invasive species

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They Eat 'Anything They Want.' Ga. Wants to Get Rid of Them

Argentine black-and-white tegu lizards are invading the Peach State

(Newser) - They can grow up to 4 feet long, weigh up to 10 pounds, live up to 20 years, and eat "just about anything they want." Now, Georgia is trying to rid itself of the Argentine black-and-white tegu lizard, an invasive species so far spotted in Toombs and Tattnall...

Georgia's Advice on This Fish: 'Kill It Immediately, Freeze It'

Invasive northern snakehead shows up in state waters for the first time

(Newser) - Wildlife officials often put a catch-and-release policy into place for fish. Not so with the northern snakehead in Georgia. There, authorities' first line of guidance is in all caps: "DO NOT RELEASE IT." The second: "Kill it immediately ... and freeze it." As USA Today reports, the...

Florida Asks Iguana Hunters to Chill a Little

It explains that this isn't the 'wild west'

(Newser) - At the start of July, the media picked up on a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission advisory that explained it "encourages removal of green iguanas from private properties by landowners"—and it's legal to kill them without a permit. Roughly three weeks later, the commission found itself...

The Plan: Drop 1.5 Tons of Rat Poison Pellets Here

Fish and Wildlife Service thinks it's the only way to rid the Farallon Islands of mice

(Newser) - The only humans who occupy the South Farallon Islands off San Francisco are scientists. But the land is otherwise well-populated: In addition to sea lions, seals, and salamanders, it's home to the biggest seabird breeding colony in the Lower 48. But there's also house mice—up to 60,...

Last Snail of Its Kind Dies in Hawaii
Death of George
the Snail Matters
Jan 8, 2019 12:51 PM CST

Death of George the Snail Matters

He was the last of his kind in Hawaii. Species Achatinella apexfulva is no more

(Newser) - A 14-year-old Hawaiian land snail born in an effort to save its species has died as the last of its kind. The Achatinella apexfulva named George died in a state lab on New Year's Day, likely of old age, NPR reports. The first of some 750 species of Hawaiian...

New Python Hybrid May Spell Future Trouble in Everglades

A DNA study found a genetically mixed species that could lead to a more vigorous invader

(Newser) - A genetic study has found a new and dangerous possibility lurking in the DNA of Florida's invasive pythons. Per the Miami Herald , researchers from the US Geological Survey tested hundreds of the Everglades' already worryingly prolific giant snake species and what they found could mean an even hardier invader...

Parsnip's Poisonous Cousin Burns Woman

Invasive plant blamed for injuries comparable to second-degree burns in Vermont

(Newser) - A woman was left with severe burns and blisters on her legs after encountering an invasive species of plant in Vermont, reports the AP . Charlotte Murphy says she developed painful blisters overnight after brushing against "poison parsnip," which Live Science explains is a wild version of the common...

'Horror Plant' Discovered in Another US State

Giant hogweed, which can cause severe burns and blindness, has spread to Virginia

(Newser) - What ScienceAlert calls a "giant horror plant" has made its way to yet another US state, and people who come in contact with it could feel the pain. Virginia Tech's Massey Herbarium tweeted last week it had IDed a giant hogweed (aka Heracleum mantegazzianum) plant in Clarke County,...

200K Mice Plagued the Islands. Amazingly, There Are Now None

A seeming victory for biodiversity on New Zealand's Antipodes Islands

(Newser) - A subantarctic archipelago is making "huge news": The New Zealand Herald reports there are officially no more mice on the country's Antipodes Islands, which once housed up to 200,000 of the rodents. They caused a big threat to the World Heritage Site by preying on native birds,...

Scientists Are Bashing Iguanas&#39; Heads in Florida
Method of Killing Questioned
in Florida Iguana Cull
in case you missed it
Mar 17, 2018 5:41 PM CDT

Method of Killing Questioned in Florida Iguana Cull

Scientists say blunt force trauma is humane

(Newser) - Scientists are sometimes tasked with saving animals from extinction. But in Florida, extinction, at least locally, is the goal. As part of a three-month project aimed at culling high numbers of invasive iguanas in the Sunshine State, researchers at the University of Florida are killing the animals with blunt force...

