# Introduced species into the UK



## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

Right i didnt know where to post this.. so this seems close enough.

I'd like to know peoples opinions on introduced/alien species to the UK, partly because im doing an assignement on it, but also because im curious. Heres a few (feel free to add any you know of) i'll also put my views.

*Mink*- Iffy can be a problem but i think in the right environments they're fine

*Muntjac + Chinese water deer- *There are possibly too many in some areas, maybe would help if we still had large predators? i.e. wolves

*Rabbits*- Way too many of them almost everywhere, with not enough natural predators its hard to see their numbers dropping too much.

*Alien Cats- *Namely pumas etc. that are living in the remotest parts of the country, i think until its 100% confirmed theres a stable population it doesnt matter.

*Grey Squirrel- *Wiped out most of our red squirrels, enough said.

*Wild Boar- *Can be very destructive.. but they were native so i dont see any problems.

*Ruddy Duck- *In this country theres no problems.. but abroad they are hybridising the rare white headed duck which could see the species wiped out.

*Ring necked Parakeets- *They're great to have in britain... but they're out competing native species for food and nesting sites.

*Terrapins- *Not really enough to cause a serious problem

*Bull frog- *Problem for any species small enough for them to eat.. if they spread they could be a major problem

*Zander- *A great fish to have, all research on them has shown they have no negative impact on fish stocks.

*Wels Catfish- *Now i think these are a problem they grow huge! one of the biggest fish in the world, and they eat anything and everything.

*Signal Crayfish- *Bad! destroying our river systems with burrows.. theres loadsa them! they've almost wiped our native crayfish..

I know theres more! and some interesting ones like wallabies.. but thanks for reading! look forward to hearing your views..


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## bassy 1019 (Sep 26, 2006)

*feral cats*

hi very good what u wrote, but mat i add one more species to ur list, feral cats, should be shot on sight, killing millions of song birds every year. thats why we have no song birds left. lets breed a certain species of dog to eradicate feral cats., cats r like marmite, u love them, or hate them.


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

bassy 1019 said:


> hi very good what u wrote, but mat i add one more species to ur list, feral cats, should be shot on sight, killing millions of song birds every year. thats why we have no song birds left. lets breed a certain species of dog to eradicate feral cats., cats r like marmite, u love them, or hate them.


I didnt put them as i dont see them as a species  but yeah you're right.. they are far worse than foxes,minks etc. i think shooting/killing them would cause massive contraversy, and isnt possibly the best way of action (doesnt wish to bring the mink thread argument to this thread), but certainly removed form the wild.. specially in scotland, where our only wild cat is being wiped out because of ferals...


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

Everything is just trying to survive and most of the blame is with humans. 

There is a parrot that is neer me, flocks of them live in my local park, its bright green, any idea what it could be?


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

Love_snakes said:


> Everything is just trying to survive and most of the blame is with humans.
> 
> There is a parrot that is neer me, flocks of them live in my local park, its bright green, any idea what it could be?


Ringneck, It's on the list above.


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

sandmatt said:


> I didnt put them as i dont see them as a species  but yeah you're right.. they are far worse than foxes,minks etc. i think shooting/killing them would cause massive contraversy, and isnt possibly the best way of action (doesnt wish to bring the mink thread argument to this thread), but certainly removed form the wild.. specially in scotland, where our only wild cat is being wiped out because of ferals...





Pimperella said:


> Ringneck, It's on the list above.


Oh right, It is nice to see them about.


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

Love_snakes said:


> Everything is just trying to survive and most of the blame is with humans.
> 
> There is a parrot that is neer me, flocks of them live in my local park, its bright green, any idea what it could be?


yeah all too true.. i would never condone killing a species thats here by no fault of its own, the only exceptions are i think the signal cray fish, rabbits, grey squirrels and brown rats.. which we now have no choice but to control them.

I always think theres a natural answer, like re-introducing animals we've wiped out to help get back a balance..


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

What about the plants???????? Theres that Asian plant that basically suffocates others but i cant remember its name.

Tbh unless we stop travelling etc we are never guna be able to stop alien species.


