Hello, and welcome to Invertecast.
I am Leah, you know me from Torrentia Leah.
And of course, Simon is with me from the Mantis Garden.
What's up, Simon?
I'll say it back.
Cool.
Good to see you.
I'm glad your week was okay.
Sounds like you had a lot of streaming and well, I don't know.
Did you, did you pair up some Mantis?
I had some hatches and lots of other stuff to do.
I had to change all this because I had more Mantis than I expected.
Oh yeah.
Wow.
And lots of others.
So yeah, I've been really busy week.
I haven't finished yet.
I've sort of like finished just to do this.
So, yeah.
Let's go.
Oh, hey, you know, we're here.
That's what we do.
So, today we are going to be talking about invasive species.
And I kind of, I found a lot of invasive species and not all of them are inverts.
So just a trigger warning on that.
We're not only going to be talking about insects.
So, are you cool with that?
A lot less, a lot less Latin and Grinkum-y around in a row.
We don't know the names of them.
Yes, exactly.
We're sure.
So, first off, I will kind of, I will explain what an invasive species is or what like entails
a creature to become invasive.
So it's an organism that is not indigenous or native to a particular region.
So they can cause great economic and environmental harm.
They're not all non-native species and some of them are invasive like food crops that we
grow here in the U.S. and stuff.
They're not native, but they're not invasive either.
So, there is definitely a distinguish like difference between the two.
So to be an invasive species, they must be able to adapt to the new area easily and reproduce
quickly.
And so, they must also have like harm to property, to the economy and native plants and other
animals in fauna in the region.
And usually it's an introduced species that are brought intentionally, often as a form
of a pest control.
Those sometimes are introduced as pets or decorative displays.
So we're talking plants and animals and inverts, obviously.
Many of them thrive because they basically outperform or outcompete the native species
in the area.
So, they basically like are able to eat up all the resources before the native species
do.
And so, yeah, but they also sometimes thrive because there aren't any native predators
that like are controlling their populations, if you will.
So, do you have anything to add to that?
No, I think that's a pretty good list.
I mean, as far as invasive species are concerned in the U.K., we do have some.
Yes, you do.
I did.
I have a list.
I've got some in Florida and here in Colorado, and then I have a list from the U.K. in Australia
and Africa.
So we'll go through all the like the cute, the little list that I that I procured.
Most of us are from you.
Thank you very much.
Yes, actually.
So, yeah, well, okay, well, then we can talk about the U.K. first.
In the U.K., some of the invasive species that are there include the Japanese knotwood,
which was actually introduced by the Victorians in 1886 as an ornamental plant for like their
gardens and stuff.
But they, I mean, in fact, they probably didn't really realize like the invasive nature of
this plant and it just started overtaking other plants and destroying native plants and
whatnot.
I mean, it's really pretty and all, but it took over pretty quickly.
We've actually got it in the back garden.
We've got a few invasive species in the back garden that we've not put there.
Wow.
They just give us a starry ear and you just can't get rid of it.
You know, try to pull up stuff and then it just comes back every year.
It's a little bit.
Lots of different ones.
I mean, hogweed is another one.
If you're a secret plant, that one, that was actually dangerous.
That was a bird cheer.
But yeah, we've got tons of invasive species including your picture plant.
Oh, yes.
I believe they're usually from like the Southeast America and of course like some parts of
South America, the picture plants.
But yeah, they're invasive.
They grow like weeds.
But they're a predatory plant too.
So they kind of help with pest control.
That's probably how they got to the UK.
I had that on my list, but I had to shorten the list up a little bit just because I was
like, oh my God, it's going to be too long.
It's going to include all of plant samples and insects and stuff.
Yeah.
It's just too many.
It's too many.
It's just reading a list, start and then read the list and then write.
That's it.
Yeah.
You don't have to type it out about it.
But yeah, the major ones like saying that some of the plants are terrible.
Oh, yeah.
And they clog up waterways.
They can clog up like water ducts and stuff like that.
So I mean, they really can create a lot of havoc.
Here in the States, we actually have English IVs kind of a problem here because they just
climb everything.
And they just really in pest control.
They in pest control because the house had a new roof on it 14 years ago because the
IV has lifted the roof off.
Oh, wow.
It's grown up the back of the house and then gone underneath the rafters and actually lifted
the roof off completely.
Oh my God.
So the IV cut down.
So yeah.
Yeah.
I believe it.
The IV is evil and it grows so fast.
Yeah.
It does.
I mean, a couple of weeks growing.
You know, I'll get I'll get around to I'll get around to that.
I'll get around to that and you never do because so, you know, it's flowing off the opposite
thing.
I have to get around to that now.
Right.
It ends up becoming a problem because then winter comes, it carries on growing.
Yeah.
And you don't go out and notice it.
You don't go see it.
You don't go and deal with it.
And next thing you know, spring's turns up and the roof's gone or it's pulled all the
water out of your bricks.
Oh, the flags up on the floor, which he does.
It's absolutely terrifying to get rid of.
It's full plan.
So if you've got somewhere nice to put it, like up a tree, for instance, it's great.
It was absolutely fantastic.
And it can control it.
It looks fantastic.
But right.
I agree.
I mean, if it's able to be controlled, it looks fantastic on, you know, like I've seen
a few buildings around town that have English Ivy that just kind of crawls up the side.
And it's absolutely beautiful.
But yeah, it's kind of a big problem for a lot of forests here and because it just smothers
everything like, you know, I've said it and kills it.
