A couple of years ago, I I began seeing a pair of collared doves around our bird feeders in Española. They are handsome birds, sporting a ring around their necks, and are a little larger than our native mourning doves.
Now in my backyard I sometimes see a whole flock of 10 or more collared doves. I also see them around our orchard in Sombrillo.
Collared doves are an exotic species originally native to Europe and Asia but have spread like wildfire since 1975 when they were introduced into the Bahamas and quickly showed up in Florida. They have since established themselves throughout much of the United States.
These doves are just another example of how human beings have spread animals and plants across the globe. It got me to thinking about just how much of the food we eat and wildlife we see came from somewhere else.
The only big game species I was fortunate enough to kill last year in New Mexico was an oryx, which is native to Africa. They have thrived here since they were introduced in 1969 onto White Sands Missile Range.
In Africa, lions were the primary predators that helped keep oryx populations in check. Our own mountain lions and coyotes apparently are no match for the Oryx, which are equipped with rapier-like horns.
Also, nearly all the fish we catch in New Mexico likewise had their origins somewhere else. Lately, we’ve been getting pictures of big carp caught by local anglers. Carp were introduced into North America in the mid-19th century and are now present in all of the lower 48 states. They can grow to huge sizes and put up a strong fight, but they have never really caught on as a sport and food fish here.
Rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout, lake trout and kokanee salmon that are popular with local anglers are all species that were introduced to New Mexico. The same is true of walleye, smallmouth bass, striped bass, northern pike and tiger musky.
The cutthroat trout and the Gila trout are the only native trout species here in New Mexico. Their populations have dwindled since other species were introduced, although efforts to restore them to some of their original range have been successful. There is now limited angling allowed for Gila trout in southwestern New Mexico, and cutthroats can still be caught in the high mountain streams of Northern New Mexico. Rio Grande cutthroat were recently stocked in the Rio Grande above Pilar, so maybe we’ll be able to catch some in their namesake river soon.
The big worry lately is the introduction of zebra or quagga mussels into New Mexico. These small shellfish, originally native to the Caspian Sea in Russia, tend to grow thickly on nearly anything to which they can attach themselves. A boat was recently found to be infested with them at Navajo Lake, according to the state Game and Fish Department. Fortunately it was discovered before the boat was launched, but it may only be a matter of time before these exotic mussels make their way to our state’s waterways.
When you look at plants, the introduced species are even more diverse.
The tumbleweed, which is a commonly recognized symbol of the American west, is actually an introduced plant. It was accidentally introduced in the 19th century within bags of seed grains from Europe.
The fruit trees we plant all had their origins in other countries. Apples are from Afghanistan, while peaches come from China and apricots from India.
That’s just scratching the surface of how human beings have altered the local ecology and environment through their introductions, on purpose or otherwise.
There are those who bemoan all the tampering we’ve done with the environment, but it sure has made things more interesting. I often wonder if that might be part of our role in the grand scheme of things, to spread different species of plants and animals throughout the world.
There is no going back now. We can only see what happens.