Invasive Species

[Ken L]

Just been reading this. While it's good to see that some sort of coordinated work is finally being done to deal with the alien invaders infesting our coutryside, the article is rubbish. There's no mention of aquatic beasties like crayfish and the only plant that it talks about is Water Hyacynth which isn't a problem species anywhere in Europe - unlike Himalayan balsom, Japanese knot weed, Budliea, Wireweed etc, which very definatly are.

[chesters1]

around here its ragwort ,a no doubt opportunity for money making for the council ,as its against the law to have it on your land (in some councils eyes) i expect councils can fine land owners that have it ,strange though (or very clever) the seeds float in from road verges and council land where the same laws don't seem to be enforced isnt noticed by land owners

there is legislation for the weed its self but nothing about having to remove it! some council merely say its unlawful to have it and act accordingly ,like half the LAW in the country used to extract money from the unwary it doesnt exist in reality but is used to bribe or punih the unwary into parting with something the council want.

 

strangely if the council makes an "order" for you to remove it it suddenly becomes a "crime" hence the council don't make an order against the highways or themselves ,clever

its a pity the council aren't getting rid of "wild campers" (i'l use a nice term as i'm not living there) at the warren ,do the council not realise if some one occupies a bit of ground for 12? years they get it! ,the boat chap mungo has a nice woodern house and looks very settled on his (or will be in ten years) beach if not moved on.

 

a gypsy couple moved onto some council land near our guildford house and put in stakes around the wood they lived in ,the council did little more than blustering and the odd headline catching crap and now the same couple have 15 acres free from you and me!

another family have moved into a field with a very nice mobile home (their own field bought to house their horses) you and me would have been evicted post haste but seemingly they used the race card so now its a public enquiry the council will eventually give up and hey presto the laws that bind us have been got around once more

Edited September 21, 2010 by chesters1

[Worms]

around here its ragwort ,a no doubt opportunity for money making for the council ,as its against the law to have it on your land (in some councils eyes) i expect councils can fine land owners that have it ,strange though (or very clever) the seeds float in from road verges and council land where the same laws don't seem to be enforced isnt noticed by land owners

there is legislation for the weed its self but nothing about having to remove it! some council merely say its unlawful to have it and act accordingly ,like half the LAW in the country used to extract money from the unwary it doesnt exist in reality but is used to bribe or punih the unwary into parting with something the council want.

 

strangely if the council makes an "order" for you to remove it it suddenly becomes a "crime" hence the council don't make an order against the highways or themselves ,clever

its a pity the council aren't getting rid of "wild campers" (i'l use a nice term as i'm not living there) at the warren ,do the council not realise if some one occupies a bit of ground for 12? years they get it! ,the boat chap mungo has a nice woodern house and looks very settled on his (or will be in ten years) beach if not moved on.

 

a gypsy couple moved onto some council land near our guildford house and put in stakes around the wood they lived in ,the council did little more than blustering and the odd headline catching crap and now the same couple have 15 acres free from you and me!

another family have moved into a field with a very nice mobile home (their own field bought to house their horses) you and me would have been evicted post haste but seemingly they used the race card so now its a public enquiry the council will eventually give up and hey presto the laws that bind us have been got around once more

But it's a native species! food plant of our native cinnabar moth.......illegal to have it on your land? Bloody horse huggers, too idle to pull it before they hay cut...or buy hay that hasn't had it removed!

[Janet]

Trust Chesters to take a thread totally off topic again....ah bless, you've got to love him, haven't you? Can't live with him...not allowed to shoot him....

 

I think the OP was referring to alien and invasive plant/animal species such as crayfish, Himalayan balsam, Japanese knot weed etc and not people.

 

If you want to have a rant about people and Council policies, then start a new one....otherwise I can see this one going down the pan almost as soon as it started....

