1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from House Stuff Works 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: There's childs of You Bryant, There's Jerry Do Do Do 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,119 Speaker 1: Do Do Do do do this Stuff You Should Know 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: Action Edition. I gotta laugh out of Jerry, at least giggle. 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: I got a a derisive snort. How about that. That's 7 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: what it was. How you doing, I'm great. Well, I'm 8 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: concerned about the Earth. You're concerned about the Earth. Yes, 9 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: more than usual? Yes, because of this podcast? Yes, okay, yeah. Man. 10 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: So before we get started, you've heard of the anthroposcene, right, Uh? 11 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: I know you have. You definitely have. We've certainly mentioned 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: it before on the episode or on the podcast. So 13 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: there's this eight right now over whether we've entered a 14 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: new geological age from uh, the one to the Anthropocene? Right. Um. 15 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: I really wish I could remember what the current one 16 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: is because people are going to write it and be like, 17 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: it's this a million times over, which thank you everybody 18 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: for writing out. I mean to sound ungrateful, um, But 19 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: the the idea is that we've entered this period. Some 20 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: people place it starting at the Industrial Revolution, a lot 21 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,960 Speaker 1: of people place it more at nine fifty, when there 22 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: was apparently a huge spike in the presence of humanity 23 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: from radioactivity, plastics, all this stuff in the environment as 24 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: a whole. So where our presence has so muddied the 25 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: geological record that we've effectively come up with a new age, 26 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: a new geological age, the Anthropocene, the age of of humans. Right. 27 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: So one of the things, one of the factors that 28 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: people point to that suggests that we're we're changing the 29 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: natural geological record, thank you, Charles so Um. The the 30 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: idea that we we are altering what the natural course 31 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: of the Holocene, the of course it would have taken 32 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: had humans never been around. One of the ways we're 33 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: doing that is by shuffling species from one environment to another, 34 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: from one ecosystem to another where they've never been before, 35 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: probably never would have ended up, at least not in 36 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: any of our lifetimes. Um. And that they are altering 37 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: those ecosystems in radical new ways such that when those 38 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: things fossilized, those ecosystems become fossilized and can be studied, 39 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: you know, hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Hence 40 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: archaeologists would be pretty puzzled by what they were finding. Yeah, 41 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: and that's the basis of the idea that we should 42 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: be calling this the anthropasy. Now I'm scared. That was 43 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: my goal. Well done, thank you all right. So what 44 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: we're talking about is invasive species UM. And I'm surprised 45 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,799 Speaker 1: we hadn't done this one. I was too. I went 46 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: back and double checked and me to I don't And 47 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: I remembered what episode. I remember it was the Beagle Brigade. Oh, 48 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:33,639 Speaker 1: we talked a lot about invasive species and the Beagle 49 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: Brigade IM and we may have even said we should 50 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: do one on that. So if so, wish fulfilled. Uh So, 51 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: what we're talking about is invasive species. This is um. 52 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: This can be any type of It is not necessarily 53 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: a plant or just an animal. It could be seeds, 54 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: it could be eggs, it could be it can even 55 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: be a disease, right or yeah, pathogen, a past uh 56 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: predator or a plant just it could be anything. Yeah, 57 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: any kind of any kind of living organism that's not 58 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: native to a singular or a particular ecosystem. Right. But 59 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: and the house to Works article kind of leaves it 60 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: at that. But the UM National Wildlife Federation article that 61 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: you found, I think really kind of drives home that 62 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,679 Speaker 1: there's like an extra couple factors involved, right, Yeah, because 63 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: you can have a non native species that we actually 64 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: kind of like like European honey bees. There are non 65 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: native species here in the United States, but we're crazy 66 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 1: for the pollinating they do, right, and the honey that 67 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: they make. Rice is not a native um crop here 68 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,280 Speaker 1: in the United States, but people people love rice, so 69 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: there are just being non native isn't enough. It has 70 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: to actually harm the ecosystem that it's not native to 71 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: and has been introduced to in some ways, shape or form. 72 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,839 Speaker 1: So it's it's a non native species that's causing harm 73 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: either directly or indirectly or both to this new ecosystem. 74 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: It's it's been introduced to. That's an invasive species, right. 75 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: And it's not just do we grow rice in the 76 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: United States? Sure, okay uh. And it doesn't have to 77 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: be from another country. It can. Like we said, it's 78 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: an ecosystem, so it could be something from one area 79 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: of the United States to another area of the United States, 80 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: or from Mexico to the United States. Right, Like trout 81 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: from the Great Lakes, that's their natural habitats, so they're fine, 82 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: but you take that same trout and put it in 83 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: I think the example given was the Yellowstone River, and 84 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: they're now competing for habitat and food with the local trout. 85 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: That's an invasive species, right. They come in all shapes 86 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: and sizes. As our very own article says, uh, they're 87 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: different names for him. God loves them all. Like some 88 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: people might say exotic pests or a non indigenous species, 89 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: alien species, stuff like that, but invasive species is kind 90 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: of I think that's the go to these days. Sure, 91 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: that's the one you you here starting in the nineties. 92 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: Actually that's It's funny, like all of the eco stuff 93 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: that we know about, from recycling to invasive species, that 94 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: all was like born in the nineties, you know what 95 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: I mean. Bill Clinton, Uh, I think he wanted to 96 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: think he invented that name, but he went h. I 97 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 1: think he gave it. Gave him, he gave it the stamp. 