Wild Boar Moving North

March 31, 2012

Wild boars caught on a camera trap in New York State.

Wily, Elusive Foragers Invade Upstate New York
By Lisa W. Foderaro
Feral pigs, known as eating machines in the South and West, are now troubling farms in New York’s Champlain Valley, devouring crops and prey.

“There’s a real sense of urgency. Once the pigs get established, they are very difficult to eradicate completely.”
– Ed Reed, wildlife biologist for New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

Read the full article in The New York Times here.

Read Eat the Invaders’ profile on wild boar here.

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Land

Lamb’s Quarters

Lamb’s quarters was a popular spring tonic in the South—an early season edible green—but its leaves are good throughout the summer. Chenopodium album Native range: Described by Linnaeus in 1753, this European native has been transferred throughout much of the world. Because its spread was rarely recorded, C. album‘s native and invasive [...]

Wild Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare Native range: Mediterranean, from Turkey west to Spain and Morocco Invasive range: Much of North and South America, South Africa, and parts of Oceania and the British Isles. Check out the USDA Plants Database to see if it’s found near you. Habitat: Roadsides, pastures, along the edge of wild habitats. Rocky shores [...]

GarlicMustard1

Garlic Mustard

Alliaria petiolata Native range: Europe, Asia, Northwest Africa Invasive range: Much of the Lower 48, Alaska, and Canada. (See map.) Habitat: Moist, shaded soil of floodplains, forests, roadsides, edges of woods, and forest openings. Often dominant in disturbed areas. Description: Biennial herb. First-year plant has a rosette of green leaves close to the ground. [...]

Wild Boar

Did the domestic ancestors of today’s feral pigs streak off De Soto’s ship into the Florida scrub of their own accord in 1539? Or did they have to be urged to go find something to eat? All you need to…

Burdock

Native to the Old World, burdock’s introduction to North America was noted in 1672 by John Josselyn, a sharp-eyed English visitor, who used Gerard’s Herbal: The Historie of Plants of 1597 as a field guide. . . .

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Sea

Lionfish

Some say it started in 1992 in Miami when Hurricane Andrew smashed an aquarium tank. Don’t blame the weather, others say; in the mid-nineties, disappointed yet softhearted hobbyists…

Wakame

Undaria pinnatifida Native range: Japan Sea Invasive range: Southern California, San Francisco Bay, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Argentina Habitat: Opportunistic seaweed, can be found on hard substrates including rocky reefs, pylons, buoys, boat hulls, and abalone and bivalve shells. Description: Golden brown seaweed, growing up to nine feet. Forms thick canopy. Reproductive sporophyll in [...]

Asian Shore Crab

The first sighting of the Asian shore crab in the United States was at Townsend Inlet, Cape May County, New Jersey, in 1988. Though the source is unknown . . .

Periwinkle

The common periwinkle, which first appeared in New England in the 1860s, is now found along the coast wherever there’s hard substrate–rocks, riprap, broken concrete, or docks–from Labrador to . . .

Green Crab

Since the green crab was first recorded off southern Massachusetts in 1817, it has been hard to ignore. A few minutes of rock-flipping in Maine can turn up dozens of them, brandishing their claws as they retreat…

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Fresh

Blue Plate Special: Red Swamp Crawfish

Spring is here, and it’s time for invasivores to think about our next culinary adventure. Get your 40-quart pots ready for a crawfish boil.

Bullfrog

“They live in a wide variety of habitats, colonize new ones readily, and eat everything that fits into their mouths,” says Dr. Peter Moyle of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC-Davis…

Northern Snakehead

His sister was ailing, and the man in Maryland remembered that, back home in Hong Kong, there was a fish that was considered a delicacy and a restorative. He would make a fish soup…

Common Carp

For a bottom-feeder, what is the good life? The common carp isn’t very demanding: any body of water that’s sluggish and murky will do. One catching sewage or…

Nutria

Nutria, also known as coypu and river rat, is native to temperate and subtropical South America. It has been introduced to Europe, Asia, and Africa, mainly for fur farming. These voracious. . .

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Field Notes

Invasive Cuisine

Joe Roman talks with Jane Lindholm of Vermont Public Radio about his mission to change what’s on our dinner plates. Listen here.

The Gourmet Invasivore’s Dilemma

“The invasivore movement has caught fire. Some of the worst invaders, like gypsy moths and Asian long-horned beetles, will not grace lunch counters anytime soon, yet where perniciousness meets deliciousness, there is hope.” Rowan Jacobsen writes about Bun Lai and Joe Roman in April’s Outside Magazine.

New Green Crab Fishery in Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada wants to create a commercial green crab fishery on Prince Edward Island. Read more about it here.

Invader vs. Invader

Crazy ants may soon displace fire ants from much of the southeastern U.S. and become the new ecologically dominant invasive ant species. Read more here.

Eat the Invaders in Brazil

Fala portugués? Eat the Invaders has been covered by Brazil’s Época magazine. Roast capybara, anyone? Coma as Invasores

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“Regionality also carries an emotional meaning, which is now growing all over the world. When you cook with ingredients from everywhere, you lose the specialness of the things you have locally.”

–self-taught Chef Daniel Patterson, owner of Coi, San Francisco, holder of two Michelin stars

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