Yeah.
You know.
Yeah.
I think the most invasive species in the UK that I have is the Asian Hornet, which is
a predator.
Sorry.
The Vespa.
Yeah.
I didn't know what they were called Vespa.
Yeah.
I just know that the Vespa is the name that the Italians gave to their, all of their mopeds
because it sounded like a hornet.
That makes sense.
No, that totally makes sense.
I've got a little towel towel.
So I don't have a Vespa, but it definitely sounds like a little bee.
But they are predator to honey bees and other insects.
And they were first detected in the UK in 2016.
As far as I know, once they were detected, the UK tried to take control of them very,
very quickly, so there's not a lot of them left in the UK, which is really good.
But there could still be like pockets of populations.
So clearly that's a problem.
Another invasive plant in the UK is the Rhododendron, which was first introduced in 1763 for use
in garden.
It typically blocks light from other plants.
So like trees and stuff can only grow once they get past the canopy of this flower.
It's kind of a, it's almost like a weed type flower.
It kind of just spreads like horizontally and just like I said, it kind of smothers everything
else.
It is beautiful.
Yeah.
I mean, gorgeous.
Absolutely.
But very bad.
It's a hot thing in the garden.
You've got to control it.
You've just got to keep chopping it.
Yeah.
Definitely.
And it's hard to get rid of invasive plants because you have to, if you are planning on
getting rid of them, you have to get all the way into the roots and some of these plants
just, the roots were so deep that if you leave even just a little bit of the root, it'll
come right back.
So yeah, that's crazy.
So probably one of your favorites is the American Bullfrog is very invasive in the UK.
They feed basically day and night.
They do not stop.
They carry diseases that have led to an amphibian decline pretty much all over the world.
So not just the UK, all over the world.
So they carry, you know, amphibious diseases that are just detrimental to other frog and
like turtle amphibious features.
And then also the gray squirrel, which is another American pest that you guys, they're incredibly
pervasive in the UK.
They were deliberately released in 1876.
Not really sure exactly why, but they carry a pox virus that red squirrels are super susceptible
to.
Hopefully there is a nice little pocket of red squirrel populations over there.
I believe in Wales or Scotland.
Yeah, we've got some up here as well.
Oh good.
Okay.
So I should have done this in my garden because in my garden next to the road to Denver is
a tree that's covered in ivy that's been killed.
Oh, wow.
That tree is a great big gray spiral drain.
Oh, geez.
So we've got the full lot in the garden there.
You do.
So yeah, we've got all the things you've mentioned so far apart from the wasp we actually have
in the garden at the moment.
Wow.
So I mean, yeah, you're seeing it firsthand.
So that's that's incredible.
Yeah, gray squirrels are the rifty little things.
They will they, they just they out competed the red squirrels mainly because that pox
virus that they carried and the red squirrels just didn't have that they don't have the
immunity to it like the gray squirrels do.
So yeah, that's for poor red squirrels.
They're really cute.
Yeah.
Okay.
So let's get into Florida because Florida is another fun, fun place here in the US that
is full of invasive species.
I mean, the list was so long I had to cut it short, but so first and foremost on my list
of invasive species that belong in Florida at the moment are Burmese pythons.
These are very big Southeast Asian snakes.
They're constrictors, so they're not venomous, which is obviously a good thing because we
don't need any more venomous snakes in Florida.
We've got plenty, plenty of our own.
But yeah, the Burmese pythons, they prey on endangered birds and their eggs.
They prey on frogs and other snakes.
The reason that Burmese pythons are so pervasive in Florida is because they were released basically
released by irresponsible pet owners who maybe that because this snake is very large, it's
about 20 feet.
And so they, you know, they release the snake into the Everglades and whatever.
And then I know that there was also a facility that housed a lot of Burmese pythons and a
hurricane came through and pretty much destroyed that building and a bunch of them escaped.
So not all invasive pythons are because of irresponsible pet owners.
There's also escapees and just natural disasters that happen.
And yeah, but don't release your snakes into the wild.
Just don't do it.
Don't do that.
Because they have, they have just, I mean, they have almost obliterated so many like
bird species in Florida that are very endangered.
And they are kind of a problem too because Burmese pythons, they like to climb.
And so a lot of time they will get up high and in like rafters of houses and stuff.
And you might not even know they're there.
And then suddenly one day a big old nest of Burmese pythons just falls through your roof
and you're like, what, you know, they're scary.
I mean, they're so big, they're intimidating, kind of scary.
So I can understand how that's kind of scary.
But the next invasive animal in Florida would be feral hogs.
They were first introduced by early European settlers who brought livestock and everything.
So they brought these hogs as food, like a food source, obviously.
But again, they escaped, they run amuck.
And so these hogs are basically like decimating plant species throughout Florida.
And they, yeah, they just, yeah.
Okay.
So the next one we have is the cane toads.
These toads are crazy.
They secrete a toxin when they're bitten.
So they are poisonous.
And yeah, and they, let's see.
They secrete a toxin.
They can bite on the shoulders as well, they can spray.
Uh-huh.
They're not, which is super scary.
Yeah, right?
They're like, they're like, they're going to catch it, they can spray on it and secrete
that venom, like, yeah.
Yeah, and that's definitely scary because I don't think it's deadly if you eat it, for
sure.
Like if you ingest it, you're in some trouble.
You're going to need to go to the hospital and hopefully they can help you out, plump
your stomach, something.
