John James Audubon wrote on the Carolina Parakeet.. which dispersed seed of Apples, Grapes, Mulberry, Pears.. probably alot of the ‘chance seedlings’ were due to the Carolina Parakeet.. or perhaps one of the other many exinct birds that we have eradicated.
Because large, noisy flocks would swarm orchards and damage or destroy crops like apples, pears, and grain, farmers viewed the species as a severe pest and heavily hunted them
The species possessed a highly social, protective behavioral trait that proved fatal: when one parakeet was shot, the rest of the flock would not fly away. Instead, they would circle back and gather around their wounded or dead companion. This defensive behavior allowed hunters and farmers to easily wipe out entire flocks at once.
Passenger Pigeons numbered in the billions and dispersed seed all over the Applachians etc. “pigeoners” eradicated all of them. so that we could have railroads and telegraph lines and deforestation and mining of every square inch of land… it was a very cheap meat to feed these new workers. And the pigeons were easy to kill cruelly.
There are many discussions of how to remove birds from our current growings as well. However the old timers removed most all ‘threats’ long ago.
If past creatures by land and air were still alive the North American landscape would be rife with fruit trees, bushes and everything that has a seed inside the fruit.
The American Chestnut which numbered in the billions sustained the wildlife of Native America which provided the new settlers plenty of meat and furs to trade until they were all eradicated… and with the import of Chinese Chestnut the Americans eradicated the American Chestnut.
I think this landscape was much much nicer when there were ‘Natives’ living here.. before the ‘Invasive’ peoples.
Autumn Olive gets a pass from this forum.. yet its ‘taking over’ and all kinds of negative talk..even though it mostly grows here on stripped land where nothing else wants to grow and it fixes nitrogen and feeds a plethora of wildlife.
Many threads on this forum-
Wineberry gets a pass depending on whom you talk to… armchair experts want it eradicated..whereas folks that eat them are for them.
It is what it is… probably best sums up the current status of our landscape. Theres nothing we can do about wineberries or rats or roaches or any of the pests that plague our growings that come in on imported trees and pallet wood from all over the world.
Most of these things grow here.. even tree of heaven. Folks nowadays are too lazy or dont care.. unlike the previous folk that did not have internet or dollar generals that eradicated everything that they didnt like or understand or care about or made profit by eradication or removal.