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

sandmatt said:


> yeah all too true.. i would never condone killing a species thats here by no fault of its own, the only exceptions are i think the signal cray fish, rabbits, grey squirrels and brown rats.. which we now have no choice but to control them.
> 
> I always think theres a natural answer, like re-introducing animals we've wiped out to help get back a balance..


Oh yeah i totally agree that some species have to be controlled. After kill it cook it, eat it, and seeing the damage that rabbits can do.


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

selina20 said:


> What about the plants???????? Theres that Asian plant that basically suffocates others but i cant remember its name.
> 
> Tbh unless we stop travelling etc we are never guna be able to stop alien species.


Sorry i dont know enough about plants to really comment.. so didnt include them, but yeah we'll never stop them coming in its just weird how peoples views on them seem to be one extreme or the other..


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

sandmatt said:


> Sorry i dont know enough about plants to really comment.. so didnt include them, but yeah we'll never stop them coming in its just weird how peoples views on them seem to be one extreme or the other..


Hmmmm i can when u see mink as a lot of that was due to farmers releasing mink due to animal activists getting on their backs. The odd little alien creature wouldnt do any harm but we are talking hundreds here


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

selina20 said:


> Hmmmm i can when u see mink as a lot of that was due to farmers releasing mink due to animal activists getting on their backs. The odd little alien creature wouldnt do any harm but we are talking hundreds here


Yeah things like the scorpions, tree frogs, wallabies etc. are completely harmless.. i just dont think its right to hate a species just because it does something you dont like or without fully understanding how they fit in.

Its like round here we have alot of Zander, and they're great fun to fish for.. plus they barely do any species damage (they are cannabalistic too), yet people are catching them and just chucking them in bushes and left to die, because they dont like them..


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

selina20 said:


> Hmmmm i can when u see mink as a lot of that was due to farmers releasing mink due to animal activists getting on their backs. The odd little alien creature wouldnt do any harm but we are talking hundreds here


 

woooooooooooooooooooooh!
I think you'll find it was the animal activists who released the Mink, not the Farmers.


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

Pimperella said:


> woooooooooooooooooooooh!
> I think you'll find it was the animal activists who released the Mink, not the Farmers.


aye the farmers wouldnt release their own profits!


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

sandmatt said:


> Right i didnt know where to post this.. so this seems close enough.
> 
> I'd like to know peoples opinions on introduced/alien species to the UK, partly because im doing an assignement on it, but also because im curious. Heres a few (feel free to add any you know of) i'll also put my views.
> 
> ...


You be surprized what in UK is infact a UK species.Note that you put zanda on the list but not carp.You put ringneck on there but not pheasant.This country is't even surpose to have brown rats,black rats,even house mice they are all aliens.



sandmatt said:


> *Grey Squirrel- *Wiped out most of our red squirrels, enough said.


Grey squirel are NOT the problem it self.Grey's don't go around killing red's.It what grey squirrel are carrying and are immune to but the red spuirrel is't (squirrel pox).They should just find a vaccine for the reds rather than wast time trying to wipe out greys.

Here's a list of UK aliens that have been found in a number to say possible breeding is happening.Some may not be found today other very much so.
You be surprized how much wildlife is really UK wildlife if you look at this list.

*Mammals*
*







*Fallow deer
Muntjac deer
Chinese water deer
Sika Deer
Coypu (now extinct)
Muskrat (now extinct)
Brown rat
Black rat
Hamster
Gerbil
Lesser White-toothed Shrew 
Rabbit
Hare
House mouse
Orkney Vole (Common vole subspecies)
Edible dormouse
North American Mink
Grey squirrel
Porcupine (crested and Himalayan)
Red necked wallaby
Black Tailed Prairie Dog
Feral cat
Racoons?
Big cats?
Coati?
Mouse tailed lemur?