98 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: What did he say though, I think he said nailed it. Yeah. 99 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: He could have been talking about any number of things 100 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: or people right there, but in that case he was 101 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:47,839 Speaker 1: talking specifically about Executive Order one three one one two, 102 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: where the term invasive species was first defined by the 103 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: United States government. And the reason that they did this, 104 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: the reason that they were defining invasive species because around 105 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: about that time, the world was really waking up to 106 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: the fact that if you take as species of plant, animal, bacteria, pathogen, whatever, 107 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: and you put it into a place, a new ecosystem 108 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: where it has no predators, it's going to create havoc 109 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: for the the the ecosystem as it was before. Yeah, 110 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: I mean, that's kind of one of the keys here 111 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: is that, um, generally they will cause a lot of harm, 112 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: maybe to the environment, maybe to the economy, maybe two people, 113 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: maybe one, two or all three of those. Uh. And 114 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: another key aspect of the invasive species is that it's 115 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: pretty hard, if not impossible, sometimes to contain an eradicate. Yeah. 116 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: I think I get this impression from researching this Chuck 117 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: that like the second wave of waking up to invasive 118 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: species realizing like they're never going to go away. Now 119 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: they're done. It's done. Like the first wave, you don't 120 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: notice it's already happening. Right by the time we do notice, 121 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: it's too late. And then now we're realizing like, okay, 122 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: well we can we can handle this. It might be 123 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: tough and now I think we're finding now we like it. Well, 124 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: now you can handle it. You just can't eradicate them. 125 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: One of the big problems is like if you if 126 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: you say, develop a poison that kills some you know, 127 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: non some invasive fish that was introduced, right, say carp um, 128 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: you're going to kill the other fish in the area too, 129 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: or some of the other sea life or something like that. 130 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: So there's just not really any way you can target 131 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: these things short of shooting each one of them. And 132 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: you're gonna shoot a plant because they'll think you're crazy, 133 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: they'll lock you up for that, So don't even try it. 134 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: And here's the deal is this. This is not a 135 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: new phenomenon. This nature has been doing this for years 136 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: on its own in various ways. Whether it's uh leaping 137 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: over the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand, or 138 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: over a channel of water like or over a mountain range. 139 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: It happens. But generally bodies of water and mountain ranges 140 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: and deserts and all these other geological features helped to 141 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: stop this stuff. It's really humans that are doing most 142 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 1: of this, uh, not necessarily on purpose, but sometimes on purpose. 143 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,959 Speaker 1: Um as we will see. But sometimes it's just like 144 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: it's in the ballast water of a ship, or it's 145 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: in uh there's an insect in the wood of UH, 146 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: or it's impacking material, it's in the wood of the 147 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: what are those things called the crates the palettes, Yeah, palettes, 148 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: shipping pallets, and all of a sudden it leaps out 149 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: on the other side of the world and you have 150 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: an issue to the tune of fifty thousand estimated non 151 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,559 Speaker 1: native species in the United States alone. Yeah, I was 152 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: looking that up. That's pretty That's one of those things 153 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: we always like give UM, you know, evidence or not evidence, 154 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:02,319 Speaker 1: UM advice if you see something all over the place, 155 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: like double check it. You know, no, I think it 156 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,839 Speaker 1: is a real number is from so there's no telling 157 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: is we're probably at fifty thousand and like five hundred now, 158 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: But it was from a guy named pim Intell, who 159 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: is a world famous ecologist. No, pim Intell, he's from Cornell. 160 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,599 Speaker 1: I don't know if he's still at Cornell. But the 161 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,079 Speaker 1: thing that this leaves out, though it's fifty thousand non 162 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:34,240 Speaker 1: native species, but that same study from ninety nine found 163 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: that UM about forty three hundred of them could be 164 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: considered invasive. Okay, that that's what was. One of the 165 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,079 Speaker 1: other ones are like the honeybe where we're like sweet 166 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 1: sure or rice don't don't forget rice? Uh? And like 167 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: I said, sometimes in the water, but ships hull sometimes 168 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: uh in this would and sometimes on purpose, like we said, 169 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: like when the Burmese python found its way to Florida. Dude, 170 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:00,960 Speaker 1: that was no accident. Are you have you looked up 171 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: Burmese python Everglades recently? Yes? Did they get so big 172 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: down there? And did you see the one that had 173 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: burst itself to death eating an alligator? What? No? But 174 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: I did see the alligator and the python fighting on 175 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: a golf course. That's amazing. That is amazing. That makes 176 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: me glad to be alive to see something like that. 177 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: You know. Well, here's the deal. While we're on that 178 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: um earlier that well, all right, more than two thousand 179 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: of these pythons have been removed. Two thousand have been 180 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: removed since two thousand two, when it was just I guess, 181 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:48,079 Speaker 1: recreational activity. But starting in March of last year, Florida 182 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: started sanctioning python hunters, and a thousand dudes applied. They accepted, 183 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 1: So we'll pay you minimum wage, will literally pay you 184 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: eight bucks an hour or I think that was a 185 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: minimum wage at the time to hunt pythons. And they're 186 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: all like done right, and they started hunting pythons. They've 187 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,959 Speaker 1: caught seven hundred and forty three since March of two 188 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: thousand seventeen and uh earlier this year or I'm sorry, 189 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: uh late last year in December. The dude Jason Leon 190 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: did you see that one that he caught now seventeen 191 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: ft long, a hundred and thirty three pound Burmese python. Uh. 192 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: And the reason why these are a big deal just, 193 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 1: you know, aside from just sheer terror. Uh, is there 194 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 1: eating furry creatures? A lot of them. I saw that 195 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: some populations down in the Everglades of Um types of deer, rabbits, um, 196 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: a lot of creatures that you know and love, have 197 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: gone down by up to nine in some areas because 198 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: of the Python University of Florida. And I won't say 199 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: what everyone wants me to say. Good for you man. Yeah, 200 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: that's like, how how can you be you know, possibly 201 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: the national champs and and throw shade at anybody below you? 202 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: You know, So the Ovius in Florida and gains Well 203 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: did a project they released this makes me so sad. 204 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: They released ninety five rabbits uh into the Everglades and 205 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: they these were all tracked. And it's not like when 206 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 1: these rabbits didn't turn up a year later and there 207 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: we can't find them. I guess snakes eate them. They 208 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: know that snakes eate them, so snakes did. A year later, 209 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: seventy seven percent of these rabbits were eaten and dead 210 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,680 Speaker 1: from these pythons. Wow, that's a problem. That is a 211 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 1: sad study. It is. Can you imagine like opening that 212 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: was crates and being like all right, free, you live 213 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: your new life. It's an adventure. Oh man, it's so sad. 214 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: So that's just one example of the most horrific uh. 215 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:08,319 Speaker 1: And that's not one that's like costing two hundred billion 216 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: dollars in damage a year. But that is an estimate 217 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: from professor at Cornell. That's the same one Pimentel. Yeah, 218 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: okay um, that's the estimate from him that it's costing 219 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: the United States between a hundred and two hundred billion 220 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: dollars a year in damage from all these invasive species problems. Yeah, 221 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: that's a lot of dough. It really is. And the 222 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: Burmese python is is a good example also of people 223 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: just releasing like a pet that you don't want anymore. 