The Great Invasion

The introduction of foreign species has a profoundly negative impact on native wildlife, but is it all doom and gloom? Let's have a respectful discussion.

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Introduced species that manage to wedge themselves into the ecosystem and become part of it are based and we should have more of them.
    Pic related

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I concur.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        This is a poor example. Pheasants feed on snakes and are one of the main reasons the UK has reduced numbers of adders and grass-snakes.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          snakes are natural. you prioritize an invasive species over a native species you don't like?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            No, I'm saying the introduction of Pheasants (and other game birds) to the UK is bad.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      California Quail was introduced in my country (Chile) and it adapted extremely well, becoming more common here than in California itself.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Interesting.

        kek we tried to introduce rainbow trout decades ago but they didnt survive, same with lake trout.
        and it made no sense really why they wanted to introduce them nor why they didnt survive, our lakes are full of regular trout and artic charr.

        You're glad lake trout didn't survive. They decimate native trout populations. What country?

        Invasive species can be an abundant food source for wild, native species, causing them to rebound. This is what has happened with wild trout in Lake Champlain, they have rebounded to the point where hatcheries have to stock fewer trout because there are so many in the lake now.
        I've also seen this with invasive tree pest species, yes some are seriously devastating tree populations in the northeast, but breeding bird populations are booming as a result. (The worry is the future population crashes when the trees are super fricked.)

        Which tree pest species are you referring to?

        This is a poor example. Pheasants feed on snakes and are one of the main reasons the UK has reduced numbers of adders and grass-snakes.

        Huh, I didn't know pheasants ate snakes. Welp, frick pheasant then.

        https://i.imgur.com/loOw43p.png

        Frick Scotch broom

        Goddamn I hate that shit. I used to get paid to eradicate it. Had to use a pulaski to grub it out.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          norway. there is a handfull of lakes where they live and breed, not in huge numbers and not enough to outbreed native fish.
          i been to the lake pic related was caught and we could fish trout and pike like any other lake.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      The bad thing about a true invasive is that it'll be so ubiquitous that it won't be recognized as such. Phragmites, for example, will form monotypic stands in the same tidal marsh that Northern Snakehead inhabits. Which is more hated?

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Phragmites are horrible, but on another note I still find it hilarious how people will cry all day about snakeheads destroying muh game fish as if bass and bluegill aren't invasive species themselves. In fact, largemouth bass do all the actual damage that they claimed snakeheads cause. Bass will eat all sorts of fish, amphibians, turtles, and ducklings, while studies by the USFWS found that the majority of a snakehead's diet is made up of banded killifish. I personally don't care about either, I just think that people are too moronic to realize that both species contribute to a more diverse and interesting fishery.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Phragmites are all over the Colorado River and tributaries. Tamarisk and phragmites instead of cottonwood and willow. Looks like the middle east.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Phragmites australis is a very unique case because it occurs naturally both in North America and Europe, but P. australis of European stock behaves differently in North American water bodies and becomes invasive.

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Tamarisk is cancer. Picrel is the Colorado River near Moab. Tamarisk has virtually taken over every riparian area in the Colorado Plateau.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      frickin kudzu in midsouth/south
      hate that shit

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I suppose it depends. For example, carp shit up waterways. But then you have things that naturalize and provide some benefits. I both love and hate blackberries but they arent from here. They also seem to provide good habitat for small birds but can be horrible to deal with due to their aggressive growth and nasty thorns. I can’t imagine living without the smell of eucalyptus trees when I do my easy day hikes despite them organically being from thousands of miles away. Everything kind of equals out over a long enough time frame and I wonder if people constantly meddling and tinkering to fix previous meddling isnt worse than just letting nature sort it out

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Although eucalyptus is non-native in CA, I wouldn't really call it invasive as it would be easy to eradicate. It's a shit wood though, not good for anything you'd normally use wood for. And of course the oil in the leaves kills native vegetation under the canopy. Himalayan blackberry (the species endemic in N. California and the Pacific Northwest) I would classify as invasive and harmful, choking out native vegetation and reducing wildlife habitat in riparian zones.

