Metchosin residents take on invasive plant harmful to farm animals

Scotch broomB次元官网网址檚 little yellow flowers arenB次元官网网址檛 the only eye-sores popping up along roadways and trails in Greater Victoria.

Tansy ragwort, an invasive plant in the sunflower family, is poisonous to horses and cows, and crowds out native species, but a few Metchosin residents are trying to keep it under control.

B次元官网网址淭ansy ragwort likes open spaces. It likes the same areas that the broom likes,B次元官网网址� said Kathy Atherton, a Metchosin resident who has been actively pulling the plant whenever she sees it. B次元官网网址淚t thrives on very little water.B次元官网网址�

Atherton has been on the hunt for the tansy ragwort for about five years. Whenever she is trotting through Metchosin trails on her horse Reggie, she will stop and pull out the plant when she crosses its path.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a noxious weed on par with broom, but itB次元官网网址檚 easier to control,B次元官网网址� Atherton said, explaining that once itB次元官网网址檚 pulled itB次元官网网址檚 less likely to grow back than other invasive plants.

The tansy ragwort regrowth in areas she tends is minimal compared to what it once was. Atherton doesnB次元官网网址檛 take all the credit B次元官网网址� her neighbours and other Metchosin residents are taking action against the plant.

B次元官网网址淪ometimes you will see a small plant on the side of the road. You should stop your car and pull it out while itB次元官网网址檚 still controllable,B次元官网网址� she said.

As a horse owner, Atherton knows the plant is a danger to livestock.

Her animals have never become sick from eating the plant, but animals on southern Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley have died from ingesting the plant.

The plant becomes toxic when mixed with liver enzymes, according the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture.

Once ingested it can lead to liver failure and even death. The flowers of the plant contain the majority of potential toxins.

Tansy ragwort isnB次元官网网址檛 a desirable food for animals, but they can mistakenly eat it while munching on grass. It can be dangerous when it grows in pastures where it can get mixed in animal feed such as hay.

Removing the tansy ragwort is easy, Atherton said as she dons gloves, grabs the thin stem and simply pulls it from the ground.

The ragwort bunch is crawling with caterpillar-like cinnibar moth larvae, the legacy of a 50-year federal government biological control program.

From 1962 and continuing to this day Agriculture Canada imports predators of tansy ragwort, including the cinnabar moth and tansy ragwort flea beetles.

While the patches of the plant donB次元官网网址檛 compare to roads lined with Scotch broom, Atherton says the tansy ragwort could become as dominant as broom if left to flourish.

B次元官网网址淓very year in the late spring I think to myself that I should be putting posters around with pictures of the culprit.B次元官网网址�

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com