Fauna of Saskatchewan - Invasive Species

Invasive Species

The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), a non-native species is currently posing a serious threat to Saskatchewan waterways, as it has overtaken nearby freshwater habitats.

During the 1930s gophers (Richardson's ground squirrel, Spermophilus richardsonii, and thirteen-lined ground squirrel, Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) by the thousands were eating crops and burrowing holes which endangered horses. The government offered a nickel for every tail turned in.

The Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus spretus) was a small invertebrate which darkened the skies. In 1875 they covered the American and Canadian plains eating everything in the grasslands. By 1902 they disappeared mysteriously and went extinct. Growing resistant crops, and utilising oats and peas are new methods of control where and when there are Grasshopper (Camnula pellucida) outbreaks.

Read more about this topic:  Fauna Of Saskatchewan

Famous quotes containing the words invasive and/or species:

    The frequency of personal questions grows in direct proportion to your increasing girth. . . . No one would ask a man such a personally invasive question as “Is your wife having natural childbirth or is she planning to be knocked out?” But someone might ask that of you. No matter how much you wish for privacy, your pregnancy is a public event to which everyone feels invited.
    Jean Marzollo (20th century)

    Both classically- and romantically-minded spirits—inasmuch as these two species always exist—occupy themselves with a vision of the future: but the former do so out of a strength of their age, the latter out of its weakness.
    Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)