 

Janet

[chesters1]

But it's a native species! food plant of our native cinnabar moth.......illegal to have it on your land? Bloody horse huggers, too idle to pull it before they hay cut...or buy hay that hasn't had it removed!

i think it was introduced as a medicinal plant in the medieval period in physic gardens and like other weeds became "weeds" at first following the railways and now the roads .

its supposed to effect not only horses (it can effect many other animals as well) but supposedly humans through skin contact as well but after pulling the stuff for years (yes most people do remove it as around here horse is king) i'v never felt unwell dealing with it ,my point was about the council deliberately harbouring it

as for janets point about being off topic i was only slightly the person in question was guilty of invading land and used the race card to stymie its "invasive" properties and before she gets off with chesters1 anti "gypsy" stance i married one (look up scamp + folkestone) who shares my thoughts on the invasion around here so you see its not off topic at all just a little more diversified.

should i mention rhododendrons invading the surrounding country side (wales has a big problem) or is it too boring to get back on topic ,remembering gypsies use their origins (also foreign/alien remember) to get around laws us ethnic weeds have to abide to

you get some yellow weeds live on your land and the council will come down hard on you but allow humans to do the same (which has far more laws to stop you doing it) with impunity because their alien ,seems wrong to me

allow your dog to crap and its up to a £10,000 fine but steal from an old lady you get a slap on the wrist also seems wrong to me and is off topic.

 

the flowering ragwort isnt much of a problem animals avoid it but the problem is as stated when its in hay ,you buy "organic" hay which animals love you take your chance! you buy hay from fields containing only grass (with no habitat for wild life) you get no ragwort simple ,the EU rules just make the problem worse as fields doing nothing get payments as if they had a crop ,i can show you set aside filds whose crop is only ragwort and docks i bet the horse owners next door wish the council do come down hard on them

the term "invasive" isnt restricted to animals or plants and along with humans from afar most of our food is "invasive" or at least introduced so removal of all but a fraction is impossible ,you can pick on ruddy ducks (well the spanish do) but so far very few if any have been removed once their feet are under the table so to speak.

the tents are up for our invasion of moslems the good thing is most go home again unlike ragwort or rhodies

 

its a pity some pick on my posts which at least contain mostly on topic bits and bobs and moan about the bits that dont but dont actually contribute anything at all to the original post ,they are quite happy to "get off" moaning about something else show me any post that doesn't go off topic (and back again) with my involvement or not

Edited September 21, 2010 by chesters1

[Botanist]

i think it was introduced as a medicinal plant in the medieval period in physic gardens and like other weeds became "weeds" at first following the railways and now the roads .

its supposed to effect not only horses (it can effect many other animals as well) but supposedly humans through skin contact as well but after pulling the stuff for years (yes most people do remove it as around here horse is king) i'v never felt unwell dealing with it ,my point was about the council deliberately harbouring it

 

You have repeated a number of well known urban legends. It is not illegal to have the plant on your land.

It is not poisonous to the touch!. It is not an introduced plant but a native one.

 

There have been many daft claims of huge numbers of animals poisoned by it, but the evidence shows that there is no serious problem with it at all in the UK.

 

see

 

Ragwort Facts

 

Youtube Video ->

Ragwort the sense and the nonsense

[Newt]

Welcome to Anglers' Net Botanist.

 

You will come to find that Chesters is much more fond of his legends that of boring facts and often posts things just to make sure someone is actually reading the topics.

[watatoad]

i think it was introduced as a medicinal plant in the medieval period in physic gardens and like other weeds became "weeds" at first following the railways and now the roads .

its supposed to effect not only horses (it can effect many other animals as well) but supposedly humans through skin contact as well but after pulling the stuff for years (yes most people do remove it as around here horse is king) i'v never felt unwell dealing with it ,my point was about the council deliberately harbouring it

as for janets point about being off topic i was only slightly the person in question was guilty of invading land and used the race card to stymie its "invasive" properties and before she gets off with chesters1 anti "gypsy" stance i married one (look up scamp + folkestone) who shares my thoughts on the invasion around here so you see its not off topic at all just a little more diversified.

should i mention rhododendrons invading the surrounding country side (wales has a big problem) or is it too boring to get back on topic ,remembering gypsies use their origins (also foreign/alien remember) to get around laws us ethnic weeds have to abide to

you get some yellow weeds live on your land and the council will come down hard on you but allow humans to do the same (which has far more laws to stop you doing it) with impunity because their alien ,seems wrong to me

allow your dog to crap and its up to a £10,000 fine but steal from an old lady you get a slap on the wrist also seems wrong to me and is off topic.