*Birds*







Egyptian goose
Canada goose
Mandarin duck
Carolina Wood duck
Red crested pochard
Ruddy duck
Muscovy Duck
Little Owl
Pheasant species
French partridge
Bobwhite quail
Budgerigar
Ring necked parakeet
Monk Parakeet
European eagle owl
Ruddy shelduck



*Reptiles* (Lever, 2003)







Green lizard
Common Wall lizard
Slow worm (introduced to Ireland where it is not native)
Tesselated snake
Aesculapian snake
red eared terrapin or slider
European pond terrapin

*Amphibian*







Marsh frog
Pool frog
Edible frog
European Tree frog
American Bullfrog
Afican Clawed toad
Midwife toad
Yellow-bellied toad
Italian crested newt
Alpine newt
Marbled newt


*Fish*







Pumpkinseed fish 
Cichlid
Guppy
Wels catfish
Zander
Bitterling
Common Carp
Goldfish
Orfe
Rainbow trout
Brook trout
Top mouth gudgeon


*Invertebrates*







Harlequinn ladybird
Lily beetle
Rosemary beetle
oak processionary moth
horse chestnut leaf miner (moth)
Stick insects
Termites (wiped out, but may return)
False black widow
wasp spider
Mitten crabs
American + Turkish crayfish
Japenese skeleton shrimp
Bloody red shrimp
New Zealand/Australian flatworm
Slipper limpet
New Zealand mud snail
Zebra Mussel
Leathery sea squirt
Colonial sea squirt
Freshwater jellyfish


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

Is that why there are so many ladybirds around lately? Last year there were millions. They were everywhere


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## Skyespirit86 (Feb 23, 2008)

Ooh I just thought of one- it's nothing spectacular, but alien flatworms, mainly the australian flatworm. There's also a black one I think, but the red/orange coloured australian one is most common. It eats native earthworms so people are worried, not just for the earthworm's sake but the animals that feed from them. I am not hopeful people will stop them, short of dousing everywhere with chemicals and that would destroy everything. I found one in my garden last year. I looked it up and found that they are getting quite common where i live (west cornwall), but are found all over the place. Next time I found a while load of them and killed them. Then I found even more- well over 40! And they had gone from one end of my garden to all over it. This is in the space of about 6 months, and they are only supposed to breed in August. But thing will adapt won't they. People are told to not sell plants with garden soil in without checking etc but doubt anyone really knows about them, even in garden centres.

I see someone mentioned scorpions- I only recently found out they reside here in southern england. There's also a small group of aesculapian snakes in North Wales.

Edit: I know these are on the above list, but these are ones I actually know of myself.


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

gazz said:


> You be surprized what in UK is infact a UK species.Note that you put zanda on the list but not carp.You put ringneck on there but not pheasant.This country is't even surpose to have brown rats,black rats,even house mice they are all aliens.
> 
> 
> Grey squirel are NOT the problem it self.Grey's don't go around killing red's.It what grey squirrel are carrying and are immune to but the red spuirrel is't (squirrel pox).They should just find a vaccine for the reds rather than wast time trying to wipe out greys.
> ...


 
thanks for the full list! i only did the ones im doing for my project.. but its nice to see a clear idea of how many alien species are actually living here.. most of them no problem at all.


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## 955i (Aug 17, 2007)

Pool frogs have actually been proven to be a native species.


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## sizedoesn'tmatter (Jan 24, 2009)

sandmatt said:


> *Mink*- Iffy can be a problem but i think in the right environments they're fine


 
WHAT!!!! Only if you want all native species in the area wiped out. Seen any water voles lately?!?!

OK it wasn't the minks fault that they were released but they need to be taken out of the countryside now whilst we still have some native species left!

Oh and Ring-necked parrakeets are a huge problem for native tree nesting birds (such as blue tits) as they destroy eggs and chicks in order to steal nesting cavities.

Sounds like a cool assignment though, good luck with it :2thumb:


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

jerboa said:


> WHAT!!!! Only if you want all native species in the area wiped out. Seen any water voles lately?!?!
> 
> OK it wasn't the minks fault that they were released but they need to be taken out of the countryside now whilst we still have some native species left!
> 
> ...


Yeah see water voles quite often , i think more research is needed into the effects of mink, i personally think rats are outcompeting water voles and forcing them out.. but in some place i will admit mink have wiped out water voles! just not up here, but your spot on with parakeets! its hard to see them as a problem but they are..


