Droppin' of the Carp

Why go to New York to see a big ol' boring apple descend from the heights this New Year's Eve? If I had a choice tonight I'd be in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, ringing in 2005 with the annual dropping of the carp. Yes, that's right folks, tonight Lucky the Carp, a 29 pound frozen fish, will mark the new year with a hundred foot drop. Other town festivities include the breaking of the Carp Pinata, a concert by Larry and the Carpettes, and the crowning of the Carp King and Queen. Read about it all in the Wisconsin State Journal, see photos of past years here, and find out more about the history of this bizarre event here.

Rock Them Like a Hurricane

NPR has this audio report about the aftermath of Florida's hurricane season, with respect to invasive species. Scientists are worried that natural disturbance caused by hurricanes will lead to even more rapid invasion of the environment by non-native plants, and are calling for a management plan to ensure that the state is better equipped to deal with the after effects of this cyclic destruction.

Try Harder?

As reported by the Detroit Free Press, there is a study, due out in its full form next year, that concludes that efforts to stop the flow of invasive species into the Great Lakes system have failed. The author of the study, Gary Fahnenstiel, is advocating closing the Welland Canal that connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Could it really be that easy to prevent new invasions? Well, from an environmental standpoint, yes. Add economics to the mix and there is suddenly no clear solution.

Z*lda from Mute Complications also points us to this excellent article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, about Asian carp in Lake Michigan. It's part of a series, so be sure to check out the links in the right-hand column.

Fun with Google

• Number of hits for "invasive species": 985,000
• Number of hits for "wreaking havoc" and "invasive": 3620
• Number of hits for "invasive species" and "funding": 199,000
• Number of hits for "invasive species" and "Democrat": 16,100
• Number of hits for "invasive species" and "Republican": 9,670

You Give us 28 Minutes, We'll Give You the Toad

The Leonard Lopate Show at WNYC had an interesting feature last Thursday about the cane toad (Bufo marinus) invasion in Australia. You can listen to a rebroadcast of the show in Real Audio by clicking on the link on this page. Do so, if only to hear the excellent Aussie accents :-)

Thanks to Val C. for sending in a link to this story.

Hey You Guys!!!!

An electric company in Virginia may provide the state with an interesting opportunity for invasive species outreach. According to this article from the Richmond-Times Dispatch, Dominion Virginia Power has offered to include a brochure about Virginia invaders in one of its bills. Not sure how well this meshes with the push for customers to switch to online billing, but the article states that the brochure would reach 2 million customers.

Thanks to a member of the Long Island Nature Conservacy for sending a link to this story.

Bulletproof Monks

Interesting article from the New York Times about the South American monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) that have surprised some by establishing populations in the colder climates of places like Connecticut and Quebec. If you're interested in learning more about these invasive birds, I recommend the following two excellent ISW posts from guest blogger Jason South: 1, 2.