But yeah, but these, the cane toads, they're actually a problem in not just the United
States.
They have problems in Africa, Australia.
So yeah, they're all over the place.
And they eat everything and anything.
So they decimate, you know, obviously those plant species.
Again, they're a big threat to that.
All right.
So the next one is an aquatic creature known as the lionfish.
Say what?
Lionfish?
Yeah, lionfish.
Well, think of it, when you say Florida, I always think about lionfish.
Yeah.
Well, they're not native.
They're native to the Pacific Ocean.
But they were, obviously people brought them over for their aquariums and things like that.
But again, kind of irresponsible pet owners, they released these lionfish and now they
are all through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
But they, because of their toxic nature, because they are poisonous, they have those very large
spines and all that because of that, they don't really have a lot of natural predators.
And so therefore they just spread like wildfire.
But again, they're wreaking havoc on endangered fish species that they predate and stuff like
that.
And I do believe that Floridians, if that's a word, are starting to eat them.
What?
They're starting to eat them, they're starting to catch them and eat them.
They're trying to get the markets to sell them as fresh fish.
Oh, that's wild.
You know, come back the problem and make a few quidadov at the same time.
So yes, it's quite my idea.
Every day they do it with us.
So why not?
I mean, if they, if they're delicious and yummy and that can help bring those populations
down on how for it, eat them up.
And then we also have the giant African land snails.
They're awesome.
I mean, yeah, no, I know you have a bunch.
But yeah, they are invasive all through Florida since 2011.
They pretty much eat like any and all vegetation.
And they also carry a parasite that can cause meningitis in humans.
So that is kind of an issue, obviously.
And of course, they, you know, eating so much vegetation and stuff that's they're going
to outcompete other snail species that, yeah, that are, you know, necessary to keep the
ecosystem in check, essentially.
Just a point here.
Sure.
You have to lick the snail or eat it raw.
Okay.
So dumping going near, it's going to get the meningitis.
It's not.
Okay.
You have to eat it or stick their licking misclime off it, which I don't advise either of those.
Yeah, don't do that.
Definitely not.
They're pretty safe.
You can get salmonella often as well.
Yeah.
Well, any snake species, it has a risk of salmonella and that's why.
Thanks.
Yeah, yeah.
And most lizards, yeah.
Right.
But they also carry lexosperosis or they can carry lexoprosis if they're around rats.
Okay.
So, you know, there's lots of reasons to make sure you've got your big lumps or wash your
hands.
Right.
So if you're going to miss the snails, are you going to collect some of the safe Florida
and wash your nips, wash your paws after?
Absolutely.
Maintain that personal hygiene, you know.
There you go.
PSA.
Another species that is invasive in Florida would be the Argentine black and white tegu.
Probably the same reason that the Burmese pythons are an issue is, you know, irresponsible
pet owners.
Maybe because they, again, this is a very large lizard species and it gets four feet
and, you know, so it's a big lizard.
So I think a lot of people, sometimes they just don't realize how big that lizard is
going to get and then it gets too big.
Maybe they just can't feed it anymore, take care of it.
And then they release it into the wild and that is just absolutely terrible.
There are sanctuaries and places that you can go that will take your unwanted reptiles
and they, you know, they'll buy them from you or they'll adopt them out, you know, things
like that.
So just please don't release your animals.
There is.
Every year in Florida, there is a invasive species, amnesty.
So if you've got a pet and you don't want it, rather than letting it go, you can take
it and it will be looked after.
And it's a bit similar to a bug show, you know, if you've ever been to a show or a reptile
show, it's similar to that.
Those dogs, you go with your animal and they'll take it off your hands and no one will ask
you any questions, no matter what it is.
And they'll just take it off you.
It's the amnesty just for the day.
And they will look after it and then you're not releasing it in the wild.
Right.
And not causing big problems.
Tegus have been a threat to ground nesting birds.
So a lot of birds that, you know, nest on the ground, they eat the eggs and then they will
also eat the birds.
They are a threat to sea turtles, which everybody loves sea turtles and we know how endangered
and threatened they are, but Tegus in the wild are a threat to these guys.
And crocodile eggs.
So the American crocodile is threatened by these Tegus, just probably because the eggs
again, Tegus, that's their favorite food is eggs.
So here in Colorado, so we're going to take it local here in Colorado.
We have a couple of invasive species that have been and have been a problem and they
are in birds.
So what do you know?
We've got emerald ash borer.
They came from Asia and the devastate ash trees.
They were discovered in Boulder in 2013 and they're still kind of an issue.
So a lot of the pine forests up in our alpines and our mountains and stuff have seen a lot
of what we call beetle kill.
And because of that beetle kill and all that wildfires here are actually especially dangerous
because dead trees equals lots of firewood essentially.
And then the other one is the Japanese tree beetle.
And it is a pest who hundreds of plant species, but they also really like the pine trees here
in Colorado.
And so again, that beetle kill is just it's devastating, especially when a fire breaks
out because it just it just catches and the fire has plenty of fuel.
Thank you very much for the Colorado beetle.
Oh, no.
Is that one that is invasive in the UK?
It was.
I think we've got rid of it now.
But it was, I remember when I was I was doing about the 80s.
The Colorado beetle was was absolutely devastating crops.
So I believe it.
Yeah.
And nasty piece of work.
But that's crazy.
I think I think we solved the problem.
It's kind of funny how a lot of places it's I noticed something like in this research
of invasive species and whatnot.
