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15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

theguardian.com

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Re: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

#41

Post by peeters »

seszett wrote: post #8
teslabox wrote: post #3

I heard tumbleweeds are an invasive species. Wikipedia seems to confirm: "Kali tragus [...] is an annual plant that breaks off at the stem base when it dies, and forms a tumbleweed, dispersing its seeds as the wind rolls it along. It is said to have arrived in the United States in shipments of flax seeds to South Dakota, perhaps about 1870. It now is a noxious weed throughout North America, dominating disturbed habit…

Argentine ants are well known for having colonised Europe and largely eradicated the local species of ants. Phylloxera almost killed the French wine industry when it arrived in Europe. American turtles (called "Florida turtles" in French, not sure of their English name) and nutria are also invasive species in Europe, but those were initially introduced on purpose.

The really interesting thing to me is that phylloxera was combated by grafting old world vines onto new world roots. So as I understand it, most of these super old established vines in France have American roots.

Re: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

#42

Post by JulianMorrison »

justinclift wrote: post #21
stonogo wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time this happens, people start telling these stories. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-15-me-51273... Out of approximately 10k tumblweeds tested per year, approximately 20 per year are found to be radioactive, for values of radioactive approximating one CT scan. So even if you drag a geiger counter out there to find a hot one, then cuddle it for a while, it isn't as interesting as the campfire…

Guessing the mutation rate in the seeds from the radioactive ones will be higher than normal?

Yes but most mutations just break stuff.

Re: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

#43

Post by siffland »

itronitron wrote: post #35
netgusto wrote: post #13

My risk avoidance systems detects danger in staying in the car within the pile of tumbleweeds, as I expect them to be easily flammable; isn't that the case?

yes, they are extremely flammable although likely to completely burn up within a minute or two as they don't have a lot of mass when dried out not sure whether it is safer to exit the car and risk getting hit by another vehicle or risk being stuck under a burning pile

I don't know, I saw this on an Outer Limits episode once, those tumbleweeds are up to no good or maybe they are trying to communicate.......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry_of_Silence

Re: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

#46

Post by dsfyu404ed »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #25
LockAndLol wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Some residents fight back with steel traps or poisonous gas. Some even eat the comical pests, which are said to taste best marinated with celeriac and onions. That's a nice "fuck you" to racoons . Free food.

I wonder where on the social ladder does eating 'coon fall over there? Is it somewhat up there like most things hunting/fishing related are? (because hunting/fishing/trapping your own meat was generally something the landed gentry did for recreation) I really hope it's not in the bottom half just because of how uncomfortable that would make certain Americans.

To clarify my point, I'm hoping it's not considered low class to eat racoon in Europe

Re: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

#47

Post by wahern »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #25
LockAndLol wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Some residents fight back with steel traps or poisonous gas. Some even eat the comical pests, which are said to taste best marinated with celeriac and onions. That's a nice "fuck you" to racoons . Free food.

I wonder where on the social ladder does eating 'coon fall over there? Is it somewhat up there like most things hunting/fishing related are? (because hunting/fishing/trapping your own meat was generally something the landed gentry did for recreation) I really hope it's not in the bottom half just because of how uncomfortable that would make certain Americans.

I don't think any American hunting and eating raccoon harbors delusions about the social status of such activities, even in places where it's relatively popular. If anything, it being looked down upon is a point of pride.

That said, I would imagine that raccoons carry a very high parasitic load on account of their omnivorous diet and the places they tend to poke around. I wouldn't hesitate to eat squirrel if offered (I may have even eaten it before for all I can remember), but I'd definitely pass on raccoon meat. (Feel free to correct me, though, about the safety of either squirrel or raccoon meat.)

Re: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

#48

Post by floren »

joncrane wrote: post #32
k_sze wrote: post #23

The article doesn’t talk about it, but is this also a result of climate change?

I believe that Western Washington is indeed experiencing less rainfall lately.

SR-240 is firmly on the east side of the state, which is naturally a desert. The road runs through the Hanford site, so there's no agriculture on either side, just sagebrush and tumbleweeds (and elk).

Re: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

#49

Post by poulsbohemian »

k_sze wrote: post #23

The article doesn’t talk about it, but is this also a result of climate change?

Lifelong Washingtonian here, currently living about an hour from these tumbleweeds... this year has been dry (saw something about 50% less rainfall / snowfall than typical for this time of year...) but tumbleweeds like this are not really that unusual. One of my very earliest memories was being caught in a storm just like this one, just before xmas when I was about two. Much of eastern Washington is scrub, where if it can be irrigated, turns into excellent agricultural land.

Re: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure

#50

Post by sparrish »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #44

Best ball pit

No way. Those suckers are all dried up and not 'soft'. They're scratchy and the branches can be sharp when broken. Jump in and you'll come out bleeding.

This coming from years of experience cleaning up tumbleweed piles against fences here in Colorado.

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