North Carolina
From giant crabs to toxic snails, a look at invasive species that made news in NC last year
They aren’t supposed to be here, but they are now marching across N.C. A look at invasive species that made news in the Tar Heel State last year
It might be a new year, but for North Carolina’s environment there are many of the same problems from species that shouldn’t be here or have been drawn to the Tar Heel State by our warming weather thanks to climate change.
Some might be considered cute, others pests by most. But what they share in common is the real or potential impact they can have on native species that often aren’t equipped to deal with the interlopers.
From phragmites to fire ants to kudzu, some of these non-natives have been here long enough that they have become established in our ecosystems and are too widespread and adapted to be wiped out.
But others are just getting their foothold in the Tar Heel State. And while North Carolina isn’t usually their first landing spot in the U.S., research and experiences in those other locations offer a vision of what impacts we can expect.
Here’s a quick look back at some of the invasives that made news last year, whether as new arrivals or because of their continuing spread across the state.
Toxic snails
In October, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission announced that a snail native to South America had been discovered in the Lumber River.
The Apple snail, which can grow to an impressive 6 inches in size, are considered dangerous to both wildlife and humans. Their grazing habits can damage plants that many native aquatic species rely on, and they have also been found grazing on some amphibian eggs, according to the wildlife commission. They also pose threats to humans because of their potential to carry parasites like rat lungworm, which can cause deadly illness in people if the snails are consumed raw or undercooked. Their eggs carry a toxin, too, which can cause skin and eye rashes.
Like some of the most problematic non-native species, the snail also is prodigious breeder. Adult females lay eggs in striking bright pink clusters as frequently as once per week, and, often thousands of individual eggs are found at a time.
The discovery of the invasive species was the first time the snail had been spotted in North Carolina, but officials fear it won’t be the last. The Lumber River basin extends into Columbus County and South Carolina, and the snail already has established itself in Louisiana, Georgia, Texas and Florida, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Big, like really big crabs!
Imagine a fiddler crab on steriods and you get the idea of the size of the blue land crab.
And like many species that are big, colorful or unusual in some way, the giant crab isn’t supposed to be in North Carolina.
But in summer 2023 they were spotted for the first time on Emerald Isle in Carteret County. How they got there remains a mystery.
Blue land crabs are native from Brazil to south Florida, and their bodies can grow as large as 6 inches. Occasional sightings have been reported along Georgia and South Carolina beaches in past decades, but never in North Carolina until last year.
As big as a good-sized coconut or cantaloupe when counting the breadth of its legs and claws, cardisoma guanhumi is hard to miss as it scuttles along coastal areas. That might make you think they are easy to catch. But they are fast, and their burrows are deep and extensive. Oh, and then there’s that big claw that it doesn’t mind using to defend itself.
Unlike its smaller cousin, the native blue crab, the blue land crab is a vegetarian, grabbing fresh plant shoots, fruits and crops that are found near coastal waters before retreating to its burrow. Although there have been reports of the crabs feeding on animal carcasses and practicing cannibalism, these actions are thought to be rare.
That has researchers not too worried about what direct impacts, aside from creating big holes that could pose a danger to humans and animals, the big crabs might have on the environment. But, they added, there’s always the concern of what other bugs or parasites might have hitched a ride up the coast on the crabs and is now impacting local flora and fauna.
PHOTOS: Blue land crabs in North Carolina
Tree-killing bug
There’s nothing good to say about this invasive insect that leaves millions of dead ash trees in its wake, and now there’s little to stop it from reaching the Wilmington area − if it’s not already here.
The emerald ash borer is a strikingly beautiful member of the insect family. Native to Asia, the pest was first spotted in the U.S. near Detroit in 2002. The bug likely hitched a ride over the Pacific in wood-packing material carried by ships or planes.
Jump forward a decade, and the bug was first spotted in North Carolina in Granville County north of Durham. As of last year the invasive insect had been found in 71 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, most recently in Craven, Hertford, Cumberland and Lee counties.
And it’s still spreading.
The mature beetle, which is about half-inch long, isn’t the tree killer, but its larvae is. Adult borers lay their eggs on the bark of ash trees. When the eggs hatch, the larvae bore into the bark and feed on the tree’s transportation tissue. What follows is a slow, top-down death for the ash tree, as first the crown of the tree is starved of water and nutrients and then the rest of the tree − a process that can take up to five years.