224 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: That's probably how they are established. That's absolutely how it 225 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: was established. There's other there's another there's a lizard called 226 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: the tagu which is a big problem in all of 227 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: Florida apparently as well. Um they're just a huge lizard 228 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: that were originally pets and we're released and now leave 229 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: established a feral population in Florida. And they apparently will 230 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: eat your cat, they've been known to do that. Will 231 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: um storm your house, They'll come into your house. It's 232 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: just a bad jam right. There's also the Neutria swamp rats, 233 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: which were originally grown for their fur in in the 234 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: in Louisiana. They use rat fur apparently in Louisiana or 235 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: to keep warm, and um that when the rat fur 236 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: industry went under in the thirties, I think they released 237 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: these things into the swamps. And then last most recently, 238 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: feral hogs were imported so that they could hunt them 239 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: and there's a huge population that's wrecking there. The ecosystems 240 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: they've been introduced to. So a lot of times humans 241 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: are lunkheads when it comes to shuffling animals and ecosystems 242 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: where they're they're not native. That snakes too big, put 243 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: it behind the house, right right, then let a bunch 244 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: of rabbits loose and see what happens. He wins, snake winds. 245 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: Snake winds. To take a break. Yeah, I was gonna 246 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: say the same thing. Well, actually quickly before we take 247 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: a break, I talked about how much it was costing 248 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: the U. S. Department of Interior spending about a hundred 249 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: million bucks or more a year trying to fight this 250 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: in various ways, all to very little success. All right, 251 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: so now with that stat we will we will take 252 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:59,600 Speaker 1: a break. So, Chuck, we talked about people releasing um 253 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: animals purposefully, and you mentioned some other ways. But one 254 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: of the things that that gets me is ballast water, Like, 255 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: how is this allowed to go on where a ship 256 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: will take on water to balance out its cargo load, 257 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: because you know, different cargo is going away different, It's 258 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,639 Speaker 1: gonna be laid out differently, so you need new ballasts 259 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: every time to to balance it out, which makes sense, 260 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,640 Speaker 1: But surely there can be some other technology because you're 261 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 1: you're like in Eastern Europe picking up a bunch of 262 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: water to balance your your ship out and that that 263 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: cargo is bound for Detroit. So you enter the Great 264 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: Lakes and you're like, oh, well, waters, water, I'll just 265 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,920 Speaker 1: release it here once I unload my cargo. And whatever 266 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: animals you picked up in Eastern Europe now live in 267 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: the Great Lakes. And this actually happened with the zebra muscle, 268 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: which is a huge, huge problem in the Great Lakes now, 269 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: the zebra muscle and the quagga muscle, Yeah, which apparently 270 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: are almost the same thing. Uh, and how they act 271 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:09,360 Speaker 1: there from Eastern Europe and they're small, and that's exactly 272 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:11,160 Speaker 1: how they ended up in the Great Lakes, like you said, 273 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,479 Speaker 1: and they boy talked about spreading are there, Like how 274 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: many are these? Like a trillion? A trillion at least. 275 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: The reason why it is like a quagga will live 276 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: or quagga or zebra muscle will live about five years 277 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 1: and the female in that time will produce five million eggs. 278 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: There's ten trillion of them, a hundred that's so many muscles, 279 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,120 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand of those that of those eggs will 280 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: reach adulthood, and so the offspring of one single muscle 281 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: will produce about half a billion adult offspring, So yeah, 282 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: ten trillion is a pretty reasonable number. And they just 283 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: entered the Great Lakes in the I think the nineteen eighties, 284 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 1: so just within what forty years gosh, can you believe 285 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,199 Speaker 1: the eighties or like forty years ago were coming up 286 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: on it? Um? It doesn't seem that long ago to me, 287 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: but man, that's crazy. Well, and the problem with these 288 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,040 Speaker 1: is you're like, wait, wait, I'm reminiscing stuff. All right, 289 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:13,680 Speaker 1: I'm done. The problem with these is like, big deal. 290 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: There are these tiny little muscles, but they are blanketing 291 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,120 Speaker 1: the bottom of the Great Lakes. Uh. And they're eating 292 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: plankton because they love to eat plankton, which makes the 293 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 1: water nice and clear. Everyone's like, look, how shimmery like 294 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: Michigan is. Have you seen pictures of like Michigan recently? 295 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: It looks like the Caribbean, really white sand, beautiful sea 296 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: through like turquoise water. It's good, people, gorgeous. No, it 297 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: looks really amazing. But ultimately, no, it's not healthy because, 298 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,479 Speaker 1: like you were saying, they eat all the plankton that's 299 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: supposed to be on top and on the bottom two 300 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:50,159 Speaker 1: and the the sunlight can penetrate all the way to 301 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 1: the bottom, causing algae blooms, deadly algae blooms. I I 302 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: just just happened to run across an article yesterday, Chuck, 303 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: and I und stood why I was seeing what I 304 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: was seeing. But the article was about how the Lake 305 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: Michigan has become so clear that you can see shipwrecks 306 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,199 Speaker 1: on the bottom of the lake from the air. If 307 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: you're flying over it, you can clearly see shipwrecks. And 308 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,199 Speaker 1: the reason why is because the zebra muscles have doubled 309 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: the clarity of the water since the nineteen eighties. Well, 310 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: and not only is it just the plankton, but they're 311 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: eating the plankton. Is is causing salmon to go hungry whitefish. Um, so, 312 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 1: if you you know, it's just it's wrecking the ecosystem 313 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: down there, right, thank you. In Europe that's say, yeah, well, 314 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: thank you ship captain who took on that water as ballast. 