I've noticed that a lot of creatures from the states have gone to other places and
like the UK, you know, with the Grace world and and then a lot of other creatures from
the same places that are dealing with our stuff.
We've got stuff from them that we're that we're dealing with over here.
It's really kind of interesting because it almost seems like just a global population
of animals and plants.
And so, yeah, it's kind of wild.
All right.
So I'm going to move on to Australia.
So there's a few invasive species in Australia.
One of them again being the cane toad.
Sorry.
The wrong folks.
Yeah.
Absolutely wrong.
Yeah.
And one of one species was actually really surprising to me was the the Dramadary camels.
So they brought the call.
Yeah.
Colonists brought these camels to Australia for transportation and construction and things
like that because we know camels can carry a lot and they're they're highly adaptable
to those desert areas and like that heat, you know, they can kind of withstand all that.
Well, apparently a few of them got loose and now there are wild herds and populations
that actually the largest population of these camels in the world are in Australia where
they don't belong.
I do believe there's five of them in Saudi Arabia from Australia.
Oh, wow.
See, that's wild.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
That's a great idea.
The thought that the place where the natives are actually the violent from somewhere that
aren't native.
Right.
It's just silly.
Oh.
So we have place, they place lots of different habitats.
Something's going to get a photo.
Yeah.
Take over.
Yeah.
So they could they have consumed over 80 percent of the plant species in Australia.
So they are a problem just just for that very reason there.
But wow, what what an amazing thing like that, you know, the places where they're native
are buying them from Australia.
That's a trip.
That's truly a trip.
Okay.
We also got the European honeybee, which was introduced 180 years ago because they wanted
to use them to pollinate the, you know, farming plants and stuff that obviously the, you know,
European colonizers brought to Australia for food and all that thing.
But they became aggressive and they became a threat to the native fauna, which includes
the black cockatoo, small parrots and other small birds and insects like that.
So that's really another interesting thing like I don't, I don't know, just doesn't
Australia have their own pollinators.
So I was kind of confused as to why they would need to introduce the species to pollinate.
That's weird.
But we did it with America as well.
I mean, it's just a case of what he used to, he's like, ah, this works.
Let's do it over there.
You know, yeah, we just take it with us and this works over there.
And that's that's just humans.
Right?
Oh, people.
Okay.
And another species that I was actually kind of surprised was introduced to Australia was
the red fox.
They are native here in the States.
But I'm also not surprised why they were introduced.
So they were actually introduced in 1855 for recreational hunting.
People like to hunt foxes.
It's a very English thing there, I would say.
But yeah, they have caused a caused a pretty big decline in ground nesting birds because,
you know, they're predators.
So of course they, they're going to hunt and, you know, do what they got to do to survive.
And they have gone after the ground nesting birds in Australia.
So those are just a few of the species I found for Australia.
There's a whole bunch of other ones like water buffaloes.
I believe wild boars is another another invasive.
Cantoads, of course.
Yes, cantoads.
Those guys.
I think the biggest one of all of them is rabbits.
Yeah.
The rabbits.
And which is, which are brought over to hunt again.
Spare food is like, oh, I suspect the ones in them, the original ones was 25 rabbits
were sent over and released.
Wow.
I think it wouldn't be a problem.
And within a year, there was 5,000.
Well, you know, there's, you know, then you're thinking, oh, check a few rags out there.
It'll be fine.
But there's no, there's no, you know, there's no, there's no breeding season.
It's just, you know, whenever they felt like it, go for it.
And rabbits feel like it quite a lot.
Yeah.
They get, well, that what's the, what's the, oh, there's a, there's a verbiage here in
the States that I can't say like completely, but you know, there's a saying that we say
they, they F like bunnies.
Yeah.
There's a reason we say that.
Yeah.
Or, yeah, they spread, they spread like bunnies, you know, because they're just, they're always
doing that.
We have the same saying.
I think, I think you're going over.
Do you?
Okay, good.
I think throughout the world, I think they say that.
Yeah, they probably do.
I, so, um, frisky, unbelievable.
Yeah.
Oh, rabbits and steal the one that you've missed off.
Oh, here's the surprise.
You missed this one off.
Oh, no, I didn't miss cats.
Cats are amazing every day.
Yeah.
I was going to get into that.
Cats are everywhere, everywhere.
So I mean, they are invasive all over the world.
Um, there's actually an island in Japan actually where I was in Okinawa called, they call it
ghost island, but it's full of cats.
Um, so, so yeah, cats that, I mean, cats are, are our favorite companions.
Well, one of our favorite companions, next dogs.
Um, but yeah, I mean, anywhere people are, there's cats.
So even in, in, I, it was actually really fascinated by Istanbul because that is a city
that, you know, it's kind of, they've got a lot of cats that are just running on the
streets, but people there actually really love them and they take very good care of
the cats and feed them.
And it's illegal to, to be cruel to them there.
So if, if people see you being cruel to a cat, a street cat in Istanbul, um, you will
be arrested and charged and all kinds of stuff like that.
I think there's a few cities like that.
I know there's another one in Japan that, that they call it cat island, like, you know,
legitimately cat island and it's basically a sanctuary for cats.
Um, but cats can be really devastating to bird populations and like small rodents.
They are, uh, I mean, they are essentially many wild cats.
They are only 5% like their, their, their biology and their, you know, like how cats
are, they are only 5% different than the actual wild cats.
So of all the animals on earth, they are the least evolved from their wild ancestors,
if you will, um, but that means that they are, you know, perfect little hunting machines.