While the bug can fly, researchers say human transport of infected wood is the primary way the borer spreads. Oh, and just for good measure, the insect also use waterways to travel, since many ash trees are found around rivers and wetlands. Infected trees in Cumberland and Bladen counties were discovered along the banks of the Cape Fear River.
With more than 250 million ash trees in North Carolina, the borer has plenty to eat. Active ways to stop the beetle’s spread are few, with researchers around the country − including at N.C. State University − looking into using biological controls from the ash borer’s home turf in Asia, including tiny wasps that feed on the bug’s larvae.
And while treatment is possible, the process is expensive and has to be done repeatedly to protect the trees.
COMING SOON TO WILMINGTON: Invasive pest that has decimated millions of NC ash trees
Armored possums
If you haven’t seen a nine-banded armadillo − yes, an armadillo − in North Carolina, it’s likely only a matter of time.
Since 2007, the little mammal has been expanding its range across the Tar Heel State. A bit unusually, the armadillo’s invasion began in Western N.C., and it only fairly recently began popping up in the Piedmont and along the Coastal Plain.
While researchers are still gathering information, armadillos don’t appear to be causing the widespread ecological problem that other non-native and invasive species can cause when they show up in a new environment. But gardeners and landscapers might disagree, noting that the burrowing animals can leave a mess of holes on lawns and in gardens as they hunt for insects.
Armadillos, a bit like opossums, wouldn’t win a beauty pageant in the animal world. They are equipped with long ears, a pig-like snout and a scaly tail. They also has poor eyesight, but a great sense of smell.
But the mostly nocturnal critters are adaptable, which has helped them navigate across North Carolina. Since the first sighting in 2007, the wildlife commission has received nearly 900 reports of nine-banded armadillo sightings in 70 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, with nearly 30 counties − stretching from Cherokee to Dare counties − having confirmed observations. Observations, which are increasing year over year, also have been reported in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.
ON THE MOVE: How climate change and population growth are helping armadillos move into more areas of NC
Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.
The back story of how the 249-year-old sketch was discovered could be as interesting as the piece itself.
The rectangular drawing of a revolutionary war
brigade out of North Carolina was created in Pennsylvania.
Looking at it now, the sketch looks significant
sitting behind museum glass. But just three years ago, it was considered a
novel antique store find, hanging on a collector’s wall.
Historian Matthew Skic said he was in collector, Judith Hernstadt’s New York home when she happened to show him a sketch she’d picked up at an antique store in the 1970s.
“I look on the wall, she points it out, and my jaw is on the floor with what I was seeing, and this small sketch on paper. The ink and the paper struck me as this looks like it’s from the 18th century, from the 1700s. I was looking at the scene, seeing soldiers, a wagon, horses, and it looked like a military scene, and an army on the move,” Skic said.
Skic oversees collections at the Museum of the
American Revolution and immediately noticed the figure in a fringed hunting
shirt, commonly worn by soldiers in George Washington’s Army. He got permission to remove the framed sketch from the wall and saw a faint inscription.
“It said, ‘An exact representation of a wagon belonging to
the North Carolina brigade of Continental troops, which passed through Phila,’ and then the mat had cut off the rest of the inscription,” he recalled.
What he had discovered was one of only a dozen known eye-witness accounts of George Washington’s Army. An eye-witness account is considered something captured in the moment, not commissioned or created after an event.
“We didn’t have a camera. There’s no record of what, what they looked like, action scenes,” said Ansley Herring Wegner, who runs the state’s historical
research and publications.
She spoke to the rarity of finding an eye-witness account of Washington’s troops.
“Well, George Washington had just recently said, ‘Do not
allow camp followers on the carts, because it really slows everything down. It gums up the works.’ Well, North Carolina, ‘You can’t tell us what to do,’ so they’re there on the cart, and there’s wounded soldiers on the back,” Herring Wegner said.
Immediately after the discovery, Skic went to work. He found headlines from August 1777 when
the brigade marched through Philadelphia and traced the route they took. Then, he
researched skilled artists in town at the time and landed on Pierre Eugene du
Simitiere.
“So I studied his handwriting among his papers at the
Library Company in Philadelphia, and [found it] matches his handwriting,” he said.
Whether many Americans know it or not, we are familiar with du Simitiere’s work. It was his idea in an application to design the U.S. Seal that gave us our national motto.
“His design was ultimately rejected, but one of the
elements of his design for that seal, which he submitted in 1776 was the motto, e pluribus unum, which we still use today. That’s the motto of the United
States; Out of many, one.
