Dealing With Invasive Bullfrogs and Blackberries -- and Pervasive Field Mice and Deer Predators

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

Many of you have noticed that I have not been writing any blogs recently, with yesterday's

installment being the first one in some six weeks. The reason for this hiatus in my blog releases

is that I have been on "Reltonia" (my land in Oregon), actively trying to help Earth by:

1. eliminating bullfrogs,

2. protecting young trees from predation,

3. eliminating Himalayan blackberries.

Since time constraints are a reality, I have had to forego the writing of blog installments,

spending the bulk of the time I could have spent on them pursuing the three endeavors I

have listed here.

Regarding the bullfrogs, I am using some amazing nets that I purchased in Japan to

eliminate the creatures in droves. Over the past 30 days I have captured 1,200 bullfrogs

(ranging in age from tadpoles to tadpole-producing adults). Dispatching the creatures is

no joy for me, but is something that has to be done. I do it quickly -- saying a quiet prayer

for each life that I take.

Knowing that I am helping to stave off the extinction of native Oregon amphibians,

reptiles, birds, and mammals is the only thing that allows me to kill the bullfrogs. Ideally,

I could load them onto an airplane and have them flown to their original range, the United

States east of the Mississippi River and south of the Ohio River.

As for the young trees, two creatures that attack them are white-tailed deer and

field mice. The deer love to take a single bite at the uppermost, central branch of the

young fir trees. This generally does not kill the firs, but does, in many cases, lead to

poor growth -- and a shape that lowers their commercial value if they should be harvested

for lumber in the future.

The attacks by the field mice are more pernicious in that the mice can actually kill

the young fir trees (when they are between 30 and 150 centimeters in height) by

gnawing all of their outer bark off just at the point where the young trees emerge

from the ground.

I have been constructing wire mesh protectors over as many trees as possible

before deer and mice can unleash their attacks on those trees. (See the second

photograph below.) Doing this is time consuming, so I have managed to cover

only some 5% of the trees so far. So I need to stop everything else and get those

trees covered forthwith!!

As for the blackberries, I allow them to grow on some parts of Reltonia, where they

afford protection for rabbits and ground nesting birds from invasive cats (whose ancestors

were brought to the Americas by humans as pets and "pest controllers"). One acquaintance

of mine here in Oregon quipped that it is strange that I accept invasive blackberries,

but not invasive cats. My rejoinder was that I accept (a limited number of) blackberry

plants because they do stifle the efforts of the UNlimited number of Eurasian cats

that seek to kill indigenous animals "just for the fun of it".

Speaking of fun, some of the blackberry patches I have eliminated on Reltonia were

so thick, extensive, and deep that I could actually "trampoline" on top of them by riding

on top of the old iron fence gate (shown in the third photo below) as though it were a

surfboard on a sea of blackberries!

Steve Walker

Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

Picture Number 1: This particular bullfrog was a virile male who tried to look me in the eye. So sad that he wasn't doing his wooing where bullfrogs are indigenous!

Picture Number 2: Here you see four of more than 200 protective cages I have constructed on Reltonia to protect young trees from deer and field mouse damage.

Picture Number 3: Blackberry "surfer" Steve Walker and the gate he has been using to bring invasive blackberry patches heights down from 2.5 meters to 25 centimeters.

EarthSaver

Steve Walker

Dealing With Invasive Bullfrogs and Blackberries -- and Pervasive Field Mice and Deer Predators