Invasive species

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tmacklin

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Or maybe just unintended consequences from tampering with nature?

[video=youtube;kUbtwsm6kz4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUbtwsm6kz4[/video]
 
Yes, both. This kind of thing is what worries me with splicing genes together and the bees are just the result of bad breeding. When you start to splice things together of completely different genus then were talking the possibility of coming up with something so horrible it makes the bees tame in comparison. Something like a time bomb germ that lays dormant until the disease has spread globally.

Now that they can do something like this then what could possibly go wrong?.....
https://phys.org/news/2010-05-scientists-goats-spider-silk.html
 
And if the bees aren't bad enough.....

[video=youtube;iMerLIA9i7g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMerLIA9i7g[/video]
 
Or ask someone on the west coast and what they think of Star Thistle, English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberries.

Of course then there's the Asian Carp, and Zebra Mussels that are taking over parts of the US.
 
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There are giant Hornets too, and I would find a link but really really have enough other things going on right now.
They are like, the size of a hummingbird, and they are invading somewhere, but I believe they originate in Southeast Asia.
They go after Bee colonies and devour them, and pretty much anything else that gets in there way or makes them go hostile.

Oh jeez, I can't help but look things up.:

[video=youtube;O8BUWxh9xEY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8BUWxh9xEY[/video]
 
Check out how bees fight back against the giant hornet.

[video]https://youtu.be/K6m40W1s0Wc[/video]
 
Check out how bees fight back against the giant hornet.

[video]https://youtu.be/K6m40W1s0Wc[/video]

That was AWESOME!!!
I just scored some Nat Geos from a Library for free today! They just give them away, and since I live where I do,no one else takes them.
It's like a free subscription!
The real people I correspond with already have every issue, and there was a time in my life when I did too, so now I don't miss a thing.:wink:
 
Since we are on the topic of Entymology here, I have a story to relate, that I first related to the website "Camelspiders.net" way back when. It is factually true, and I to this day am more afraid of Camel Spiders than I am of walking pointman on blackout drive 50M ahead of convoy.

Kuwait
While stationed in Kuwait in 2003, awaiting orders to go forward in support of 3rd Infantry Divisions invasion, I was on my way back from the shower trailer to my tent on the outskirts of Camp New York. I had just had my first hot shower in a week and was feelin' mighty fine, walkin' in my shower shoes, all relaxed and all, you know the deal. Well, I'm about 200 m from my tent, walking with my Mag-lite 3D cell flashlight beaming over the smooth sand in front of me when all of a sudden I notice movement in the sand. I point my light right at the spot and next thing ya' know I see this thing shoot (shoot is the best way to describe it) across the sand about 5 m in front of me, heading to my right flank. I see in the light that it is a spider-looking thing, bigger than a

kitten and i just about *#@^%&* myself. I noticed how it made the dry sand spit up behind it as it ran, leaving a dust trail hanging in the air and I immediately ran to my left. As I started to run, I figured I'd run a semicircle to get as far away from this thing as possible as I went to my tent. I was horrified of this thing whatever it was. I realized as I was running that if it was really after me it would have got me by now, due to the speed it had exhibited. The sand kicking up from my flip-flops felt like THE THING fast at my heels. I made it back okay and shared my experience with my SGT., who began to recount the stories of the camel spiders he encountered on his first tour there. All I can say is now that I'm back in the states, and out of the service, is that my arachniphobia that I had before I went to Kuwait and Iraq is nonexistent. Now, when I see a spider, real spider that is, I just smash it with my hand. During my tours of the Middle-East and Southwest Asia, I eventually came to accept them as part of daily routine. I do believe however that if I ever see another camel-spider in person, I'll have a nervous breakdown or something. These things alone are enough to give someone P.T.S.D. The Iraqi's I talked to said that they believed the camel spider was "Allah Mujad" or "fighters of God". Their word for camel spider is pronounced, as best as I can in type anyway, "ainkabout",like INKABOOT. I spoke with one boy who said that INKABOOT ran across his face while he was in bed and he considered it a blessing. The Iraqis think INKABOOT fights for them against the American forces. Well, that's my story and I still have nightmares sometimes about those things. Dave Holmes, Formerly Spc. Holmes, United States Army.
 
Talk to an Australian.. Bunnies, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, cows.... criminals...

Did'nt they actually have a "War" against the Bunnies once, what with machineguns and all?
Oh, no wait, that was Emus.:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

[video=youtube;w9G6WCsfoow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9G6WCsfoow[/video]

[video=youtube;QOPZQHTNUs0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPZQHTNUs0[/video]
 
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Camel Spiders (solifuges) are scary looking, but fortunately are mostly harmless. They have no venom. Their only defense is a nip with their large chelicerae, but this is no worse than a crawdad's pinch. As far as being as big as a kitten, a newborn kitten is about six inches long (max size for a solifugid) but would weigh many times as much.

