to attend various conferences. She said the herpetology conferences were especially colorful with a lot of tattooed attendees wearing black leather.
I'm not sure I'd want a python. They're kind of cool and all, but mostly they just lie around in a sleepy daze. If they get out of their enclosure, it can take a couple of days to find them in the house. I like affectionate pets that come when you call them and do tricks.
I don't know if the mongoose worked or not. I think there were brought in to control the rats and mice. There were/are no snakes on the Islands, so they were not needed for that. Anyway, on the islands they are everywhere; especially in the cane fields.
I would not consider any reptile or insect or spider as a pet. Like you, I want my pets to come when I call and be warm and furry.
There's some damn frog on The Big Island that is driving the locals nuts.
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 26, 2017, 01:29:41 PM
There's some damn frog on The Big Island that is driving the locals nuts.
I wintered on the Big Island when I was boating. I remember those frogs, although I thought they were birds until someone explained it to me. They have a rather shrill whistle, rather than a croak, and they were kind of annoying. I don't know if they do any damage or not.
Lots and lots of them. Native water plants around here are being choked out by purple loose strife. It's pretty so people imported it, and it liked it here. European Starlings are super successful invasive species.
Australia is a good study in invasive species. Mice, cats and rabbits have literally taken over the country. And cane toads. For a while, people kept introducing new species to solve problems, and ended up causing a ton more.
hmmm thats a yes on ferral pigs in some places. a yes on Lake Michigan. what about lionfish on the east coast? has anybody tried eatin lionfish?
I wonder if we sent Duck Dynasty to Big Island how long the frogs would last. They luv them frogs.
I heard kudzu spreads fast but I didnt hear about it being invasive. Is it edible? The people in the bush say you can eat milkweed as long as you rinse out the white sap first.
Quote from: fencerider on May 26, 2017, 08:12:39 PMI heard kudzu spreads fast but I didnt hear about it being invasive. Is it edible?
The leaves, flowers, and roots are edible. The vines are not.
I've heard of some particularly enterprising people make kudzu quiche, which imo is a culinary disaster akin to pineapple pizza.
Quote from: fencerider on May 26, 2017, 08:12:39 PM
hmmm thats a yes on ferral pigs in some places. a yes on Lake Michigan. what about lionfish on the east coast? has anybody tried eatin lionfish?
I wonder if we sent Duck Dynasty to Big Island how long the frogs would last. They luv them frogs.
I heard kudzu spreads fast but I didnt hear about it being invasive. Is it edible? The people in the bush say you can eat milkweed as long as you rinse out the white sap first.
I left Alabama in 1959 and there was not a single kudzu plant. I revisited in 1985 and it was every where--every fucking-where, as an Alabamian put it.
Quote from: fencerider on May 26, 2017, 08:12:39 PM
I heard kudzu spreads fast but I didnt hear about it being invasive.
It most certainly invades. Hence, it is "invasive," and once it invades, it's damn near impossible to get rid of. It also kills practically everything else where it invades. Perhaps the other commonly used classification, noxious, is more appropriate. If it invaded my property, my response would be declare defeat. I would pick up and leave the way farmers left Oklahoma, defeated and brokenhearted, during the dust bowls.
Interesting topic. Spotted Knapweed has been mentioned and a bio-control has been introduced (well, several have been) with the most successful (in my region) being the weevil:
http://www.albanypinebush.org/conservation/biological-control-for-spotted-knapweed-found-in-the-pine-bush
There are several factors involved with a species becoming 'invasive'. The knapweed is prolific *up to 100K seeds, long lived (plants living for 9 years has been documented), and it is a type of plant that produces a toxin in the soil that repeals most other plants (lupine not being affected). The beetle in above link seems to offer the most hope for control of this plant, however, the American Goldfinch has been documented foraging the seeds.
There are other examples of bio-control with the Leafy spurge plant and its predator beetle that one can google if so inclined.
Lessons hard learned with the introduction of a new pest to combat an existing pest, one could look to the Tachind flies:
"Many Tachinids are important natural enemies of major insect pests, and some species actually are used in biological pest control; for example, many species of Tachinid flies have been introduced into North America from their native lands as biocontrols to suppress populations of alien pests."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachinidae
Someone would need to do some searching because I am going from memory and may be mixing a couple of things up here. I believe it was a type of Tachinid that was released to combat the gypsy moth, without extensive testing (like was done with the weevil above). The side effect is *something they released to fight the gypsy moth* is now raising hell with our native (mainly moth) populations because they did not test extensively with *whichever bio-control* for its taste for our native species.
