Species news & information

Contrary to Vital Signs methods, I tend to find things I'm not looking for.

Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge staff and a group of committed volunteers staged a well fought battle against invading garlic mustard in and around a rare plant area in Kittery on Tuesday, May 11th.

Japanese knotweed sprouts were green and growing aggressively one day, and brown and limp the next. I couldn’t believe it. What was going on?

I was walking in Odiorne Point Park (Rye, NH) not long ago and there was SO much bittersweet. In this one section it has completely taken over and covers an entire hill, there used to be plants, shrub, and more trees growing here. It was the densest area of bittersweet growth that I have ever seen.

Maggie Shannon of Maine’s Coalition of Lake Associations and George Smith of Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine can agree on one thing: we have a problem. These unlikely partners came together at the 11th Annual Maine Milfoil Summit in Lewiston to share in discussion and look for solutions to a growing statewide problem with invasive milfoil.

Oh the magic of the holidays, baking cookies, listening to holiday music, visiting with close friends and family, decorating your home with invasive species… What? Yes Virginia, every holiday season people unwittingly help some very aggressive invasive plants gain access to new places and habitats.

At Dirigo Middle School in Dixfield, we found an energetic and unfocused 7th grader practically bouncing off the classroom walls. When it was announced that his class was going outside on a real science exploration with Vital Signs, he enthusiastically ran to the printer to pick up his species card and data sheet and was first to have his coat on and be ready at the door….

The forlorned look on Paul Gregory’s face (Maine Department of Environmental Protection) said it all – the worst of the worst aquatic invasives was indeed found in a small lagoon of lovely Damariscotta Lake near Jefferson, ME. That’s the bad news. The good news is that a volunteer lake monitor detected the infestation early, and so far the extent of the infestation appears limited to this lagoon.

Laura Seaver, teacher extraordinare from Old Orchard Beach's Loranger MS, pointed us to this Simpsons episode from 1998.

Did you catch the invasive species story on the NBC Nightly News last night?