315 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: Another ballast story I ran across too was um uh, 316 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: fire ants the worst thing in humanity, right, that's pretty bad. 317 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: Fire Ants are native to South America, and they think 318 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: that they stowed away on dirt that was scooped up 319 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 1: as ship's ballast and released in New Orleans. Really yeah, 320 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,360 Speaker 1: and like the thirties or forties, but that's where the 321 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: fire ends came from. They shouldn't be here. Didn't that 322 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 1: make them even worse? Hate those things? So, um, here's 323 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: another one. You want to talk about the Asian carp Sure, 324 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 1: So in the nineties seventies, and I think like in Arkansas, 325 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,479 Speaker 1: there were some u some farmers, fish farmers that is, 326 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,400 Speaker 1: who said, uh, let's get some of these Asian carp 327 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: in here to filter the water. And they did. It 328 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:40,159 Speaker 1: sounded identical what the researchers from University of Florida sounded 329 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 1: like in my hat, right, and they all sounded like 330 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: Bill Clinton, right, who was from Arkansas. Right. So Asian 331 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: carp were introduced. I guess they did a pretty good 332 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: job of filtering the pond water. But then they started spreading. 333 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,199 Speaker 1: And that's the deal is is you know, like with 334 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,160 Speaker 1: the the zebra muscle, you know, they get in these 335 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,920 Speaker 1: waterways like in Chicago, these man made waterways that that 336 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: said basically like expressways where they get in the Mississippi 337 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: River and it just it's like all right, here, here 338 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: we go. Rest of the country. Yeah, and so Asian carp. Uh, 339 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: it's a it's sort of a catch all name for 340 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: a bunch of species of carp from Southeast Asia. But 341 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: here's their problem is they're very dense. They consume about 342 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,400 Speaker 1: of their body weight each day in plankton. They can 343 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: be as big as a hundred pounds, which is very 344 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: large for a for a fish, if you haven't noticed. 345 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: And uh, they're all over the place now. They went 346 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: up the Illinois River. Uh, they are almost or maybe 347 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: even are invading the Great Lakes now. Is that they 348 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: didn't have enough problems. And there are another one. They 349 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,919 Speaker 1: lay about a half a million eggs each time they spawn, 350 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 1: and they eat a lot of plankton. And there's this 351 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,360 Speaker 1: guy um that they're a good example because they're they're 352 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: so thoroughly crowd out um the rest of the ecosystem, 353 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: for the rest of the animals in the ecosystem that 354 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: it actually like kind of recks the whole ecosystem. They're 355 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: they're an example of like a UM grade three or 356 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 1: level three I think you call it level level three 357 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: invasive species. Right, there's this dude, he is he is 358 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 1: a marine biologist, and I don't know if you could 359 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 1: tell or not. But I'm stalling while I look for 360 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: his name. Is it coming across everybody? Um, so I 361 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 1: cannot find the dude's name. Anyway, you don't have it either. 362 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: Well he came up with Okay, doctor doctor Jivago came 363 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: up with these basically four levels of of impact that 364 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 1: an invasive species can have on bio diversity in an ecosystem. 365 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: And the first level is basically like, they're just a 366 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,640 Speaker 1: new species. They're not doing anything. You could even make 367 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: a case that it's it's a good thing that they're 368 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: there now because they've improved or increased the bio diversity 369 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: of the habitat right. So level one is they're just 370 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: they're nothing bad has happened yet. Level two is when 371 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: they start to have a an effect on the on 372 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 1: the ecosystem in some very specific way. And doctors Javago 373 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: gives this really great example of the eastern North American 374 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: gray squirrel, which was inexplicably introduced in eighteen seventy six 375 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: to England and since then it is basically out competed 376 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 1: the native red squirrel there um. But it's just the 377 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: native red squirrel that's been affected. The rest of the 378 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: ecosystem is basically the same as if the North American 379 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,080 Speaker 1: squirrel had never showed up. It's just the red squirrel 380 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: who are trying to go around and tell everybody like, 381 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 1: doesn't it suck? The North American squirrels are here, and 382 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:56,400 Speaker 1: it's like, oh, it's fine with me, I don't care. 383 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 1: And the red squirrel just can't get any kind of 384 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:02,640 Speaker 1: ally in this. That's leve two. Shall I continue? Please? 385 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: Level three is where the species become so dominant, spreads 386 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: so fast, so wide, reproduces so quickly and so massively 387 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: that they begin to impact the entire ecosystem as a whole. Right, 388 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: we'll talk about that in a second. And then the 389 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 1: fourth level is where they have upset the ecosystem that 390 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: they are not native to, but have established themselves in 391 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 1: so thoroughly that it now impacts other ecosystems, either nearby 392 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: or that are somehow connected to that ecosystem. And then 393 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:37,960 Speaker 1: level five is when you wake up covered in a 394 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: thundred squirrels. Right, I'll just quietly staring at you. Can 395 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,160 Speaker 1: you imagine, No, have you ever seen those black squirrels 396 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: in Brooklyn? Yes, I've seen them in like Toronto. Usually DC. Yeah, 397 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,120 Speaker 1: they're pretty cool. They're tough guys too. They'll like, yeah, 398 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:00,880 Speaker 1: they'll they'll like, they'll charge you. They don't take any 399 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: guff No. But see, if you brought some to Georgia, 400 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,640 Speaker 1: it could be bad for the squirrels here because it's 401 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: a non native species, even though it's in the same country. Yeah, 402 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: but man, we've got so many squirrels in Atlanta. I 403 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:14,399 Speaker 1: wouldn't mind seeing a few of those go. And I 404 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,000 Speaker 1: love all furry things. Well, you know how I feel 405 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: about squirrels. Well, that's why it's gonna haunt your dreams, 406 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:27,120 Speaker 1: waking up being covered by a hundred squirrels. It'd be more. 407 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,679 Speaker 1: It would be worse if I had a dream where 408 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,639 Speaker 1: a hundred squirrels covered my bird feeder. That's worse to me. 409 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: I'd rather them cover me, cover me instead leave my 410 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,160 Speaker 1: bird feeder alone. They would be so happy to chow 411 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 1: down on you. The other little tails would be all flitty. 