Since we are on the topic of Entymology here, I have a story to relate, that I first related to the website "Camelspiders.net" way back when. It is factually true, and I to this day am more afraid of Camel Spiders than I am of walking pointman on blackout drive 50M ahead of convoy.

Kuwait
While stationed in Kuwait in 2003, awaiting orders to go forward in support of 3rd Infantry Divisions invasion, I was on my way back from the shower trailer to my tent on the outskirts of Camp New York. I had just had my first hot shower in a week and was feelin' mighty fine, walkin' in my shower shoes, all relaxed and all, you know the deal. Well, I'm about 200 m from my tent, walking with my Mag-lite 3D cell flashlight beaming over the smooth sand in front of me when all of a sudden I notice movement in the sand. I point my light right at the spot and next thing ya' know I see this thing shoot (shoot is the best way to describe it) across the sand about 5 m in front of me, heading to my right flank. I see in the light that it is a spider-looking thing, bigger than a

kitten and i just about *#@^%&* myself. I noticed how it made the dry sand spit up behind it as it ran, leaving a dust trail hanging in the air and I immediately ran to my left. As I started to run, I figured I'd run a semicircle to get as far away from this thing as possible as I went to my tent. I was horrified of this thing whatever it was. I realized as I was running that if it was really after me it would have got me by now, due to the speed it had exhibited. The sand kicking up from my flip-flops felt like THE THING fast at my heels. I made it back okay and shared my experience with my SGT., who began to recount the stories of the camel spiders he encountered on his first tour there. All I can say is now that I'm back in the states, and out of the service, is that my arachniphobia that I had before I went to Kuwait and Iraq is nonexistent. Now, when I see a spider, real spider that is, I just smash it with my hand. During my tours of the Middle-East and Southwest Asia, I eventually came to accept them as part of daily routine. I do believe however that if I ever see another camel-spider in person, I'll have a nervous breakdown or something. These things alone are enough to give someone P.T.S.D. The Iraqi's I talked to said that they believed the camel spider was "Allah Mujad" or "fighters of God". Their word for camel spider is pronounced, as best as I can in type anyway, "ainkabout",like INKABOOT. I spoke with one boy who said that INKABOOT ran across his face while he was in bed and he considered it a blessing. The Iraqis think INKABOOT fights for them against the American forces. Well, that's my story and I still have nightmares sometimes about those things. Dave Holmes, Formerly Spc. Holmes, United States Army.
 
Unfortunately, with the rate that native species are going extinct and native ecosystems are degrading, you're going to see more and more opportunistic invasive species move in to fill the vacated niches.
 
Unfortunately, with the rate that native species are going extinct and native ecosystems are degrading, you're going to see more and more opportunistic invasive species move in to fill the vacated niches.


If conditions are right the cheat grass in the desert can reach concentrations of over 3000 plants per square meter. When it dries out in the summer heat any spark can start huge range fires. You can tell when one has happened without seeing it burn, it's the places where the native sagebrush has been burnt out. The desert out here has huge paths covered in cheat in between streaks of sage. We're in rangefire season now...
 
Camel Spiders (solifuges) are scary looking, but fortunately are mostly harmless. They have no venom. Their only defense is a nip with their large chelicerae, but this is no worse than a crawdad's pinch. As far as being as big as a kitten, a newborn kitten is about six inches long (max size for a solifugid) but would weigh many times as much.

No worse than a crawdads pinch?
Tell that to a friend of mine that was bitten and immediately infected with a nasty infection that took forever to heal and they had to remove a chunk from his leg, so he has a dent there now.

I don't know how much time you've spent in the middle east, or how many camel spiders you've encountered, but the one in my story was bigger than 6".
I was not talking about a "Newborn Kitten", I was talking Kitten sized Kitten.
 
No worse than a crawdads pinch?
Tell that to a friend of mine that was bitten and immediately infected with a nasty infection that took forever to heal and they had to remove a chunk from his leg, so he has a dent there now.

I don't know how much time you've spent in the middle east, or how many camel spiders you've encountered, but the one in my story was bigger than 6".
I was not talking about a "Newborn Kitten", I was talking Kitten sized Kitten.

Never been to the Middle East, but according to any reliable source, they grow to five or six inches max, including the legs. I have only seen one once, my five year old son got to touch it at an entemology show at our local library. A crawdad's pinch could certainly get infected, the point is that the only way they can hurt you is by pinching you.

I don't mean to belittle your friend's injury, but as a science teacher I have made a habit of dispelling the myths surrounding arachnids.
 
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