The key factor, imo, is whether some existing species steps up and takes advantage of this introduced specie, like the goldfinch in this example. Will the weevils/goldfinch exterminate the knapweed, NOPE, but they may offer enough 'control' to keep a field from becoming exclusively a meadow of knapweed.
Nobody's mentioned the most invasive species on the planet yet?
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 27, 2017, 08:00:47 AM
Nobody's mentioned the most invasive species on the planet yet?
Surely you jest...why that species has brought god to all living things...
Quote from: aitm on May 27, 2017, 08:05:43 AM
Surely you jest...why that species has brought god to all living things...
You addressing me or Shirley?
It would be cool to name a baby girl Surely, especially if your last name was Shirley, and I did know a family with that name.
Quote from: SGOS on May 27, 2017, 10:32:55 AM
It would be cool to name a baby girl Surely, especially if your last name was Shirley, and I did know a family with that name.
I liked Surely Temple.
Quote from: trdsf on May 26, 2017, 01:08:11 PM
Zebra mussels in Lake Erie... they filter the entire lake on the order of once a week. For the first time in my life, Lake Erie is a (relatively) clear-water lake, not a muddy/sandy/silty lake.
That's a lot of cubic feet of water to move in a week. How big are the water pumps? and what is the filter supposed to do? catch the eggs? (could make a long term problem by filtering out the eggs of native fish)
I remember a couple years ago they fixed a bug problem mexican fruit fly or mosquito??? by throwing out sterilized females.
Quote from: fencerider on May 27, 2017, 11:58:41 AM
That's a lot of cubic feet of water to move in a week. How big are the water pumps? and what is the filter supposed to do? catch the eggs? (could make a long term problem by filtering out the eggs of native fish)
I remember a couple years ago they fixed a bug problem mexican fruit fly or mosquito??? by throwing out sterilized females.
I think it was sterilized males.
Quote from: fencerider on May 27, 2017, 11:58:41 AM
That's a lot of cubic feet of water to move in a week. How big are the water pumps? and what is the filter supposed to do? catch the eggs? (could make a long term problem by filtering out the eggs of native fish)
I remember a couple years ago they fixed a bug problem mexican fruit fly or mosquito??? by throwing out sterilized females.
The water intake pumps are for cooling and steam generation at the power plants; zebra mussels clog the inlets. And there really are that many of these little guys that they can process the lake weekly. And filtering the lake has actually improved things for some of the fish in that the increased water clarity allows plants and algae to grow at greater depths than before, so there's more food for some game fish -- which are themselves food for larger fish.
So the zebra mussel is a mixed bag as far as invasion goes. It's a mechanical problem, but it has been a bioremediatory benefit.
Quote from: trdsf on May 27, 2017, 02:28:36 PM
The water intake pumps are for cooling and steam generation at the power plants; zebra mussels clog the inlets. And there really are that many of these little guys that they can process the lake weekly. And filtering the lake has actually improved things for some of the fish in that the increased water clarity allows plants and algae to grow at greater depths than before, so there's more food for some game fish -- which are themselves food for larger fish.
So the zebra mussel is a mixed bag as far as invasion goes. It's a mechanical problem, but it has been a bioremediatory benefit.
Would that be a partial solution to polluted bodies of water?
oh wow that is a lot of mussels. I thought you meant the power plant was filtering the water to somehow get rid of the mussels. ( mussels are good fish bait if you can figure out how to keep them on a hook)
Are zebra mussels edible? not that I'm gonna eat them the ones in the store are not on my list of edibles.
Quote from: fencerider on May 27, 2017, 11:42:24 PM( mussels are good fish bait if you can figure out how to keep them on a hook)
Nylon hose. Cut a piece and bag up your bait and hook.
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 27, 2017, 02:51:01 PM
Would that be a partial solution to polluted bodies of water?
Not really, because they do change the ecological balance; you could end up driving desirable species out of that habitat or worse.
Quote from: trdsf on May 28, 2017, 11:29:28 AM
Not really, because they do change the ecological balance; you could end up driving desirable species out of that habitat or worse.
Would you get drinkable water out of it?
I recall some friends with a summer cabin on a lake that the Department of Fish and Game had poisoned to get rid of undesirable species, While all the fish were killed, which would eventually be restocked, one added effect was that the water became crystal clear. The lake was always that way, but the clarity was even more apparent than it had been before. I remember the people complaining about the Fish and Game, probably because complaining about government agencies is considered the fashionable thing to do, even though the water from the lake was still drinkable (I guess), and was their potable water supply to the cabin. But I always wonder about the outcome of environmental engineering with the best intentions.
