I believe it was the Japanese to be specific. They brought it here durring one of the Worlds Fairs. It has a natural enemy in Japan but none here. The only thing that will eat it is goats.
Guess the Kudzu Kingdom South better get to raising goats then. Whole new industry available, goat milk and meat, goat skin leather, why I foresee “get your goat” as a regional term of pride. But then again, maybe not...sigh...
Kudzu only real enemy is man, in Japan they are fastidious in terms of gardening and grounds maintenance and keep the plant under control. Kudzu can be beneficial in preventing erosion, but must be kept in control by diligent pruning. Japan has more maintenance personnel devoted to their cities, parks, & highways per capita than probably any country in the world.
“The only thing that will eat it is goats.”
Cattle eat it (love it), and it has also been cut and baled for hay. It has one of the highest protein contents of any plant used for hay. But it was rough on the the baling equipment, and I’m not sure it’s used very often now that most everyone has gotten away from the small bales to the big rolls (or whatever they’re called).
But cattle will rid an area of it because they’ll eat it before anything else.
“I believe it was the Japanese to be specific. They brought it here durring one of the Worlds Fairs. It has a natural enemy in Japan but none here. The only thing that will eat it is goats.”
And PETA will not let us eat the goats, so it will grow without any enemies.
More unintended consequences.