      >Everything kind of equals out over a long enough time frame

      I'm not sure about this; the rapid decline in biodiversity in N. America has consequences yet to be fully understood. It's likely that humans will overcome this while native wildlife is replaced by rats, feral cats, and noxious weeds.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        It's not up to you to classify what's invasive and what's not, that's what orgs like the IUCN and ISSG are for

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          So if a control-resistant non-indigenous plant is perennially sprouting up in my backyard it's not invasive unless the IUCN says it is?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Exactly, the term "invasive" only refers to plants that are colonizing wild habitats and disrupting local ecosystems. Anything can sprout in a garden setting, even plants that would normally not survive through the winter in your area

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              So has the ISSG classified Armenian (Himalayan) blackberry as invasive in Oregon? Because the Oregon government has, and I wonder if the state of Oregon had to receive permission from the IUCN/ISSG beforehand.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                States monitor invasive species within their borders with the aid of associations like the ones I mentioned

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                There's a difference between "classifying" and "monitoring" in this context.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              What I'm wondering is, if a non-indigenous species is introduced somewhere and takes hold, does the local government have to get permission from the IUCN before it classifies it invasive?

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                It doesn't need permissions, but in order to determine the status of the introduced species it relies on the work of said specialists

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Yeah but at least trout are great fishing and taste lovely.

    You can fly fish them, float fish them, and probably catch them in other ways that I don't know about. Nothing like pulling those beautiful bastards out of the water and firing up the pan.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Employees of the US Fish and Wildlife Service are the people I'm aware of who have a problem with rainbow trout, but in fairness it's because bows outcompete native cutthroat trout in the Rockies.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Yes that's why we need to fish the rainbows and fry them up with butter and a little bit of lemon juice.

        We have them here in the UK, I'll be going to the Lake District when it warms up a bit and hopefully pulling some big ones.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Good luck anon, hope you catch a some fatties. I lived in England for a year and somehow managed to miss the Lake District. A bit of rosemary goes well with the butter and lemon.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Thanks man. 🙂

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    rainbow trout does not belong in northern europe, they are only put in instead of regular trout because they are way more cheaper and even if they manage to spawn they will die off like clockwork
    fishing from a barrel is a known joke but here that is the norm and you have to be ready to pay serious money if you want to fish big streams without rainbows in them

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I'm surprised any northern European country would stock rainbows. It's ever so hypocritical.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        basically majority of people show up during the stocking day and at the place where they release the mostly unconscious fish from the tank there is a crowd of people with long shafted nets, they scoop up their fish and call it a day

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Oh. I fly cast for trout but it's not for everybody. Is angling (rod and reel) not very common in Finland?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            they are but like i said most people just show up for the stocking day on streams and after that fish max 5 days until the next stocking day and that is basically it

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              Gotcha. That's how some folks around here fish.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >Eurocucks b***hing about rainbow trout
    You guys have next to no fish species to the point you take fricking carp fishing seriously, and you guys don't want trout, the most diverse fish species, the best looking fish species, and one of the best tasting. Jesus tap dancing Christ what is wrong with Europeans.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Who's complaining from Europe?

      I said I'm happy to fish them, and the fact that they're invasive makes it even better. You sound like you could do with a cup of tea to be honest mate.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      kek we tried to introduce rainbow trout decades ago but they didnt survive, same with lake trout.
      and it made no sense really why they wanted to introduce them nor why they didnt survive, our lakes are full of regular trout and artic charr.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >you guys don't want trout
      I want the trout species that are native to my country.

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Invasive species can be an abundant food source for wild, native species, causing them to rebound. This is what has happened with wild trout in Lake Champlain, they have rebounded to the point where hatcheries have to stock fewer trout because there are so many in the lake now.
    I've also seen this with invasive tree pest species, yes some are seriously devastating tree populations in the northeast, but breeding bird populations are booming as a result. (The worry is the future population crashes when the trees are super fricked.)

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Unnatural population booms caused by invasive species are terrible for habitats in the long run.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        The same applies in human terms.

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Frick Scotch broom

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Newfoundlander here;
    We've have many animals introduced here over the years.
    - moose
    - snowshoe hare (we have arctic hare native)
    - mink
    - rainbow trout (we have other native trout species)
    - shrew

    Our native wolf has been extinct for decades, but recently labrador wolf, coyote, and coyote hybrids have arrived to the island via ice pans. Interesting how nature replaced the extinct newfie wolf.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      What do your wildlife biologists and fellow outdoorsmen think about it? That's what this thread is about.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        These fricking critters have been rocking out here since the 1800s now. Moose and snowshoe hare were introduced to have more hunt-able animals. They tried (and failed) bring bison here. Shrew were brought in to take out spruce tree pests. Now the little bastards are almost worse than newfies!