Another nearby lake with a fair to good trout population somehow got Northern Pike introduced in it. The government never claimed to be responsible, so it might have been done by a single party that wanted some Northern Pike. I was happy, because there isn't anything like tying into a lunker Northern IMO. The Pike ate all the trout, but for whatever reason, the pike never got bigger than a foot long, which isn't very interesting to a Pike fisherman and a sorry situation for trout lovers. Maybe they are bigger now. I haven't fished that lake in 25 years. Maybe the Pike are gone. I've been away for a long time.
My track is heading toward biological systems of removing pollution from drinking water, but not necessarily "in the wild". Could something similar to zebra mussels be the first (or later) stage in treating wastewater at sewage plants?
Quote from: SGOS on May 28, 2017, 12:51:55 PM
I recall some friends with a summer cabin on a lake that the Department of Fish and Game had poisoned to get rid of undesirable species, While all the fish were killed, which would eventually be restocked, one added effect was that the water became crystal clear. The lake was always that way, but the clarity was even more apparent than it had been before. I remember the people complaining about the Fish and Game, probably because complaining about government agencies is considered the fashionable thing to do, even though the water from the lake was still drinkable (I guess), and was their potable water supply to the cabin. But I always wonder about the outcome of environmental engineering with the best intentions.
Another nearby lake with a fair to good trout population somehow got Northern Pike introduced in it. The government never claimed to be responsible, so it might have been done by a single party that wanted some Northern Pike. I was happy, because there isn't anything like tying into a lunker Northern IMO. The Pike ate all the trout, but for whatever reason, the pike never got bigger than a foot long, which isn't very interesting to a Pike fisherman and a sorry situation for trout lovers. Maybe they are bigger now. I haven't fished that lake in 25 years. Maybe the Pike are gone. I've been away for a long time.
Living waters have microscopic creatures, algae, small bugs etc that are repulsive to people seeking drinking water. Water poisoned by heavy metals for instance, has no living things in it, so it is clear. People who hike and take natural water, know this. Living water, filtered properly ... is fit to drink.
Perhaps this is why we need all out nuclear war to stop the spread of invasive species, set the world right and in another trillion years we'll be right back to our nice little blue and green planet.
Quote from: AllPurposeAtheist on May 29, 2017, 08:05:55 AM
Perhaps this is why we need all out nuclear war to stop the spread of invasive species, set the world right and in another trillion years we'll be right back to our nice little blue and green planet.
That would be nice, but how would this affect capitalism?
Definitely a win for capitalism and a loss for socialism. The only way to stop socialism is to stop society. The only way to stop society is to kill all the people. And like the people trading in the 2nd tower while the first tower was aflame ... you can make big profits off of tragedy.
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 28, 2017, 01:03:09 PM
My track is heading toward biological systems of removing pollution from drinking water, but not necessarily "in the wild". Could something similar to zebra mussels be the first (or later) stage in treating wastewater at sewage plants?
I was looking into this for cleaning a fish tank. There is a nice fast growing plant called duckweed that eats fish poop and is also a favorite fish food (looks like 1/4in clover with a water root 3/4in long. Let's not forget that many countries can't afford the chemical world of U.S.A. . Most of the world uses some kind of plants for both water treatment and sewage plants
I don't think the zebra mussel would be a good way to clean water They poop too. I got 20 little manilla clams to make a dinner. put them in a bucket of salt water with rice flour to clean them out. I changed the water every 8-12 hrs for two days. Clam crap stinks. I'm sure a whole lake of mussels smells worse
Quote from: SGOS on May 29, 2017, 08:34:27 AM
That would be nice, but how would this affect capitalism?
Quote from: SGOS on May 29, 2017, 08:34:27 AM
That would be nice, but how would this affect capitalism?
I currently have no plans to be around in a trillion years to find out, but check back in about 999.999.999.999.99999999 billion years. I may have changed my mind by then..
Quote from: fencerider on May 29, 2017, 06:23:40 PM
I was looking into this for cleaning a fish tank. There is a nice fast growing plant called duckweed that eats fish poop and is also a favorite fish food (looks like 1/4in clover with a water root 3/4in long. Let's not forget that many countries can't afford the chemical world of U.S.A. . Most of the world uses some kind of plants for both water treatment and sewage plants
I don't think the zebra mussel would be a good way to clean water They poop too. I got 20 little manilla clams to make a dinner. put them in a bucket of salt water with rice flour to clean them out. I changed the water every 8-12 hrs for two days. Clam crap stinks. I'm sure a whole lake of mussels smells worse
If you combine this with hydro-ponics you would use this as wet fertilizer and grow wonderful plants, strawberries fer instance or radishes as fast growing, or lettuce, and make a buck or two or a million.