They've got little claws and, and those, their mouths are those huge, you know, canines and,
you know, they're, they're built to, for speed, for jumping.
They're built to be able to, you know, detect small rodents underground.
They can hear really, really well.
And their eyesight is actually, um, also evolved to be able to detect movement.
So they don't see color very well.
They see things kind of through like a, almost a yellow greenish hue, but they detect movement
incredibly well.
That's why like at home, if you're playing with your cat and you've got one of them
wand teaser toys, they love those because the movement, they're just, you know, um,
that's, that's what they go for.
Yeah.
They are incredibly invasive and anything that moves, they're going to attack.
So, and that's everything.
You think so?
I don't know.
Maybe not.
Oh man.
I can go on about cats all night and I can give you numbers and figures and all sorts
of things about cats.
Did you know by the fact that cats, apart from humans, cats are responsible for more things
growing extinct than anything else?
Yeah.
Humans first, then cats.
Then cats.
And it's not, not much different from us either.
I'm not on the devastation scale.
So yeah, there's something I would provide and it was like, oh, okay.
Please.
Don't keep it inside.
Get it vaccinated.
Get it neutered.
You know, do, do what's right.
I just say don't get one.
I mean, please.
I mean, I know that you're not a big fan of cats, but I am.
And so that's why I'm a fan of cats that are kept responsibly.
Again, that's that responsible pet ownership thing where it's like neuterance, bait your
pets, keep them inside, you know, always have a collar, but make sure it's one of those
tear away collars.
That way if they get caught on something that it doesn't choke them.
But yeah, just, just be responsible with your pets.
This just goes across the board.
You know, that's the reason why I would say to most people it's certainly should I get
cat?
I would say no, because I would say most people are not responsible.
Yeah, unfortunately, I would always advise against it.
It's like someone said, should I buy a cobra?
No, you shouldn't know who it was who asked.
I would say, no, you shouldn't.
Yeah, you're going to die.
You're not responsible to look after something like that.
So yeah, I agree.
Don't have it.
And everyone thinks it can because it's a cat and lots of people have them.
Well, and I think I think a bigger problem too.
That happened correctly.
Well, and I think a bigger problem would be the hybridized breeds of cats like the bangles
and the savannas and stuff.
That's for me, that's kind of an issue.
I don't really, I don't agree with it.
I think it's really bad for like the bangles across between obviously a domestic house
cat and the Asian forest leopard.
And that hybridizing of those cat breeds, I mean, you're just making a hyper, hyper
predator.
And those cats, even if you get the F4s, like they are purebred, bangle or whatever, they're
highly energetic.
And so they need to be very active.
They need to be wearing off that energy.
And it's a daily process.
It's not just once a week or whatever.
It's every day.
You have got to be fulfilling this cat's primal instinct of hunt, catch, kill, eat, sleep.
That is it.
I kill cats as well, which is something, you know, I just can't sound them.
I just can't sound the felines.
It's just, you just end up in mentality.
Just like they're people so much.
I can't stand them because of that.
It's like that mentality.
Kill for fun.
It's like, really?
It's so fun.
It's just like fox hunters.
Yeah, exactly.
Like gladly, gladly, stripped down to their underwear and chasing around the field with
a stick.
You know, because they're just pathetic people.
They're not even people, really.
So yeah, I feel the same way about cats.
If you're going to let them, I mean, not in their natural environment because that's
where they're supposed to be.
They're designed to be that way to live where they live.
So nothing against that.
Yeah, absolutely.
If people's got one in the house, they let it in, they feed it, they open the door and
it goes back outside again.
Well, and there's, you know, for my cats, you know, they don't really appreciate the
outdoors as much as other cats, but I also am one of those cat owners that I spend a
lot of time playing with my cats.
I make sure that they're, you know, releasing that energy.
So if you do get a cat, make sure you're doing your research and doing the things that the
cat needs because then that's going to reduce the chances that your cat is going to be like,
I want to go outside because that's what they want to go outside for.
They want to hunt.
That's it.
Plain and simple.
They hunt, catch, kill, eat, sleep.
That is it.
That's what they do.
So if there's any other animal, well, it's just being responsible.
It's like saying, yeah, yeah, owner, do your research, look after it.
It's supposed to be looked after.
Yeah.
You know, and don't, don't let it go out.
Don't let it go outside.
Build a catio.
You know, it's not from your country, no matter what it is, wherever I live, it doesn't need
to be lived in your country.
Yeah.
Don't let it outside.
Yeah.
Don't let it go outside.
Don't do that.
It's just, it's just, you know.
It's, it's, it's, yeah.
Okay.
Let's get back on.
Anyway, off cats.
Off cats.
Another one I just remembered because you saw Australia's talk on next door to New Zealand.
Yeah.
What other problems they have in New Zealand is, is the hedgehog.
That's really.
Yeah.
The hedgehog.
The hedgehog was sent from Britain.
Oh, wow.
And somebody wants a pet hedgehog.
So they got a bunch of hedgehogs sent over.
Oh my goodness.
And now they're eating the way through all sorts of like endangered books and stuff.
Oh no.
Because you've got a lot of the.
Well, in New Zealand.
Great.
Yeah.
And New Zealand is one of those special places in the world that you can only find certain
species there.
Yeah.
Like Kiwi, the Kiwi bird is, is only native to New Zealand.
So yeah, that's, that's, that's.
They eat, because they got, because New Zealand doesn't have many predators.