412 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: They would be so excited. They'd say, this is a 413 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: long time coming. Josh. It'd stores some of you for 414 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,640 Speaker 1: the winter and their haunches. But then they'd forget except 415 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,439 Speaker 1: for about a third of me. Where they put it 416 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: exactly stupid squirrels. Uh so those are the four levels. 417 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,439 Speaker 1: We're kidding about the fifth. And I feel bad for 418 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,640 Speaker 1: Dr Chivago because what that dude listens and he's like, Oh, 419 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: they're gonna say my name, yeah, doctor Chivago, or maybe 420 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: he's gonna start going by that maybe, So we just 421 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: changed that dude his life. Alright. So, uh, we talked 422 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 1: a little bit about how some of these can affect 423 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: things like eating plankton um. What are some of the 424 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: other uh deleterious effects deletrious So there's well, I mean 425 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: you can basically categorize the effects that these things have 426 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:40,440 Speaker 1: in two categories. There's direct and indirect ones. Right. So 427 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: direct would be like, if you like, let's say those 428 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: Asian carp eat um, the eggs of the other fish 429 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 1: that's competing with that would be a direct impact that 430 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:56,400 Speaker 1: would make the other fish very unhappy, right. Um. They 431 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: could also be a bug that carries a disease that 432 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:05,679 Speaker 1: hills trees like um, I can't remember what bug carries, 433 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: like Dutch elm disease, but there's there's bugs that carry 434 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:12,919 Speaker 1: diseases that kill treats that's directly impacting the trees in 435 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:17,239 Speaker 1: the ecosystem. Then there's like indirect ones too, right, So 436 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: like let's say you have like a grass that grows 437 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:24,159 Speaker 1: really well and its new habitat and non native grass 438 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: so much so that it outcompetes the other grasses. Well, 439 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: this new grass is really good at growing in this ecosystem, 440 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: but it's terrible as far as like nutrient density is concerned, 441 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: and it's choked. The rest of the grass is out, 442 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: which means that the sweet little deer and the rabbits 443 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 1: that are about to be eaten by snakes don't have 444 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: those grasses to eat anymore, and they can't eat the 445 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 1: new grass. That's an indirect impact. So suddenly the populations 446 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: of these higher animals are going to thin out, either 447 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: because they're gonna die off, they don't reproduce as fast, 448 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: or they just move um. So that's an indirect impact 449 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: act of of an ecosystem. Or like that cocoon grass, uh, 450 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: which is the one here in the southeast, it's the 451 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,960 Speaker 1: Asian plant. Like that one does the one thing you're 452 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 1: talking about no food value for the wildlife, but it 453 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: also burns really hot and fast, more so than native grasses. 454 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: So it's like it has this dormant danger of being 455 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: a wildfire hazard. Right, yeah, it's it's another one called 456 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: cheatweed has the same thing, and it's it's altered the 457 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: wildfire cycle. I think in the Southwest where it's growing 458 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: from like um, fifty to seventy years to something like 459 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: three to five years now, they have like massive wildfires. 460 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 1: It's because it burns so fast and it's so dense. 461 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: It's just such a great fuel that um. Yeah, there's 462 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: a there's another way that they can indirectly affect an 463 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: ecosystem to um. A lot of plants that are non 464 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: native come in and alter the composition of the soil. 465 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: They either change the on the nutrients they are available, 466 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: they change the pH they just alter the soil chemistry. 467 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: And I mean like the soil that's like the building 468 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,959 Speaker 1: block of an ecosystem. You start altering that, everything from 469 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: the soil up is affected and impacted in some way 470 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: or another. Well, and then that soil can then be 471 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: transported to another ecosystem you know, right, yeah, which is 472 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 1: the stuff spreads. Yeah, that's actually one of the tips 473 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,200 Speaker 1: for something you can do is not move soil very 474 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: long far distances that can cut down an invasive species 475 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 1: transferred to you. All right, Well, let's take another break, 476 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: and then we will talk a little bit about the 477 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: two ways to try and manage this, yes, and what 478 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 1: you can do, and the story of Katz, which is 479 00:30:45,000 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: probably not quite what you think. Yeah, all right. So 480 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: as far as management UM, there are a couple of 481 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 1: main ways that we're trying to control invasive species. Proactive 482 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: management and reactive proactive. If you go to California and 483 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: you have to stop at the California border and they 484 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: say do you have any fruits or vegetables from outside 485 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: the state, that would be an example of proactive management. 486 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: UM is trying to keep it from happening to begin 487 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:51,080 Speaker 1: with by not allowing stuff and that shouldn't be in Yeah, 488 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,760 Speaker 1: I guess. Apparently in this how Stuff Works article the 489 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,719 Speaker 1: author talks about how they quarantine fire would sail up 490 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: in Connecticut Emerald ash board from making their way through 491 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: the state. Um or Guam. Guam has this huge brown 492 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: tree snake problem. We must have talked about this in 493 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 1: the in the Beagle Brigade, but they've like basically killed 494 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: off the population of every other animal on the island. 495 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: It's a little bit of an exaggeration, but it's not 496 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 1: too far. They've really had a huge impact on it, 497 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:26,960 Speaker 1: and they they they trained dogs to to sniff them off. 498 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,840 Speaker 1: The case from any cargo plane or ship that leaves 499 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: Guam has to be inspected by these things, by these 500 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: dogs to find the snakes because they are taking it 501 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 1: that seriously because they've had such a terrible impact on Guam. 502 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 1: Proactive management. Another thing that they do, aside from like 503 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 1: border inspections and stuff like that, is basically just trying 504 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: to destroy it. And I guess in that first phase 505 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: doctor Javago's first phase. By the way, doctor Javago's name is, 506 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 1: I found it. Are you ready for this? I think 507 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 1: we should get a drum roll, Jerry, Doctor Alexander mean 508 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 1: M E I N E. S Z Marine biologists. But 509 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 1: he says, you can call me al or just call 510 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: me Dr Z like Paul Simon. Yeah sure, um all right, 511 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 1: So yeah, eradicating them in the early stages. Uh. And 512 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: this has happened before in California specifically they beat down 513 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 1: an invasive weed brought in from the tropics, so it 514 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: can work. But I get the feeling that in researching 515 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 1: this stuff, like once you're past that first stage, you 516 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,880 Speaker 1: maybe s o L. Well, yeah, I