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 28, 2017, 11:59:06 AM
Would you get drinkable water out of it?
It's probably technically drinkable, but I wouldn't without at least running it through a Brita first, and given an absolute preference, the local water treatment plant. I mean, fish still pee in it.
Quote from: aitm on May 29, 2017, 08:58:33 PM
If you combine this with hydro-ponics you would use this as wet fertilizer and grow wonderful plants, strawberries fer instance or radishes as fast growing, or lettuce, and make a buck or two or a million.
just as long as you don't tell people that their delicious strawberries came from fish poop.
I see you've heard of combining fish with hydroponics. (The plants take the nitrates outa da water that kill the fish and if some of those plants are fish food... you got a system that only needs cleaned out every few years. ) Takes space that I dont have yet. maybe later.
Can you explain the set-up? I think I've forgotten it.
water flows from bottom of fish tank through holes in side of tank toa spillway to drop water through screen to break up solids. Then you have two shallow 3" deep? sections one with a plant like duckweed and the other where the plants are kept out to let green algae grow. Water then is poured into the hydroponics beds. The water sinking out the bottom goes to the sludge tank and the water going out the end goes back to the fish. What am I missin?
Quote from: fencerider on May 31, 2017, 01:57:22 AM
water flows from bottom of fish tank through holes in side of tank toa spillway to drop water through screen to break up solids. Then you have two shallow 3" deep? sections one with a plant like duckweed and the other where the plants are kept out to let green algae grow. Water then is poured into the hydroponics beds. The water sinking out the bottom goes to the sludge tank and the water going out the end goes back to the fish. What am I missin?
I toured a similar facility in Chicago. A bunch of people got together and bought what looked like a bombed out factory and turned it into an organic complex. They harvested the fish, plants, turned some of the wastes into beer and baked goods and other products. There were 6 or 8 businesses that were interconnected and sharing the building along with the byproducts of each others products to make additional products.
Quote from: trdsf on May 29, 2017, 09:03:42 PM
It's probably technically drinkable, but I wouldn't without at least running it through a Brita first, and given an absolute preference, the local water treatment plant. I mean, fish still pee in it.
"I'm not drinking that water!
You know what fish do in that water? EVERYTHING!"
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 31, 2017, 07:57:30 AM
"I'm not drinking that water! You know what fish do in that water? EVERYTHING!"
One of the first things humans learn is not to pee in swimming pools. Our parent's told us not to, but we did it anyway. And in my heart, I believe some grownups do it too.
Quote from: SGOS on May 31, 2017, 08:16:27 AM
One of the first things humans learn is not to pee in swimming pools. Our parent's told us not to, but we did it anyway. And in my heart, I believe some grownups do it too.
(http://i.imgur.com/1t1O3ni.jpg)
^ Now there's an intimidating kid you don't want to piss off.
Human beings are an invasive species here in what we now call America.
Quote from: Unbeliever on May 31, 2017, 06:15:03 PM
Human beings are an invasive species here in what we now call America.
Sounds like a call to arms by the Mammoth Liberation Front ;-)
Quote from: SGOS on May 31, 2017, 09:48:40 AM
^ Now there's an intimidating kid you don't want to piss off.
I used to dip my nephews in a tube of water before letting them use my pool.
Must've been a big tube...
Quote from: Unbeliever on June 01, 2017, 05:20:34 PM
Must've been a big tube...
Actually, it was, an inner tube from a tractor tire that I had converted to a wading pool.
We used to tube with those down the Tchefuncte river (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchefuncte_River). Not as good as canoes, but lots of fun!
Quote from: Unbeliever on June 01, 2017, 06:12:43 PM
We used to tube with those down the Tchefuncte river (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchefuncte_River). Not as good as canoes, but lots of fun!
First time for me was 1963. Tube stolen and inflated with a line to a spark plug port on a '58 Chevy. The tube could have exploded if you looked at it cross-eyed. But it worked.
When I was 11 years old (1967), I was at the Salesmanship Club boy's camp in East Texas for a couple of years. We practiced canoeing at Caddo lake, for a while, then went down the Sabine River from Gladewater, in north Texas, to the Gulf of Mexico (600 miles). It took us 7 weeks and a day, and we were all expert canoers by the time we finished. Mishaps and all, I'd do it again if I could. Unfortunately, that was the last time I ever got to use a canoe!