 

the flowering ragwort isnt much of a problem animals avoid it but the problem is as stated when its in hay ,you buy "organic" hay which animals love you take your chance! you buy hay from fields containing only grass (with no habitat for wild life) you get no ragwort simple ,the EU rules just make the problem worse as fields doing nothing get payments as if they had a crop ,i can show you set aside filds whose crop is only ragwort and docks i bet the horse owners next door wish the council do come down hard on them

the term "invasive" isnt restricted to animals or plants and along with humans from afar most of our food is "invasive" or at least introduced so removal of all but a fraction is impossible ,you can pick on ruddy ducks (well the spanish do) but so far very few if any have been removed once their feet are under the table so to speak.

the tents are up for our invasion of moslems the good thing is most go home again unlike ragwort or rhodies

 

its a pity some pick on my posts which at least contain mostly on topic bits and bobs and moan about the bits that dont but dont actually contribute anything at all to the original post ,they are quite happy to "get off" moaning about something else show me any post that doesn't go off topic (and back again) with my involvement or not

 

 

You have repeated a number of well known urban legends. It is not illegal to have the plant on your land.

It is not poisonous to the touch!. It is not an introduced plant but a native one.

 

There have been many daft claims of huge numbers of animals poisoned by it, but the evidence shows that there is no serious problem with it at all in the UK.

 

see

 

Ragwort Facts

 

Youtube Video ->

Ragwort the sense and the nonsense

 

 

I would not worry too much whatever the Government or its lackies and agencies say:

 

1: They cant keep drugs out of the UK

 

2: They cant stop criminals having guns in the UK

 

3: They cant keep Marijuana out of sealed communities - prisons

 

4: They cant keep crooks out of the House of Commons...hehehe

[Ken Davison South Wales]

Back on topic

 

Buddleia I have to state is a shrub which I sell quite a number of and is more often than not purchsed for these reasons.

 

This shrub provides a rich source of nectar, the plants will bloom from summer to autumn, and attracts wildlife. These plants are great for attracting butterflies, moths, hoverflies and finches to the garden.

 

We have two in the borders of our car park and as yet (several years) there has been no self seeding even though the car park area is only compacted stone. The fact is they are very easy to control, yes I have seen large areas of buddleia and mostly grown by Chester's pet hate the local council on areas of land they have neglected. However it is increasing the wildlife

[chesters1]

we get self seeding of buddliea from next doors bush and plenty of ragwort from seeds blown in from the verges.

yes they do cater for many species and when its not a big majority of one plant theres little wrong with them.

 

if this warming carries on then plants we struggled to grow will flourish and no doubt our native insects will use them as well as "native" plants ,perhaps some plants will be neglected by our insects for a while as they are pollinated by a particular insect in the wild where they originate from but i suspect another insect will spot the opening and jump in.

our native plants that cannot tolerate the extra warmth will move north or acclimatise as they have over hundreds of warm/cool periods

 

Watatoad ,i wouldnt take to much as truth in your site it carefully picks dodgy bit of "research" and doesnt even have the balls to reveal who runs the site ,perhaps its a collection of cinnabar moth lovers .

 

It mentions "goats" and bovine's goats dont seem to be bothered at all by ragwort dry or fresh (common knowledge) and bovines totally ignore it fresh (i can post a pic of it growing in a cow field untouched),the problem is with horses and dry ragwort

as i said myself i havnt noticed an effect handling it and i handled it by the lorry load so it had a good chance of being naughty if it wanted ,my liver appears fine i hope and thats where the problem lies in that particular plant. ,not sure where the "evidence" comes from it effects humans?

I'm sure the government (even stupid ones) wouldn't introduce a plant specific act without any real research after all theres no oil or power to get from doing so thus little reason outside ragworts particular properties.

 

the plant originates from "Eurasia" not the UK it seeds plentifully and is extremely hardy ,like carp or carrots just because its been here for centuries or millennia does not mean its a native

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html

 

most of our plants are introduced and most for medicinal reasons ,our native (whatever that means) plants were available to all in the medieval period so theres no point in trying to flog something thats free our pre chemists were not stupid so they imported plants species by the thousand to experiment with ,the railways and now roads spread the seeds through out the country giving the idea it was a native because it was everywhere

 

heres oxford ragworts history ,interesting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senecio_squalidus

most other plants that were introduced started in physic gardens then escaped and now some are very common to the effect of ousting "native" and less fertile plants out of large areas of the country

 

we regard potatoes as english we have thousands of varieties they are now seen as a "native" crop but as you know 600 years ago they were unknown ,cabbages probably came over with the romans ,apples from turkey etc etc

Edited September 26, 2010 by chesters1