have that same 517 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:45,840 Speaker 1: and just cross your fingers that is not one that 518 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:50,960 Speaker 1: will wreck the ecosystem. So that's proactive. There's also reactive 519 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,959 Speaker 1: management to write, and there's the age old well, just 520 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: get your hands on whatever it's natural predator is and 521 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 1: then introduced that into the eco system or that. That's 522 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: like from that classic Simpsons episode, you remember that where 523 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,359 Speaker 1: Bart has a tree lizard that eats birds. So they 524 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 1: release some tree snakes and then they release some geility 525 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: the tree snakes, and they say that a cold snap 526 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,080 Speaker 1: will cause all the grills to freeze to death, so 527 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,799 Speaker 1: that will be that. That's like, that's basically what they're 528 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,880 Speaker 1: what they're doing. Like, there's this this um bug called 529 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 1: brown marmorated stink bugs, which are actually they're they're stink 530 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 1: bugs and they'll swarm in your house, so they're a pest. 531 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,800 Speaker 1: But they're also really bad for fruit crops and vegetable 532 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,799 Speaker 1: crops um, and they don't have a natural predator here. 533 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:41,239 Speaker 1: Over in Asia where they're from, they are predated by 534 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: a parasitic wasp. So they're thinking of bringing parasitic wasps 535 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: over and it's like, oh yeah, sure, nothing could go wrong, 536 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,319 Speaker 1: if you bring parasitic wasps into an ecosystem. Man, those 537 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:56,120 Speaker 1: stink bugs, they we'll scare the Bejesus out of you 538 00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:59,440 Speaker 1: in the middle of the night. Yeah, because they'll swarm. Well, 539 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:01,319 Speaker 1: I mean I've I've never seen more than one at 540 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,320 Speaker 1: a time. But I'm just talking about waking up because 541 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: one of them is crawling over your cheek. Well, supposedly, 542 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: the brown marmorated stink bugs are different from the southern 543 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:15,560 Speaker 1: stink bugs that were used to Yeah, and they warm. Yeah, 544 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,560 Speaker 1: I can't tell the difference. I've never smelled the stink either. 545 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,439 Speaker 1: I haven't either. I saw somebody say that they smell 546 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:26,839 Speaker 1: like cilantro. I'm like, that's fine, that's great. Put some 547 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: of them on your tacos. It's weird. They're all over 548 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:32,440 Speaker 1: the place. So I see him in my bathroom, especially 549 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:36,399 Speaker 1: in the winter. Yeah, because they come inside to stay warm. Yeah, 550 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:41,239 Speaker 1: but supposedly they swarm. The brown marmarated one swarm, So 551 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,560 Speaker 1: they come inside your house, hang out and then just 552 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: cover your face and you fall down the stairs and 553 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:52,640 Speaker 1: then the squirrels gate you. That's invasive species in a nutshell? 554 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:55,239 Speaker 1: What else we got here? You want to talk about 555 00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:57,879 Speaker 1: a couple more of these. Yeah, I want to talk 556 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:00,439 Speaker 1: about my favorite of all time. Are you ready for this? Yes, 557 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,520 Speaker 1: The Startling, The European Starling. Yeah. And you know what, 558 00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:07,399 Speaker 1: this is a great time to shout out, uh one 559 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 1: of our new brother podcasts here on the network Omnibus 560 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:18,080 Speaker 1: with Ken Jennings of Jeopardies Fame and John Roderick of 561 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,279 Speaker 1: the indie band Long Winters. They have a new show 562 00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:26,560 Speaker 1: called Omnibus that is about sort of obscure history and 563 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:30,080 Speaker 1: uh they did an entire episode on the European Starling. 564 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:33,719 Speaker 1: Oh they did. Yeah, well then this ties into that. 565 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 1: It does, so go listen to that show, subscribe and 566 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:42,719 Speaker 1: here that is in a nutshell. Ohh okay. So back 567 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:46,400 Speaker 1: in ninety there's this guy who was a German immigrant 568 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: to the US. His name was Eugene Shifflin. Did I 569 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,400 Speaker 1: pronounce it right? I think so. Eugene Schifflin was a 570 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:57,319 Speaker 1: Shakespeare enthusiast, right to say the least, he had this 571 00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,760 Speaker 1: idea that it would be really cool and US eighteen 572 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:05,040 Speaker 1: ninety they had no idea about invasive species at the 573 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,319 Speaker 1: very least you wouldn't think a bird would be but 574 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 1: he decided that it would be really cool to release 575 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:15,840 Speaker 1: all of the birds mentioned by Shakespeare into North America, 576 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,960 Speaker 1: and he would start with the European starling. So in 577 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,120 Speaker 1: winter of eighteen ninety and then again like a month 578 00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 1: or so later in he released a total of one 579 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:31,840 Speaker 1: hundred European Starlings in Central Park d make note of 580 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:35,960 Speaker 1: that number one were released in eighteen ninety and now 581 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:41,120 Speaker 1: there are more than two hundred million European Starlings in 582 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:46,879 Speaker 1: the United States. And they are jerkbirds. Yeah. Yeah, they'll 583 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 1: swarm like a brown marmordd stink bug. They'll swarm, but 584 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:54,640 Speaker 1: they swarm on cattle to scare them away from their 585 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:57,480 Speaker 1: food so that the starlings can eat their food. So 586 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,960 Speaker 1: these birds are capable of air and cattle off. Yeah, 587 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,200 Speaker 1: that's a big one. They'll also crash your plane. They will, 588 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,960 Speaker 1: they will. They will swarm your airplane. Uh, it has 589 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:12,279 Speaker 1: happened before. There was one that took off from Logan. Uh. 590 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:16,000 Speaker 1: There in Boston the worst bath airport bathrooms in the world. 591 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:19,920 Speaker 1: And yeah, yeah, it's pretty bad. I think I talked 592 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,760 Speaker 1: about the bathroom stalls there. There's like three inch gaps 593 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,000 Speaker 1: in between the doors. Yes, it's like literally you can 594 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,319 Speaker 1: just see each other pooping. You could fit like a 595 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,719 Speaker 1: whole and he's through there. Yeah, like you're gonna eat 596 00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,840 Speaker 1: that bagel, just man, slide it through there. Well, she 597 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:40,439 Speaker 1: she makes pretzels, delicious pretzels. Um. Yeah, yeah, I wasn't 598 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:43,080 Speaker 1: saying she she made bagels. I was just trying to 599 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,839 Speaker 1: think of something fatter than a pretzel. Could you fit 600 00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:47,879 Speaker 1: a bagel through the stall? Is it really that bad? 601 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:53,759 Speaker 1: You could fit a bagel flat man, like a bagel half. No, 602 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:55,839 Speaker 1: it's not quite that bad, but it's bad. Like I 603 00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,200 Speaker 1: remember pooping it logan and making eye contact with the 604 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:04,240 Speaker 1: just an I con the very distressing. Yeah. So anyway, 605 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:08,680 Speaker 1: birds crashed crashed a plane into Boston Harbor, killed sixty 606 00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:13,920 Speaker 1: two people. Yeah, it's not good. And they are also 607 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,799 Speaker 1: very dense eaters apparently right like uh like the carpet. Yes, 608 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:21,080 Speaker 1: I believe. So they're definitely a huge problem from what 609 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,640 Speaker 1: I understand. But they were the idea that they were 610 00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:28,759 Speaker 1: released in appreciation of Shakespeare I just find