Off the Mark by Mark Parisi for May 14, 2024

The whole invasive species thing is overblown. Let the things live that live best wherever they originated. It’s called natural selection. 99.9% of all species that ever existed are now extinct. It’s OK to let some die out.

I love the scary movie days.

I’m nobody in the publishing business, and definitely no marketing guy, but I suggest to Mr. Parisi that he assemble these horror movie-screening cartoons into a book at some point. “Off the Mark and Into the Cinema”

Nothing like triffids

I’m wondering if the flower was indigenous to the location? Dandelions, pretty as they are, are invasive.

We’re the prime example.

If only there was border wall around flower eh.

The Dodo bird also springs to mind …

Any of those invaders carnivorous? And perhaps named Audrey?

Oh, just about every living thing is invasive in some way or another.

Poor, happy, unsuspecting daisy.

An accurate drawing of a giant hogweed would have been even scarier.

Love it! Thanks for the laugh.

Growing up in the low desert, we had a patio out back. Along one side of it was a planter box — ok, a space of dirt between the patio and the cinderblock wall. The sun reflected off all that light-colored concrete and nothing would grow there. One year, something did. It had dark green stalks, nice leaves, and pretty white flowers. It was invasive, all right. It took over the 2′ × 12′ planter and filled it. We never did find out what it was. My parents said “It’s green. Leave it.”

Heh, this morning I was thinking about the Kali tragus tumbleweed, arguably the worst invasive plant in the U.S.

Fans of invasive species should be forced to weed kudzu and eat the leaves.

I reject to whole concept that if seeds travel across the ocean in a bird’s craw and are deposited in a new area and proliferate that is “natural” but if a human buys a pack of seeds from Burpee because he thinks they will be pretty in his backyard garden and they spread through the neighborhood that is somehow “unnatural and invasive”. Humanity is PART of nature.