Wednesday, May 07, 2008

There was an old Woman....

Apparently scientists want to release lice also called psyllids to counter the Japanese Knotweed problem.

Now like me your first reaction will be to wonder what other problems this will cause.

Scientists at Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International (Cabi) believe they will not cause any environmental damage. Other experts urged caution, saying introducing them might have unintended consequences, such as feeding on British relatives of the knotweed.

But Dick Shaw, principal investigator at Cabi, said "Japanese knotweed has been described as having the biodiversity value of concrete – it just smothers the ground in a mass," ... "We hope the psyllid will get the plant under control."

Hope? Hope!!

A few counter arguments Craig Macadam of Buglife, "Do they only eat Japanese knotweed or do they eat domestic plants? We do have native knotweeds in this country. It is a question of whether these things would feed on those, too."

Chris Rostron, of The Wildlife Trusts, "Invasive species such as Japanese knotweed pose a serious threat to Britain's biodiversity, particularly wetland habitats. But introducing any non-native species for biological control carries risks and must be thoroughly researched."

Now if you are me....

There was an old woman who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old woman who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old woman who swallowed a bird,
How absurd! to swallow a bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old woman who swallowed a cat,
Imagine that! to swallow a cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old woman who swallowed a dog,
What a hog! to swallow a dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old woman who swallowed a goat,
Just opened her throat! to swallow a goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old woman who swallowed a cow,
I don't know how she swallowed a cow!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old woman who swallowed a horse,
She's dead—of course!

4 comments:

oldcrow61 said...

Ha, ha, I haven't heard that poem since I was a child and that was a long, long time ago.

Tricia Ryder said...

Japanese knotweed is every gardener's nightmare. It can grow from the tiniest bit of root left in the ground. Horrible stuff. Whether this, as a cure, is the right way forward remains to be seen though.

Janine said...

Pete, what a coincidence, I just attended some talks by IFAS on this very subject today. Here in the US any species to be introduced as a control agent goes through about 10 years of rigorous testing to ensure that it will not attack other species. You can never be 100% sure of course but they are extremely thorough. Here in FL some of the introduced biocontrol species have been very successful in inhibiting the growth of exotic invasive species. Hooray!

Mo said...

LOL - my dad used to recite that one to me when I was a kid! I haven't heard it for ages.

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