        How's the introduction of stable employment going?

        Lol needs to get me stamps by!!!

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      How's the introduction of stable employment going?

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    humans are the worst invasive species of all time. no amount of invasive animals can outdo or undo what humans have already done, and we aren't done. no humans can EVER complain about an invasive species without looking like a low IQ hypocrite. it's fricked mate.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Introducing invasive species is part of the damage humans do to the environment, so it's our responsibility to eradicate them.

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    In AZ, there are seasons and bag limits on native dove species. But you can rampage on Eurasian collared doves 365 days a year and just stomp and piss on their bodies and leave them for the vultures. Use lead free ammo please.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Are Eurasion collared doves good eating? I like mourning dove with gravy.

  12. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >Some moron dumped his mollies into the Salt River in AZ.
    >Proceed to breed prolifically in the calmer backwaters/slower parts.
    >Bass population explodes because they have an ever breeding plague to devour.
    >AZDFG has to lift limits on bass because they're stunting each other now.
    >mfw Watching people from out of state lose their minds when dudes go home with 30+ dink bass like they're keeping bluegill.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      That's also the story of striped bass in Lake Powell.

    • 1 year ago
      Bepis

      You should see Florida then. Haven’t seen mollies, but there’s so many random populations of aquarium fish, plus everything is connected by canals so they spread.

      I’ve seen a bunch of different types of cichlids. We used to have a lot of Oscars until a cold winter wiped a lot of them out, then these Mayan cichlids basically replaced them and compete with bluegill. Caught some jaguar cichlids in this one lake, seen Jack Dempsey and Midas cichlid popularions too.

      Then there’s the plecos, those are everywhere but you can’t really catch them on rod and reel.

      And then there’s snakeheads, and after you catch a few, you start to realize why they can overtake ecosystems from other predators. They’re fun to catch though, they hit hard and fight hard. And we have peawiener bass but thay was supposedly the DNR’s answer to the other invasive species. They seem to live along side LMB pretty well.

  13. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >New species arrives into town
    >New species is more successful at surviving than local species
    >Darwin is right, strong replace the weak
    >This is bad because ¿?

    Local fauna should be more adapted to habitat than the foreign one, if they cannot deal with a new species it is their fault
    >But new species has no predator
    Bullshit.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Invasive species are not taken up by the local ecosystem but instead destroy it. We introduce invasive species in such a rate that ecosystems can't adapt quickly enough. How is that a positive outcome?

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >>But new species has no predator
      >Bullshit.
      You can call bullshit and stamp your feet, doesn't change the reality, just look at cane toads. Nothing wants to eat them and thus they breed and eat and breed more until you're overrun with the bastards

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Except cane toads are a perfect example of the ecosystem adapting to an outsider. Native corvids and water rats are starting to learn that in order to eat the toad without getting poisoned they can flip it over and eat the bottom.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Local fauna should be more adapted to habitat than the foreign one

      Local fauna is adapted to the local conditions with the inherent checks and balances of a stable ecosytem. Invasive species are not bound by those balances and go wild or become dominant to the determent of the stable ecoystem. Its not hard to understand if you are objective about it.

      >Bullshit.
      tell that to the Burmese pythons eating the everglades.

  14. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    We have these frickers everywhere, to the point native European crawfish has more or less gone extinct.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Frick's sake, at least tell us what species. Is it P. virginalis?

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        A lot of them!

        Procambarus clarkii
        Faxonius virilis
        Orconectes limosus
        Procambarus acutus
        Pacifastacus leniusculus

        However, Procambarus clarkii is what i’ve caught the most. This picture was a few years back. All self caught.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Ngl, I'm kind of jealous. The only delicious invasive species we have in my area is blackberry and a couple types of small clam

  15. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I LIKE KILLING HOGS
    WITH TRAPS
    WITH A RIFLE
    WITH A SHOTGUN
    WITH A PISTOL
    WITH DOGS
    WITH A SPEAR
    WITH A KNIFE
    WITH MY TRUCK
    WITH THERMITE SET UP OVER BAIT

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