fascinating. Now 611 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,160 Speaker 1: they're a major problem. Um. There's one other one we 612 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:34,560 Speaker 1: got a shout out to Chuck is the cane toad, 613 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:39,480 Speaker 1: which was another um invasive species that was introduced using 614 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:42,920 Speaker 1: the Simpsons technique because there were some cane beetles that 615 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,560 Speaker 1: were harming Australia's sugar crop back in the nineteen thirties, 616 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:50,959 Speaker 1: and so they got the idea to import some cane 617 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:54,920 Speaker 1: toads uh to eat these beetles. And the cane toads, 618 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:57,719 Speaker 1: from what I understand, worked pretty well. But then their 619 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:01,720 Speaker 1: population boom from I think a hundreds seven initial ones 620 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: to again two hundred million just in in less than 621 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: a hundred years. Yeah, there's a great classic documentary on 622 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,120 Speaker 1: the kane toad and we talked about them before in 623 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,960 Speaker 1: an episode, didn't we Yeah, one of the ways Australia 624 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:19,120 Speaker 1: is delightfully weird. M. Yeah, we'll see you guys this fall. 625 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:24,760 Speaker 1: That's right, your spring. Oh yeah, that's true. They're all confused. 626 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 1: Where are you mate? Right, although it's their summer, well no, 627 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:36,239 Speaker 1: it's their September will be their spring, but oh right now, Yeah, 628 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,839 Speaker 1: it's the deadest summer for them. Man. I can't wait 629 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:41,160 Speaker 1: for you can't wait to meet those people in person. 630 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:44,200 Speaker 1: So I know it's gonna be cool. Man. I'm gonna 631 00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:49,239 Speaker 1: get me a hat that has alligator teeth around the brim. 632 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:55,080 Speaker 1: Is local custom. So Chuck, let's talk kuds do you 633 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,239 Speaker 1: want to? Yeah, we'll finish up with kudzu. Um. This 634 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:00,359 Speaker 1: is a great story called the True Story of kad 635 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:03,319 Speaker 1: Zoo Comma the Vine that Never Truly ate the South 636 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:07,239 Speaker 1: by Bill Finch and Uh, everyone has probably heard of 637 00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:13,080 Speaker 1: kad zoo. It has a very steeped mythology. Um. And 638 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:16,640 Speaker 1: it's one of those things where people, um, especially outside 639 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,920 Speaker 1: of the South, uh, talk about, oh yeah, you got 640 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:22,760 Speaker 1: your cut. You know, kad zoos is. It's just everywhere 641 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:25,239 Speaker 1: you look, there's kud zoo in the South. And and 642 00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:30,040 Speaker 1: if you go to any Southern town there will be 643 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:33,319 Speaker 1: a kad Zoo cafe or a kad Zoo antique. There's 644 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:36,560 Speaker 1: a Kadzoo Antiques right here, indicator. It's just one of 645 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:39,399 Speaker 1: those things. The South took it and ran with it. 646 00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:42,040 Speaker 1: Um as far as just like a marketing thing. But 647 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:45,960 Speaker 1: here's the deal. Most people know it was introduced at 648 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:50,160 Speaker 1: the eighteen seventy six World's Fair Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. 649 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:55,080 Speaker 1: Was a vine from Asia, and the story goes that 650 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:59,160 Speaker 1: it just took over the South. But that's not quite right. Um. 651 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:03,200 Speaker 1: In ninety five, that was dust storms that damaged the prairies, 652 00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:06,480 Speaker 1: and Congress said, you know what, erosion is a big problem, 653 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:09,480 Speaker 1: so let's use cud zoo. And they brought in seventy 654 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:15,239 Speaker 1: million seedlings to grow in nurseries as soil conservation. Right 655 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:19,720 Speaker 1: remember our episode on desertification. I think we talked about that. Yeah, 656 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,080 Speaker 1: so they like, we're planting it on purpose. They were 657 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:25,359 Speaker 1: paying people as much as eight dollars an acre, which 658 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,400 Speaker 1: was pretty good money back then the nineteen to plant 659 00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:31,520 Speaker 1: cud zoo. Uh. Flash forward a little bit. There was 660 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:35,160 Speaker 1: a radio host for the Atlantic Constitution, um one of 661 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:38,000 Speaker 1: our newspapers, Will announced a j c. Back then there 662 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:41,480 Speaker 1: were two newspapers, a journal in the Constitution. His name 663 00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:45,279 Speaker 1: was a columnist named Channing Cope that became an evangelist 664 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:49,640 Speaker 1: for this stuff. And basically during these depression era, radio 665 00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:53,680 Speaker 1: broadcast would say, you know, plant kud zoo. Uh, so 666 00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:57,160 Speaker 1: the South can live again. Yeah, you know, to restore 667 00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:01,239 Speaker 1: the soil back to its its original nature. And so 668 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:04,760 Speaker 1: these farmers were taken money from the government saying, okay, 669 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,759 Speaker 1: sure I got some land that I'm not using or 670 00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:10,560 Speaker 1: that could use some fixing, So I'll plant this stuff 671 00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:13,319 Speaker 1: for eight bucks an acre and they did, but the 672 00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:15,640 Speaker 1: problem is that no one could ever figure out how 673 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,720 Speaker 1: to make money off of it. It wasn't a crop, 674 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:21,400 Speaker 1: it wasn't good for grazing because apparently when cattle and 675 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:25,160 Speaker 1: horses grazed on it, it died um and no one 676 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:28,040 Speaker 1: really wanted to buy it from a nursery, so there's 677 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:30,239 Speaker 1: no way to make money off of it. So when 678 00:43:30,239 --> 00:43:34,440 Speaker 1: the soil conservation payment program ended, everybody just kind of 679 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:37,920 Speaker 1: tilled it into the soil and could do went the 680 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:41,040 Speaker 1: way of the dinosaur, or would have had it not 681 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:47,479 Speaker 1: been for the railroad industry and the highway construction industry. Yeah. 682 00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:49,680 Speaker 1: So the original goal was to plan about eight million 683 00:43:49,719 --> 00:43:53,640 Speaker 1: acres of the stuff around the South, but by that 684 00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:58,359 Speaker 1: was just about a million acres planted. But because of 685 00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,840 Speaker 1: the fact that cattle don't graze by the highway generally 686 00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:06,560 Speaker 1: or on the railroad, that's where it really took hold, 687 00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:12,800 Speaker 1: uh and did envelop things like roadside signs and full 688 00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:15,799 Speaker 1: trees and if you were and this is how it 689 00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:18,120 Speaker 1: got their reputation, because people would be on the train 690 00:44:18,239 --> 00:44:20,560 Speaker 1: or they'd be driving down the highway and they would 691 00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:22,560 Speaker 1: that's where it was the worst, and they would see 692 00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:26,880 Speaker 1: it and it got this reputation as this monster vine 693 00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:29,640 Speaker 1: that was eating the South. Yeah, because it really is 694 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:32,960 Speaker 1: just concerning to see kudzoo growing up like a fifty 695 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:36,640 Speaker 1: ft tree and totally covering it like it's consuming it. 696 00:44:36,719 --> 00:44:40,319 Speaker 1: It's it's very much. It evokes that same feeling like 697 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,359 Speaker 1: seeing a snake eat like a whole whole rabbit. Right, 698 00:44:44,239 --> 00:44:47,160 Speaker 1: it's it's it evokes the same feeling. And um, the 699 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:52,040 Speaker 1: thing is is most Southerners from say like the fifties 700 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,560 Speaker 1: on when this was when this really started to take 701 00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:59,160 Speaker 1: root on these roadsides, their connection to the land was 702 00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:01,520 Speaker 1: no longer in for the farms or the forest. It 703 00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:04,399 Speaker 1: was in the cities, and they traveled mostly in their 704 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:07,080 