The sketch was on display at the Capitol for
one day. However, the conditions were not favorable for a long-term stay. Visitors can see it when it goes to the North Carolina Museum of Art from
May 20 to Aug. 1.
The original owner, Judith Hernstadt, has donated the sketch to the Museum of the American Revolution. The presentation of the sketch at the Capitol building is part of North Carolina’s celebration of America’s 250th. Learn more about the sketch at the state’s website for the country’s milestone.
North Carolina
North Carolina couple accused of causing vulture invasion sued by furious town: ‘Not good neighbors’
A North Carolina couple accused of luring hordes of vultures to their home and unleashing chaos on neighbors for years is being hauled to court by fed-up town officials desperate to end the feathered frenzy.
The Town of Hillsborough slapped residents Kenneth and Linda Ostrand with a civil petition, seeking a court order to shut down their relentless bird-feeding habit, blamed for allegedly drawing dozens of winged scavengers to their home and terrorizing their small town for the past two years.
“They’re a little spooky to be frank,” concerned neighbor Holden Richards told WTVD.
“Everybody thinks they’re ugly and stuff but they’re not good neighbors. They have sharp talons, so they’re not great animals to have perching on your house. I watched them pick tiles off my neighbor’s roof and I found tiles from my roof in my front yard, so I have a feeling that’s exactly where they came from.”
The bird-brained couple is accused of leaving out food scraps for vultures, allegedly reeling in the feathered predators that have swarmed and roosted near their house, leaving foul-smelling droppings on neighbors’ homes and vehicles and causing widespread property damage deemed a risk to public safety.
The complaint, filed in March, also claims the twisted pair named the birds of prey – with eerie photos submitted to the court showing dozens of vultures circling their Queens Street home, the outlet reported.
“I’m pretty sure that every one of my neighbors has probably called,” Richards said, pointing to a flood of complaints made to town officials since May 2024.
The Ostrands reportedly filed a motion to dismiss the town’s case last month, denying the accusations.
Linda Ostrand, a longtime wildlife rescuer, told WTVD she is being unfairly targeted by her community and claimed the circling creatures were already an issue before she moved into the neighborhood.
“It’s sort of, it’s ridiculous, is what it is,” Linda said, noting the town changed an ordinance after the initial wave of complaints to ban wildlife feeding beyond standard feeders.
“If people didn’t have vultures around here you would hear them screaming bloody murder about the town not cleaning up the animals that have been hit by cars, because that’s what they do, they are nature’s garbage disposal,” she continued.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, tell the vultures that this is a no-feed zone. I just don’t know.”
No court date has reportedly been scheduled for the couple’s fight with the town.
North Carolina
Businesses worry of potential impacts as Marion tightens water restrictions amid drought
MARION, N.C. (WLOS) — The City of Marion is tightening water restrictions as drought conditions persist across western North Carolina, prompting local businesses to prepare for possible impacts on daily operations.
The drought monitor released on Thursday, May 14, shows that extreme drought now covers 90% of western North Carolina.
ASHEVILLE IS MORE THAN 7 INCHES BELOW AVERAGE RAINFALL THIS YEAR, DATA SHOWS
As the region continues moving into a hotter and drier pattern, the City of Marion officials announced Stage Two water shortage restrictions less than a month after issuing a Stage One Water Advisory.
Businesses in Marion said the quick escalation is raising concerns about what could come next if drought conditions persist.
“They put us in stage one at the end of April and already it’s not through, it’s not the end of May and they’re already putting us in stage two,” said Barbara Brown, owner of Bruce’s.
Under the Stage Two restrictions, watering lawns, gardens and golf courses will be prohibited. Washing cars, filling residential swimming pools and serving water in restaurants except upon request will not be allowed.
Brown said her restaurant is already taking steps to conserve water.
“We check the bathrooms often to make sure people have turned the water off because we have found from time to time, people leave them running,” she added.
She said she worries stronger restrictions could eventually force businesses to make bigger operational changes.
“I’m concerned that eventually we might have to go to paper plates, paper cups, silverware,” Brown said.
Other businesses are also considering adjustments.
Kat Garner, a tattoo artist at Blue Ridge Tattoo, said water shortages could affect how the shop operates day to day.
LEADERS URGE WATER CONSERVATION AS DROUGHT DEEPENS ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
“We would definitely be reduced to using distilled water for everything, which would become harder if everyone’s buying it out, so that would definitely make things a little bit more difficult,” Garner said.
The Stage Two water restrictions are set to begin Friday, May 15, at 8 a.m. and will last until further notice.
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