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## sizedoesn'tmatter (Jan 24, 2009)

Glad there's still some about! I also take your point that mink may or may not be totally responsible, but they're certainly not helping matters in many areas.

Very jealous by the way - I'd love to see a water vole in the wild!


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

jerboa said:


> Glad there's still some about! I also take your point that mink may or may not be totally responsible, but they're certainly not helping matters in many areas.
> 
> Very jealous by the way - I'd love to see a water vole in the wild!


Ah i never saw one before i moved up here! then again my only 2 mink have been up here too, but guess its just a matter of being in the right place! they're pretty rare in most other places.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Pimperella said:


> woooooooooooooooooooooh!
> I think you'll find it was the animal activists who released the Mink, not the Farmers.


There was a couple of farmers in the New Forests that released their mink but i do agree with u it was mostly the activists that did it. My post didnt make this clear lols.


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## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

selina20 said:


> What about the plants???????? Theres that Asian plant that basically suffocates others but i cant remember its name.
> 
> Tbh unless we stop travelling etc we are never guna be able to stop alien species.


Fallopia Japonica aka Japanese Knotweed - this pernicious, horrible weed is wipng out out more English countryside and natural habitat, than man has managed to do in thousands of years. The reason for it`s devastating impact is that it serves no purpose in Britain: not eaten by anything, not home to anything etc, etc.... there is no natural competitor to it, and can survive in any environment. At least all the alien animals give something back to their habitat - even if it`s only a quick lunch to a fox.


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

funky1 said:


> Fallopia Japonica aka Japanese Knotweed - this pernicious, horrible weed is wipng out out more English countryside and natural habitat, than man has managed to do in thousands of years. The reason for it`s devastating impact is that it serves no purpose in Britain: not eaten by anything, not home to anything etc, etc.... there is no natural competitor to it, and can survive in any environment. At least all the alien animals give something back to their habitat - even if it`s only a quick lunch to a fox.


I'm not sure if its the same plant, but its one of the invasive that can grow back if even a tiny bit of the plants left.. so is almost impossible to get rid of. No idea if its knotweed or not.


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

I saw a water vole once in Dunfirmline while I was sitting on the bank of a little creek running through the Abbey gardens


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## sophs87 (Jan 25, 2009)

live and let live, if humans didnt interfere with anything they could get there hands on to mainly make money from, we wouldnt be in this situation in the first place, one thing comes to mind......
reep what you sow :whistling2:


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## Rosstafarii (Jan 13, 2009)

I own an edible dormouse.
I'm pretty sure it's completely illegal.
But i rang up the wildlife trust and they said they couldn't do anything and that i just shouldn't tell anyone.
Idiots.

So, i rang the zoo, and they said they think i should just hold onto it and keep it on a low down.

What is wrong with these people >.<


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

Rosstafarii said:


> I own an edible dormouse.
> I'm pretty sure it's completely illegal.
> But i rang up the wildlife trust and they said they couldn't do anything and that i just shouldn't tell anyone.
> Idiots.
> ...


haha, well its hardly going to do anyone any harm...

how did you get hold of it?


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## Rosstafarii (Jan 13, 2009)

I bought it from a petshop. lol.

They didn't know what it was 

They can get up to about 8 inches and can eat through like all the insulation in a house within a week, then can eat through wires in seconds and kill all the other mice about. 
Little bastards


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## cooljules (May 20, 2008)

bassy 1019 said:


> hi very good what u wrote, but mat i add one more species to ur list, feral cats, should be shot on sight, killing millions of song birds every year. thats why we have no song birds left. lets breed a certain species of dog to eradicate feral cats., cats r like marmite, u love them, or hate them.


i would just shoot the songbirds.....cut out the middleman and job done!


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## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

Rosstafarii said:


> I bought it from a petshop. lol.
> 
> They didn't know what it was
> 
> ...


Lol thats quite a score then... at least they look a bit nicer than most other mice.


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## DementisMulier (Feb 23, 2008)

my daughter loves pictures of ladybirds. shes nearly 4 and ive never been able to find one to show her properly. i havent seen one in ages


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