Wild Boar Moving North

Blue Plate Special Garden Snails

Summer is coming to a close. It’s time to start harvesting in the garden–and gathering the garden snails.

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Prickly Pear

Fall is here, and the “cactus fig” is in season. Time to plate-up another widespread invader.

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Sow Thistle

It’s spring and time to weed. Sow thistle is a delicious invader found throughout the continent.

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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 [...]

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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. [...]

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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…

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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 [...]

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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 . . .

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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 . . .

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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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Watercress

  Nasturtium officianale Native Range: Northern Africa, Europe, temperate Asia, and India Invasive Range: In USA: all lower 48 states, except North Dakota. Found in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Also southern Canada, Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Australasia, and parts of tropical Asia. Habitat: Common along stream margins, ditches, and other areas with [...]

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Crayfish

  There are numerous invasive crayfish. We include details for the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and the rusty crayfish (Orenectes rusticus). The same recipes can be used for both species–and many other invasive crayfish. Red Swamp Crayfish Native range: Known as Louisiana crayfish, crawdad, and mudbug, Procambarus clarkii is native to the south central [...]

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Preventing the Spread of Invasives by Boats

Boating season is picking up. To protect a body of water from an invasive species transfer, stop by a boat washing station to clean the exterior of your boat, drain all water from ballast tanks, and then dry it to kill any unseen hitchhikers.

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House Passes Resolution on Invasive Species

114th CONGRESS, 2d Session, May 25, 2016

H. RES. 754

Expressing the commitment of the House of Representatives to work to combat the nationwide problem of invasive species threatening native ecosystems.

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Eat the Invaders on New Hampshire Public Radio

Outside/In Radio cooks up nutria and periwinkles.

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Eating Invasives in Canada

In Canada, the European green crab and Asian crab have been threatening shellfish stocks on the Atlantic coast, while farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan are constantly battling wild boars. If we can’t beat them, can we eat them? Read more at CBCNews.

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Nonnative Striped Bass Could Lose Protections in CA

Striped bass aren’t native to California, and they forage on juvenile salmon. Should goals to increase their population be rescinded? There’s no conservation need to protect nonnative fish in the area, but is the agenda to reduce water flow to rivers and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta? Read more here

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