The Turtle Was Allegedly Fed a Puppy. Now It's Dead

Idaho State Department of Agriculture said animal was euthanized

(Newser) - A sick puppy reportedly met an unfortunate fate in Idaho, and now a snapping turtle has too. The Idaho State Department of Agriculture on Friday said that the turtle, who was allegedly fed the puppy by a Preston Junior High School science teacher as students watched, was euthanized "humanely,...

In Wake of Tsunami, the Unprecedented Happened in Pacific

At least 289 species made it across the ocean

(Newser) - Every spring, "pulses" of floating garbage from the Pacific trash vortex arrive on the US West Coast—and every year since 2011, more unwanted visitors from Japan arrive. Researchers say that the devastating Japanese tsunami sent an armada of debris across the ocean, with "mega-rafts" carrying a horde...

Tiny Invader Threatens Food Staple in Africa

Fall armyworm is wiping out maize crops

(Newser) - Still reeling from a severe drought, Zimbabwe is now on the brink of going hungry as an invasive pest wreaks havoc on the staple crop maize. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that seven of the country's eight provinces have been hit by the fall armyworm, and as...

India Tribesmen Tackle Florida's Python Problem

They found 13 in first 8 days at it

(Newser) - After years of inviting the American public to try to help with its invasive python problem, Florida has brought in some experts from the snake's original territory. Two Irula tribesmen from India are working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to catch Burmese pythons in areas including the...

Stink Bugs Can Change the Taste of Your Wine

Especially if you drink pinot noir

(Newser) - Bugs wind up in most things we consume, organic and otherwise. It's so common and hard to avoid that the FDA sets allowable levels, notes the American Council on Science and Health . It's no surprise, then, that stink bugs , which have a fondness for grapes, can end up...

Bacteria May Be Weapon Against Cheatgrass Invading the West

Cheatgrass now 'dominates' the Great Basin

(Newser) - Cheatgrass is about as bad as it sounds. The invasive plant sends out roots in the spring that deprive nearby plants of water, then dries out in the summer as it transforms into extremely effective tinder for wildfires to then kill competing nearby native plants, not to mention the habitat...

Toad-Hunting Boy Hit by Golf Club, Killed

The 13-year-old immediately went into cardiac arrest

(Newser) - The poisonous cane toad has plagued Australia for the past several years, and while authorities recommend getting rid of the pests as humanely as possibly, i.e. by placing them in refrigerators and then freezers, kids sometimes go hunting for them with golf clubs. Such was the context when tragedy...

Beetle Destroying Trees Used to Make Iconic Baseball Bats

Nation's ash trees are being wiped out by Emerald Ash Borer

(Newser) - When the Emerald Ash Borer first made its way to US soil from Asia in the 1990s, it hardly registered among scientists or in the news—where it came from, after all, it only feasted on weak and dying ash trees. But the tiny beetle smaller than a penny quickly...

Florida Brings Back Python Challenge

Last time, 1.6K hunters killed just 68 snakes

(Newser) - Three years after a month-long hunt involving 1,600 hunters bagged a grand total of 68 pythons , Florida is bringing back the "Python Challenge." The hunt, part of efforts to get rid of the invasive species that is squeezing native wildlife like opossums out of the Everglades, kicks...

Look Out, New England: Invasive Asian Turtles Spotted

Chinese soft-shelled turtles 'could cause major changes in the ecosystem'

(Newser) - Chinese soft-shelled turtles are just little guys, between 7 and 15 inches long, but they're making waves in New England, where two of their number have been spotted recently on Massachusetts beaches, reports CBS Boston . Though considered endangered in their native eastern Asia, the "extraordinary-looking" critters are widely...

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