Right.
The birds tend to have ground nests.
Yeah.
So they're just a, they're a yaiopa or whatever, but they're doing on the ground.
Right.
And the egg blocks detects.
Oh goodness.
So they're like the tegu.
Yeah.
They'll also eat chicks.
Oh yeah.
And they'll eat the, the, the birds.
They'll get to eat, they'll eat small snakes.
Oh goodness.
They'll eat frogs.
They'll eat small lizards.
They'll eat small rodents.
Wow.
So you think of an egg jog.
You probably think about cat food and slugs, because that's what most people think.
Yeah.
I actually didn't know they were omnivores like that.
So.
Oh, extreme.
Yeah.
They'll have to go with anything.
Yeah.
Wow.
If it's small, they'll have to go with it.
If it's actually, they'll have to go with it.
Wow.
So it's like people, people don't realize that's what they are.
So imagine letting that go.
Oh.
Things that's just not used to having that kind of predator.
Well, you know, and that's why we're covering the invasive species, because any species
that is introduced to a place where it's not from, it's going to wreak havoc.
I mean, it's going to, you know, the ecosystem there is, every ecosystem is fragile in its
own way.
And so when you introduce something that is just not natural into that ecosystem, it's
definitely going to have a detrimental cost.
It's going to have these consequences that I think some people don't really take into
account.
Like the Burmese pythons, I mean, they're eating other snakes in Florida, which means
they're eating Florida king snakes, which is native to Florida.
They're probably eating water moccasins or as we call them cotton mouths.
That's a venomous snake, but the Burmese python has the size.
So yeah, I mean, they're outperforming all the other snakes in the area.
And there aren't any natural predators for these Burmese pythons that they're going
to control the populations except for people.
And unfortunately, that's pretty much what's happening.
So all right, we're going to move on to Africa.
There's a few things.
I mean, Africa, yeah.
I mean, yeah, I don't even know, even such age or anything, but yeah, Africa, yeah.
Yeah, Africa.
They have a problem right now with the Louisiana crayfish.
So it's, they're kind of a type of like shrimp.
They almost look like a lobster shrimp kind of thing.
They were introduced in 1970 after the native crayfish were wiped out by a disease.
So they introduced Louisiana crayfish, but that wasn't the greatest idea because these
guys are still doing, you know, they're eating natural vegetation.
They're causing problems with the natural fish species in Africa.
Yeah.
So it's an issue.
And the Argentine ant, which was accidentally introduced and they displaced native ant species,
but they were accidentally introduced by hitchhiking.
And then they house mouse.
So a house mouse, which I think here in the States we call them field mice.
They're just, you know, regular little mouse that, yeah, but they have been killing native
insects and lizards.
And they also have been reducing the native bird species, which is really bad, obviously.
Again, there's that ecosystem.
It's very fragile.
So one species goes, it topples the whole chain.
And then the next one I have is a native to Colorado.
It's called the red-eared slider.
It's a type of turtle, like a tortoise turtle.
But because of their large size, they are out competing native turtle species in Africa.
They also are threatening the species there by transmitting diseases that African species
are super susceptible to.
And then, I mean, they were a really popular pet.
And I think they still are.
But here in Colorado, because they're native, you cannot buy them like a really small size.
They have to be like an established juvenile.
We just have to get those.
I remember in the 70s and 80s, sliders used to be available in the pet shop.
Oh, yeah.
I've not seen one for years and years.
So we had a big thing in the UK where we sort of banned a lot of imports of reptiles because
it came to light that when it was being shipped over, it was like something like 80% of them
died.
So they were just stopped it basically because of that.
They said, OK, that species does not travel well.
We're not selling that anymore.
Yeah.
You couldn't get hold of them.
I myself used to have an Australian mum, it's Elizabeth.
Oh, well.
Now you can't buy them for a lot of money.
There's no way you'd get another one.
That was in the late 80s that I just picked one of them up.
You won't find it anymore because it's just well important now.
Well, yeah, because they're too susceptible to a lot of things during travel.
I don't know if that's anything to look at for them.
What we do need is governments to be, our government's pretty responsible to be honest
with the invasive species.
I've got to give them that.
They really are.
They do a good job when something comes over and they get it right away.
I agree.
They'll get it right away and I deal with that situation no matter where it is in the country
or how widespread it is.
They'll deal with it right away and get rid of it.
Right.
They'll prevent it.
But there's a lot of countries out there that are completely irresponsible with it.
And the government just, they're whatever.
I think a big problem with that too is that the legislation that does come out to hopefully
prevent the invasive species, they're not doing the research on these things.
Like I believe in Canada, it's illegal to own like any tarantulas outside of five species.
But the problem with that, because again, they want to prevent an invasive tarantula
species, but the problem with that is no tarantula survives.
And the frozen tundra of Canada.
So again, like you're, it's not great for the hobby, if you will, and like, you know,
kind of that whole thing because then it just makes everything really complicated as far
as that goes.
But it's also, as well, it's unfair on them.
It's not really a threat.
It's not a threat.
So they'll say we're monsters, you know, because we have a few monster species.
Yeah.
And it's like, why?
Right.
Honestly, then minus 20 degrees of mantises, or it's not, it's going to die.
And that's why we're not regulated for things because if anything does escape, it's got
about a day.
So yeah, that's a bad day for tarantula for sure.
I agree.
Yeah, no, the cold is going to happen.
If I had a tarantula of tape and it got out of this room, it would die.
