Invasive Aliens: Rabbits, rhododendrons, and the other animals and plants taking over the British Countryside

Invasive Aliens: Rabbits, rhododendrons, and the other animals and plants taking over the British Countryside
Dan Eatherley

A unique history of plant and animal invaders of the British isles spanning thousands of years of arrivals and escapes, as well as defences mounted and a look to the future.As Brits we pride ourselves as stoic defenders, boasting a record of resistance dating back to 1066.Yet, even a cursory examination of the natural world reveals that while interlopers of the human variety may have been kept at bay, our islands have been invaded, conquered and settled by an endless succession of animals, plants, fungi and other alien lifeforms that apparently belong elsewhere. Indeed it’s often hard to work out what actually is native, and what is foreign.From early settlement of our islands, through the Roman and mediaeval period, to the age of exploration and globalisation, today’s complement of alien species tells a story about our past.

Copyright (#u5db72b48-1e9f-5b3d-bbcc-656d1c20e854)

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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London SE1 9GF

WilliamCollinsBooks.com (http://www.williamcollinsbooks.com)

This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2019

Copyright © Dan Eatherley 2019

Nineteenth-century engravings on chapter title pages are © Shutterstock, with the exception of chapter 6, which is © ilbusca / Getty Images

Cover design © Jo Walker

Cover images © Getty Images

Dan Eatherley asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Source ISBN: 9780008262747

eBook Edition © June 2019 ISBN: 9780008262761

Version: 2019-05-28

Dedication (#u5db72b48-1e9f-5b3d-bbcc-656d1c20e854)

To Georgia

Epigraph (#u5db72b48-1e9f-5b3d-bbcc-656d1c20e854)

‘Turkeys, carps, hops, pickerel, and beer,

Came into England all in one year.’

Chronicle of the Kings of England

unto the Death of King James, Sir Richard Baker, 1643

Contents

Cover (#uc4dba57b-629f-5f08-8d9d-a27e4ff12bc4)

Title Page (#u52a763da-faf3-52f7-a9c1-4bd230164c68)

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Prologue

1 Ecological Explosions

2 First Invaders

3 Romans and Normans

4 New Worlds, New Invaders

5 The Empire Strikes Back

6 The Plant Hunters

7 Unwanted Hitch-Hikers

8 Fur Farm

9 Freshwater Invaders

10 Underneath the Waves

11 Fighting Fire with Fire

12 The Future

Further Reading

Index of Species

General Index

Acknowledgements

About the Book

About the Author

About the Publisher

Prologue (#u5db72b48-1e9f-5b3d-bbcc-656d1c20e854)

A Hornet’s Nest (#u5db72b48-1e9f-5b3d-bbcc-656d1c20e854)

Tetbury, Gloucestershire. 2.30 pm. Wednesday 28 September 2016

The wind had strengthened again and was blowing in short, powerful flurries. Graham paced up and down, his attention focused on the boundary hedges. Drawn by reports of sightings in the area, the team had last week netted several specimens of the invader that had been hawking for prey on ivy clinging to the trunk of one of the garden’s cypresses. A reliable line of sight had been achieved and further samples dispatched for DNA analysis. But that had been all.

Graham approached the conifer once more. No activity here today. As he turned back though, something danced in his peripheral vision, something way up in the cypress closest to the house. Was it his imagination? He squinted for a better look. Sure enough, four, five, maybe six, large-ish insects were whirling about the highest branches.

What the heck were they doing? What on earth was interesting them up there?

Not yet daring to hope, he reached for his binoculars. Within moments Graham confirmed the target species and shouted over to his colleague.

‘Hey Gordon! This could be it!’