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Run, run for your lives! Aliens are among us and
are spreading their diabolical tentacles all over Mother Earth and
destroying life as Earth has known it for eons. Their numbers are
increasing daily and nothing we have done so far has stopped them.
They could be growing in your back yard, swimming in your drinking
water, or infecting you with a disease.
But before you run too far and, therefore, stop reading
this article, you might want to take the time to know from what
you are running and how to stop them. And contrary to what you might
believe now, this threat is not playing like some summer Hollywood
big budget film where a couple of well dressed action heroes will
save everyone's butt. These aliens come not from the stars but from
our very own planet and humans have transported them to where they
are currently doing their damage.
What, you ask? Humans are involved in an alien conspiracy,
helping destroy Earth's life? Yes, they are, but the aliens I speak
of are exotic invaders. By that, I mean a species of plant, animal,
bacteria, etc. that isn't native to a region's ecosystem becoming
naturalized there and sometimes even outcompeting native species
and causing their demise. This has happened countless times already.
Notice all that kudzu hanging from pines as you drive
to work? You can thank the U.S. government for planting thousands
of acres of it during the Depression to help prevent erosion. It
does pretty well in the South, too. It covers millions of acres
and has cost the timber industry loads of money.
Of course that pales in comparison to the Zebra mussel.
That slimy mollusk from the Old World has ridden its way all over
the eastern US. Damage to the Great Lakes, the beginning of the
end for many native mussels, has been immense, both in biological
and economic terms. It seems those mussels can clog intake pipes,
resulting in millions of dollars to clean up, while outcompeting
their native relatives.
And don't think that just because there isn't some exotic human
species running around that we are safe. A little friend called
West Nile should remind you of that. Yep, that's an exotic human
virus that has quickly become naturalized in the bird population
along the East Coast.
But all isn't lost yet. We still can stop what we've
started. Be careful what you plant in your backyard. Plants are
still sold in the U.S. that have been proven to be aggressive invaders,
like privet, English ivy, and honeysuckle. Only plant natives or
exotic ornamentals that don't spread, like crape myrtle and gardenia.
Also, never release anything back into the wild, including former
pets, if you don't know that it really belongs there. The flesh
eating fish now invading Maryland should teach us all that. Finally,
respect all quarantine laws when traveling abroad. There not just
there to keep French cheeses out.
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