Speaker 1: car or on trains, which is where kad Zoo was 705 00:45:07,120 --> 00:45:10,440 Speaker 1: most visible. Remember, So there was this idea, and it 706 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:14,600 Speaker 1: was a pretty understandable idea that Kadzoo had taken over 707 00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:16,560 Speaker 1: the South or was in the process of taking over 708 00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:19,759 Speaker 1: the South. And the whole thing was helped along, apparently 709 00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:23,440 Speaker 1: by a garden club newsletter. Yeah. So the idea is 710 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:26,279 Speaker 1: that there were and this is a stat that you 711 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,920 Speaker 1: can an incorrect stat that you can still get that says, 712 00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:31,960 Speaker 1: you know, up to nine million acres of the of 713 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:35,160 Speaker 1: the southern United States is covered in kad zoo. It 714 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:39,319 Speaker 1: all comes from these two books. A craft book and 715 00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:43,000 Speaker 1: a Culinary and Healing Guide. Are these two books that 716 00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:46,560 Speaker 1: are most frequently quoted as to that number. The U. S. 717 00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:50,720 Speaker 1: Forest Service says, actually, it's about two d and twenty 718 00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:54,560 Speaker 1: seven thousand acres of forest land, about the size of 719 00:45:54,560 --> 00:45:58,760 Speaker 1: a small county in Georgia. Nowhere near what they're saying. 720 00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:02,400 Speaker 1: It is uh uh. And while it's still when you 721 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:05,279 Speaker 1: drive along some of these southern highways it looks like 722 00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:09,319 Speaker 1: it's eating a water tower and it and it is um. 723 00:46:09,360 --> 00:46:12,480 Speaker 1: Once you step ten feet into the forest, it stops, yeah, 724 00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:16,440 Speaker 1: because it's terror grows terribly in shade um. And Yeah, 725 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:19,360 Speaker 1: if you have a kudzoe problem, just get some horses 726 00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:22,440 Speaker 1: or cows and there goes your kudzue problem. It's not 727 00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:26,279 Speaker 1: a very hardy plant. It's just it has no no 728 00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:29,479 Speaker 1: real predators or anything to hold it back on those 729 00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:33,440 Speaker 1: roadsides or on those railroad embankments, which is why it 730 00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:37,160 Speaker 1: grows so wild there. So those um, those that culinary 731 00:46:37,239 --> 00:46:40,160 Speaker 1: book and the craft book they have to do with 732 00:46:40,200 --> 00:46:44,279 Speaker 1: kudzus that seriously are the most widely cited sources, by 733 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:49,840 Speaker 1: academic journals, by by scientists, by the government. Everybody cites 734 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,600 Speaker 1: these these sources. Um, and apparently they just made it up. 735 00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:56,239 Speaker 1: But they said that it was that it grows at 736 00:46:56,239 --> 00:46:59,200 Speaker 1: a rate of a hundred and fifty thousand acres a year, 737 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:03,160 Speaker 1: And that same Forest Service report estimated it really grows 738 00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:07,400 Speaker 1: it about acres a year, which is entirely manageable. Manageable. 739 00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:11,640 Speaker 1: So this the but what's basically the poster child for 740 00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:15,799 Speaker 1: invasive species in the United States, Kudzoo is actually not 741 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:20,120 Speaker 1: really much of a problem at all. So everybody, we 742 00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:23,839 Speaker 1: we don't all drink cocola. Well that's actually not true. Yeah, 743 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:25,319 Speaker 1: we all drink it. Actually I don't want to drink 744 00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:28,680 Speaker 1: it that much. But yeah, there is not a kudzoo problem. Um, 745 00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:32,839 Speaker 1: stop it and stop saying Hot Lanta. Yeah, nobody here 746 00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:36,640 Speaker 1: says that. No, I remember that that again in the nineties, 747 00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:40,600 Speaker 1: there is a little push for that recycling invasive species 748 00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:43,640 Speaker 1: in hot Lanta. One of them didn't make it. That's right, 749 00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:46,560 Speaker 1: you got anything else? No, I thought this is a 750 00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:49,080 Speaker 1: good one. I thought so too. If you want to 751 00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:51,560 Speaker 1: know more about invasive species, there's tons of them that 752 00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:55,000 Speaker 1: we didn't even cover. Um, So go look him up, 753 00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:58,279 Speaker 1: educate yourself, and then go save the planet and tell 754 00:47:58,360 --> 00:48:01,360 Speaker 1: him Josh and Chuck sent you. Huh. And in the meantime, 755 00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:06,440 Speaker 1: it's time for a listener mail. I'm gonna call this 756 00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:10,239 Speaker 1: very sweet orchids story a big hello to Josh, Chuck 757 00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:11,759 Speaker 1: and Jerry. I'm writing in to say how much I 758 00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:14,400 Speaker 1: love your orchids episode and also share a bitter, sweet 759 00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:16,800 Speaker 1: and pretty amazing thing that happened to my family. My 760 00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:18,840 Speaker 1: grandmother was an avid gardener who had a knack for 761 00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:22,120 Speaker 1: coaxing her collection of orchids into bloom again and again. 762 00:48:23,160 --> 00:48:24,719 Speaker 1: I think some of her orchids might have been a 763 00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:28,000 Speaker 1: decade or more old. When she was diagnosed with cancer, 764 00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:31,719 Speaker 1: she passed along her orchids to my stepmother, who has 765 00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:35,719 Speaker 1: continued the tradition. One particularly beautiful orchid had refused to 766 00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:39,719 Speaker 1: bloom after the move, until one day in August when 767 00:48:39,719 --> 00:48:42,160 Speaker 1: it did bloom again. When my stepmother posted the picture 768 00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:45,279 Speaker 1: to Facebook that morning, she didn't know that my grandmother 769 00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:48,960 Speaker 1: was in the final process of passing away. Someone used 770 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:52,040 Speaker 1: their smartphone to show the photo to my grandmother at 771 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:54,479 Speaker 1: hospice and it was one of the very last things 772 00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:56,600 Speaker 1: she saw once have brought her a lot of joy 773 00:48:56,680 --> 00:48:59,400 Speaker 1: to know that her orchids in fact lived on. She 774 00:48:59,440 --> 00:49:03,080 Speaker 1: attached a auto very beautiful orchid. She said, orchids will 775 00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:05,720 Speaker 1: always have a special place in my heart. We're sensing 776 00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:07,600 Speaker 1: my grandmother's last day with us, and each of those 777 00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:10,920 Speaker 1: plants is a treasured family heirloom. I hope I'll be 778 00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:17,560 Speaker 1: the next to inherit the matri ne Neal, Matrilineal, Matrilineal. 779 00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:20,440 Speaker 1: I think so yeah, that's right. I hope I'll be 780 00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:23,760 Speaker 1: the next to inherit the matrilineal Green thumb all the best, Maggie. 781 00:49:24,120 --> 00:49:28,200 Speaker 1: That is a great, great orchids story. Yep, great listener mail. 782 00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:30,400 Speaker 1: That's how you get on listener mail everybody. Yep, you 783 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:35,920 Speaker 1: just warm our hearts, okay, or insult us. Yeah, but 784 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:38,719 Speaker 1: we don't actually read those. We just make grumbly references. 785 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:42,120 Speaker 1: That's right. If you want us to make a grumbly 786 00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:44,520 Speaker 1: reference to something you wrote, well, then write us an 787 00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:48,280 Speaker 1: insulting email. If you wanted to get red, then warm 788 00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:50,520 Speaker 1: our hearts. You can tweet to us at s y 789 00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:53,600 Speaker 1: s K podcast or josh um Clark. I also have 790 00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:56,000 Speaker 1: a website, by the way, called are You Serious Clark 791 00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:59,120 Speaker 1: dot com. You can join Chuck on Facebook dot com 792 00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:02,839 Speaker 1: slash Charles be Chuck Bryant uh and you can also 793 00:50:02,960 --> 00:50:05,600 Speaker 1: hit up the official Facebook page at Stuff you Should 794 00:50:05,640 --> 00:50:10,680 Speaker 1: Know and what Else Chuck Emails. You can send us 795 00:50:10,719 --> 00:50:15,280 Speaker 1: all an email, including Jerry, Noel, Matt Everybody to stuff 796 00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:17,920 Speaker 1: podcast at how stuff Works dot com and has always 797 00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:20,080 Speaker 1: joined us at home on the web Stuff you Should 798 00:50:20,120 --> 00:50:26,600 Speaker 1: Know dot com. For more on this and thousands of 799 00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:35,279 Speaker 1: other topics, is that how stuff Works dot com. M