In our college biology class the professor gave a lecture
that essentially said this: When the British
took over Australia an officer’s wife brought
cacti to decorate the back yard with plants.
The cacti took over the country side.
Why, because there is no natural enemy to cactus in Australia. To get the cacti under control they imported
in rabbits to eat it, which got it under control. But the rabbits had no natural enemy, so the
country side had too many rabbits. Then they imported snakes to take care of the
rabbits and then…..” guess what?
Georgia had a similar problem. The farmers were having a hard time with
erosion. Good fertile soil was hard to
keep in one place with heavy storms and all.
Some genius (?) suggested they plant Kudzu. It was deep rooted and keep the good soil
from being washed away. Georgia bought
Kudzu from Japan and planted it. Guess
what? It had no natural enemy and got out
of control, I took this picture only one
mile from our house about 25 to 30 years ago.
Problem solved! The Kudzu is no longer there. A subdivision is in its place. Humans need housing, roads, ball fields,
tennis courts. Yep, they found the
natural enemy: Humans.
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