I kayaked an undeveloped section of the Missouri River in Montana. 150 miles in 5 days. There were three canoes in the party, but my wife and I used sea kayacks. Mostly, it's a lazy trip. You don't have to paddle unless you feel like it. The Missouri is a fast moving body of water, but without rapids. I tried paddling my kayak against the current, and couldn't do it. I think you might when the river is low, but after heavy rains the water runs fast. There were no nearby roads most of the time. Only one bridge in 150 miles.
Kayaking is good, but I've only done it once. I had to make paddles from two flat-head shovels taped together, but it worked - a little too good, in fact. I had to back-paddle hard to avoid a collision, and flipped the thing 180 degrees, which dumped me right in the water. It was only waist deep, though, so I just came up laughing my ass off.
Brazilian Pepper trees have taken over Fl and probably moving north at a rapid pace.
a take over by brazilian pepper trees.. now that's a riot.
My parents have one at their house. The branches grow very fast. It can get out of control if it isnt cut every year. It drops a few seeds that grow every year, but still only one tree cause we take out the seedlings. Had lots of fun with my sister cause that tree is a magnet for weird bugs. I think there was 3 kinds of mexican fruit fly in the year they sprayed L.A. County.
Quote from: aitm on June 03, 2017, 02:10:16 PM
Brazilian Pepper trees have taken over Fl and probably moving north at a rapid pace.
I wonder what'll happen when it meets the kudzu?
(http://www.themastershift.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/kudzu1.jpg)
:headscratch:
Quote from: Unbeliever on June 05, 2017, 07:11:45 PM
I wonder what'll happen when it meets the kudzu?
(http://www.themastershift.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/kudzu1.jpg)
:headscratch:
Photosynthesis wins, plant eaters die
Quote from: Baruch on June 05, 2017, 07:41:37 PM
Photosynthesis wins, plant eaters die
by god our scientist are working on bringing back the bronto..er...sego...er..flaut..er..long neck dinosaurs....then WE WILL SEE!!!!....!
Quote from: aitm on June 05, 2017, 09:44:19 PM
by god our scientist are working on bringing back the bronto..er...sego...er..flaut..er..long neck dinosaurs....then WE WILL SEE!!!!....!
Some people here are hoping for the dickasaurus. Greatest gonad, bigger than the pecker on a blue whale, which is of course, a whale of a pecker ;-)
Don't make fun of the T-rex's small hands, they are very sensitive about that ;-)
Quote from: aitm on June 05, 2017, 09:44:19 PM
by god our scientist are working on bringing back the bronto..er...sego...er..flaut..er..long neck dinosaurs....then WE WILL SEE!!!!....!
are you sayin they started growin kudzu first so there would be food for vegan dinosaurs? arrogant bastards.... btw cows are vegan. any body up for a rack of bronto ribs?
Quote from: Baruch on June 05, 2017, 10:24:57 PM
Don't make fun of the T-rex's small hands, they are very sensitive about that ;-)
You mean like this?
(http://www.dumpaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/a-funny-T-Rex-toilet-paper-picture.jpg)
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600x315/c0/87/d9/c087d99900e051863dfc759fb6b25194.jpg)
T-wrecks? is that the new handle for Trump?
Quote from: fencerider on June 08, 2017, 11:29:26 PM
T-wrecks? is that the new handle for Trump?
I've been calling him T.rump since November.
Quote from: Unbeliever on June 06, 2017, 05:25:31 PM
You mean like this?
(http://www.dumpaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/a-funny-T-Rex-toilet-paper-picture.jpg)
not only cant reach the paper... cant reach his butt either
Even earthworms are an invasive species!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9105956
Quote from: Unbeliever on June 16, 2017, 08:05:50 PM
Even earthworms are an invasive species!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9105956
Dang bi-genders!
your nucyaler bomb is sounding better and better all the time... but it has the unwanted side effect of dying
Quote from: fencerider on June 17, 2017, 01:34:54 PM
your nucyaler bomb is sounding better and better all the time... but it has the unwanted side effect of dying
Nuclear war will just create more mutations. Two-headed Republicans, and three-legged Democrats ;-)
I ordered 6 purple-leaved coreopsis from a plant company, and got purple loostrife instead. Didn't realize it until they started to spread everywhere. I am still killig them.
My neighbor planted some god-awful groundcover just before he moved 10 years ago. It spread into my yard and I am still fighting it. Its in my garden, so I can't just spray it, and it has deep roots. I need goats.