Yeah.
Out of this house.
So, so what's the point of banning it?
You know, yeah, it doesn't make sense.
I, you know, again, it's just that, that research that people lack.
They just don't do.
But there are things that we can do here in our home that will help prevent invasive
species from becoming a problem in your area.
So the first thing that you can do is if you are going to be purchasing some house plants
or maybe plants for your garden, verify that they are not invasive.
So that, that is one thing that is really, really big.
Like don't just go out and get some English Ivy and think, oh, it's going to be so beautiful
on the side of my house.
No, it will overtake everything.
So yeah, verify that it's not invasive.
And if you do have invasive plants, replace them with native species.
That's always the best bet.
The second thing that you can do is clean your boat.
If you have a boat and you're taking it, you know, to different bodies of water, you know,
doing that recreational boating, clean it up real good between, between bodies of water.
That way you're not transporting bacteria, you know, other plants.
But I know it's the thing about me, it's not a big thing, your breathing, because we don't
really do the boats, but it's a different line for that, isn't it?
Clean, dry and something, isn't it?
Well wax?
Oh no, it's clean, dry, clean, sort of thing.
It's like, if you're taking your boat from one place to another, you've got to clean
it and then you've got to dry it.
Yeah.
And then you've got to do something else.
But anyway, yeah, there's a thing for that because it is a big thing in the USA.
It's an issue, absolutely.
If people drive somewhere to a lake or something with a boat, go out on a day out, bring the
boat back and then go to another lake next time.
And then that's, yeah, so I can imagine it being a big thing.
Yeah, I mean, you're going to transport different kinds of allergies and bacteria and mollusks
and stuff like that with your boat.
So it's definitely important to clean up.
On that same kind of idea, if you go on hikes a lot, like a lot of people here in Colorado
love to hike because we have lots and lots of beautiful hikes, clean your boots before
going to new areas because it helps rid like weed seeds and pathogens that may be cool
in one area.
But let's say I did a hike over at Red Rocks and now I want to go take a hike over at Minnesota.
So the same pathogens and species are not going to be in Minnesota.
So I could possibly introduce them just from my hiking boots.
So don't do that.
Make sure you clean those between hikes.
And the fourth thing is if you are traveling between different regions, so like if I was
going to Mexico or something like that, don't want to pack fruits and veggies while you
travel because they again, you know, you're going to have hitch hikers that possibly will
be in those fruits and veggies.
And the same thing with firewood.
If you need firewood for camping, buy it locally.
That way you're not transporting hitch hikers and pests that aren't native to that region.
And number five on my list is volunteer.
If you are really adamant about doing something with invasive species, volunteer to be a part
of a removal project.
There are plenty of them around.
And that is a really great way to give back.
If you see an invasive species reported, make sure that you know, you take the proper authorities
because they have again, things and ways that they control those populations and try to
try to keep that balanced.
And the last thing on my list is probably the best thing that you can do to help prevent
invasive species would be to plant native species in your garden.
I love Columbines.
They're native here to Colorado.
So if I had a garden, I would probably only plant Columbines, just saying because they're
absolutely beautiful.
They're unique.
They're native to Colorado.
And they come back every year.
So you plant them once and then boom, you'll have more next year.
I love all kinds of flowers, but not all of them are great for the natural ecosystem.
As you guys know, we kind of already went over some of those species.
Make sure you're planting native species in your garden.
Or a shark.
Anything else, Simon?
Did I miss anything?
No, I thought it was pretty good.
I thought it was pretty good.
If you're already on your report, anything you can report it to deffra.gov.uk.
Just type in Google, report your invasive species UK.
You'll get a direct form to fill in.
Telephone numbers and all sorts if you really need to deal with it.
There's plenty of places, all the universities run identifications.
So if you want to ID something first, you can contact the university and they will ID
it for you and then you'll know if you've found.
That's pretty much just for inverts, really.
Yeah.
Because everyone knows, if you saw an alley walking down the street, you'd pretty much
guess what it was.
But you get things like Spanish moths over here, which are harmless and they only come
over here like on the outwind.
Sure.
They're no big deal.
They come and go, we don't survive.
So there's lots and lots of places to report invasive species.
Tessian man, please keep your eyes open because there are lots and lots of those American
type crayfish that we have been around.
And carp, carp is also an invasive species and it takes over.
Is it?
I believe so.
Yeah.
I can't be Asian, won't it?
Maybe.
But I also know that walking catfish is an issue in Africa.
Yeah.
So yeah, definitely.
And another thing with that is cleaning your fishing gear is obviously really, really
beneficial to the natural lake ecosystems and well areas that you fish in.
But yeah, cleaning your gear is a really great way to help prevent those invasive species
from spreading.
I think it actually treats a lot of it like COVID, haven't you?
Yeah, you know, they say six feet away.
It's a bit more obvious if you're sensible.
It's not, you don't have to go too much precaution.
Right.
So these are really easy steps that people can take that really, they cost you nothing
honestly like it's really not difficult to do.
But they have a really, really big impact in preventing.
Yeah.
I think it matters really because I've got quite a lot of invasive species in my garden.
That are my fault, you know, through cleaning out.
I don't know.
I think people before you, that's not your fault.
Oh no, these are definitely my fault.
Oh no.
They smell so nice the buds.
They just are cleaning, you know, like cleaning out, like cleaning out, like cleaning out
in the air.
You know, people are probably cleaning some of that stuff outside.
