Invasive Species

September 7, 2022 - This week we visited Mesa Verde and Canyon of the Ancients. It’s a beautiful and stark area. Walking around you can’t help noticing the fragility of every living thing in this environment. Every action, even a foot step, has a lasting impact on the landscape. The cryptobiotic soil that makes much of life possible in the desert is thin and fragile. The damage caused by walking on it can take decades or longer to repair.

Cryptobiotic Soil

As we drove along, we saw invasive plants that we recognize don’t belong here.

There were other things we saw that don’t belong here.

Shotgun Shells outside Montrose

Scared Aspens Near Telluride

Defaced Petroglyphs in the Desert

Trash at One Campsite near Mesa Verde

Considering the philosophy of indigenous people of respect for this place we all live, and living in harmony with all other things, makes one realize how many of us behave as an invasive species.

That pretty plant, it’s myrtle spurge*. It was brought here because it was pretty in the garden. But it’s poisonous and its sap causes burns or irritates the skin. It’s on Colorado’s noxious weed species A List, designated for eradication.

Next time you’re going for a walk, consider taking a bag for those items someone left behind.

*There are infestation of myrtle spurge in many counties of Colorado including Montezuma and La Plata. The plant shown above was photographed while in bloom in Connecticut.

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