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Urgent warning to British gardeners as stowaway snakes and spiders are discovered hiding in pot plants
Daily Mail ^ | 1/17/25 | Shivali Best

Posted on 01/18/2025 3:25:09 AM PST by Libloather

From curious hedgehogs to beautiful butterflies, gardens across the UK are regularly frequented by animals.

But scientists have issued an urgent warning to gardeners, amid an influx of secret stowaways.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge say that invasive species including snakes and lizards are slipping unnoticed into Britain in shipments of cut flowers and potted plants.

Continental European snakes, geckos and Italian wall lizards are among the animals making their way over in potted olive trees destined for gardens and green spaces, according to the study.

Worryingly, these creatures can cause extensive damage to food crops and the native environment.

And reptiles are 'just the tip of the iceberg', the researchers warn.

Insects, fungi, spiders and agricultural pests are also being imported into the UK and northern Europe in cut flowers and other ornamental plants.

Despite regulations and border checks, the volume of fast-moving plant shipments makes it difficult to detect species.

It comes as the multimillion-pound global market is rapidly growing with an increasing geographic reach.

The researchers said climate change could see disease-carrying insects like mosquitos, which previously would have died from the cold in northern Europe, increasingly likely to survive.

Rising temperatures could also lead to some ornamental plants being imported from warmer climates flourishing in the wild as invasive species in countries like the UK.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Food; Gardening; Outdoors; Science
KEYWORDS: plants; pot; snakes; spiders
I did not write the headline.
1 posted on 01/18/2025 3:25:09 AM PST by Libloather
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To: Libloather

Invasive species can be huge problems, but I wonder what the problem is with the snakes? Displacing native species, I suppose?


2 posted on 01/18/2025 3:32:30 AM PST by Paul R. (Bin Laden wanted Obama killed so the incompetent VP, Biden, would become President!)
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To: Paul R.

Ego driven people bringing exotic stuff always cause huge problems .


3 posted on 01/18/2025 3:43:30 AM PST by hoosierham (Freedom isnt free)
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To: Paul R.

They have a far worse invasive species know as moslems.


4 posted on 01/18/2025 4:05:41 AM PST by Bigg Red (Trump will be sworn in under a shower of confetti made from the tattered remains of the Rat Party.)
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To: Libloather

“The researchers said climate change...”

That ended any credibilty.FO.


5 posted on 01/18/2025 4:08:13 AM PST by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Libloather
Now why didn’t I think of that?


6 posted on 01/18/2025 4:13:45 AM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: Libloather

7 posted on 01/18/2025 4:15:53 AM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: Libloather

8 posted on 01/18/2025 4:18:07 AM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: Libloather; Rennes Templar; The Spirit Of Allegiance; Red Badger
And reptiles are 'just the tip of the iceberg', the researchers warn.

I, for one, welcome our new ectotherm overlords.

discovered hiding in pot plants

Must have been some thermal imaging going on.

9 posted on 01/18/2025 4:36:40 AM PST by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: Libloather

But no warning for rape gangs.


10 posted on 01/18/2025 7:52:21 AM PST by Wilderness Conservative (Nature is the ultimate conservative)
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To: Libloather

The Meijer Gardens Conservatory wound up with some lizards that were stowaways in the root ball of a tree from somewhere tropical. Dunno if they’re still running around in there, I’ve not been there in some years.

https://www.meijergardens.org/gardens/tropical-conservatory/


11 posted on 01/20/2025 11:44:37 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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