I just generally, it should be substrate but I think I've got everything.
And then a year later I'll go, oh, what's that there in there?
You know.
It's not too bad, but it's not too bad.
It's just my gut.
Yeah, well that's good.
I mean, you've got it under control, you know.
I'm sure you're a...
I'll keep you in my eye on it.
I'm sure you're an avid gardener so it's, you know, it's probably not as big of an issue
for you.
It's not too much of a problem.
Yeah, there you go.
So, I mean, it's cool.
It's all good.
And I think the biggest thing that has caused a lot of problems is that irresponsible pet
ownership and allowing for those species to be released into the wild and stuff.
It's really caused a great deal of damage.
And like you said, cats.
Cats are so pervasive.
They, you know, I believe I've read somewhere that in one cat's like lifetime or no, in one
breeding season can cause 448 some odd cats.
So like one cat and then her kittens and then the kittens from those kittens in one year,
you know, like that's a lot of cats.
So, um, I was like, I've just released 25 and you know, yeah, it's next year.
300, you know, the original canto order was pretty much similar to the way I spent mantis.
It's just like your mantis, I'll send you a few extra.
And that's what they did with the cane toads, the order of the cane toads.
And they originally sent them 102 cane toads, which sounds like not number, of what died
in the post basically.
So they really, it's 101 cane toads.
And now there is hundreds of millions of cane toads, all from that original 101.
Wow.
So it's scary how fast that they can get to such a ridiculous level.
Yeah, absolutely.
And in a new place because you've got to take a place, you've got no predators, the climate
might be better than you're used to.
Right.
It might be missing a winter, which you used to.
Like in Australia.
This thing, I can do what I want all year round.
It's warmer than in Norway, it's more active.
And this is what happens, it just wash off the ground, next thing you know, everywhere.
I mean, I'm quite lucky.
Living in England, it's, you know, you get excited seeing invasive species because it's
pretty rare.
It's not a thing that's going to happen.
Things here are stricter to get a hold, you know, get a grip.
Every year someone will say, oh, oh, see the mantis, see the mantis.
And it will hit the main newspapers if someone sees a mantis.
Sure.
And that's going to come over on some plants from Europe.
So it's not really even here.
You know, and they'll get really excited about it.
Well, yeah, yeah, for sure.
But the other ones that you have and we have is the howling bird, which is the ladybird.
Oh, yeah.
And that's that, that, which you see, I think it's the Japanese one, it's our Chinese one,
Asian, Asian, Asian.
And it's a fighter, isn't it, as well.
Yep.
But that's, that's what seems to be getting a photo here and with you.
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
All right, well, let's do our shameless plug.
We're, we're almost out of here.
It's like waffling.
No, it's like carrying on again, so excited.
Three hours straight.
Yeah.
It was awesome.
It was well timed out.
We did great.
We did, you know, plot points I wanted to.
So good job.
Thank you, Simon.
What are you back going on this week?
What's coming up?
Um, pairing and posting, I think, this week.
Yeah.
Everything's just map.
Again, it's just that time of year where winter's finishing and things start to move
again because you go on a slow down.
Yeah.
And then you start to get a little bit of a buzzer.
Oh yeah.
If it's like minus two outside, it's like, ah, I'm not posting today.
I'm not posting tomorrow.
Oh, I can't post this week.
It's up again.
You've got that constant, you know, roll again so you can start sending things out
a bit more.
So it makes things a little busier.
And when it wasn't busy because it was too cold to post, you spent pairings and now
we're putting up and hatching new things.
I'm going to get a few more mantises in this week.
Sounds good.
I keep saying every time you ask me, like make a video if I get a chance.
Yeah.
Like I said, I've been too busy.
So I'm struggling to find time to make a video because I do like to do the research before
I make the video.
Of course.
I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about for the video.
But I like to make sure that I'm not talking rubbish.
Yeah, absolutely.
I just imagine it.
I like to make sure that it's in a paper somewhere.
It's accurate.
Yeah.
It's in a paper somewhere, I'll say.
You know, I respect that.
I respect that a lot because I'm the same way.
I don't like to put out any kind of information that's not accurate or correct because there's
a lot of misinformation out there on the web and I don't want to contribute to that.
So I lost.
Yeah.
How old?
I'm with you.
I'm actually going to be putting out some new videos and stuff here coming up soon because
my voice is back.
So I'll be able to do those voiceovers and all that fun stuff.
I think the next thing that I will be putting out is going to be kind of a short video,
but it's basically how I clean my used enclosures.
So once I move one to Ranchela or an invert tube, like a bigger enclosure, I'm going to
show you guys how I clean those old enclosures so you don't have to throw them out.
You can save them and the cleaning goes for pretty much any enclosure.
It's awesome.
So look out for that.
That's a really good idea.
That's a good video.
Because a lot of people don't realize that, you know, I've got a vantus in here.
It's dyed.
I'll put another vantus in here.
They don't realize, you know, it's a good idea to clean it.
Yeah.
You definitely want to see it.
It's like...
It kind of goes along with that invasive species, you know.
You can go to Ranchela Lea and give her a salt so you don't miss it.
Heck yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Simon.
I appreciate it.
Of course, check out the Mantis Garden and his channel because he is fantastic as far
as information goes.
He covers a lot of topics, not just mantises.
So check out Simon.
He's great.
As always, thank you all, everybody, so much for being here.
Thanks for watching.
If you liked what you saw, make sure you like and subscribe.
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Bye-bye.