7 Invasive Species Europe Unleashed on America 

In Appalachia, dandelion is a food source. I can't tell you how often I had dandelion greens, fried with chopped onions in bacon grease and sprinkled with vinegar. Served with fried potatoes and bacon strips and pinto beans with corn bread, either on the side or crumbled and the beans poured over it. Have a veg tray of raw onions, tomatoes and cucumbers and you're eating like a king.

Didn't here a word you said. I was to entertained watching your arms flailing in the reflection in the glass behind you.

The United States was not swanless, in fact the largest water fowl in the world, the Trumpeter Swan is native to North America.

Re Starlings, Some decades ago, a Midwest city mayor decided to beautify the downtown neighborhood by planting a large number of mulberry trees. For a few years, all was well, until the trees matured enough to bear fruit. Note: Starlings love fresh mulberries. Regrettably, after starlings feast, they shit. And drivers discovered that purple starling droppings are corrosive to auto body paint. So it goes....

Okay, is anyone else completely distracted by the hand-gestures seen mirrored in the glass case behind our corrigible host?

Um, Lawrence, we did have swans before Europe brought them here. Trumpeter swans are native to the US and they nearly went extinct in the 30’s. They were also the subject of one of EB White’s most famous books besides Charlotte’s Web which is The Trumpet of the Swan.

You left out the common house sparrow. Definitely invasive. And regarding dandelions, there's wine, jelly, wilted greens, tea, herbal ointments, etc. Pretty useful plant - but DEFINITELY invasive.

I can't believe you did not mention the House Sparrow. They are incredibly invasive. The first of many successful introductions to North America occurred when birds from England were released in New York City, in 1852, intended to control the ravages of the linden moth. In North America, the house sparrow now occurs from the Northwest Territories of Canada to southern Panama, and it is one of the most abundant birds of the continent.

My favorite invasive species: Beatles

The US was never swanless, just Mute Swanless. We have two native species.

I like how much he uses his hands that we never see, but look at the glass in the cabinet! :-)

There's absolutely nothing wrong with eating dandelions, as long as they haven't been sprayed with an herbicide . All parts are edible, except the flowers that have turned white and gone to seed. The flowers (when they're still yellow), buds, leaves, stems, and taproot are totally edible and actually highly nutritious. In fact it's one of the most nutritious greens of all. The buds, flowers, leaves, and stems make a great salad. And the leaves can also be cooked as greens. The taproot can be roasted till deep brown in color and dried out. Then it can easily be ground to make a caffeine free coffee substitute. I've eaten dandelions hundreds of times. My favorite way is scalded dandelion salad with bacon, scallions, and hardboiled eggs. It has a sweetened vinegar and oil dressing, only it's made with the hot bacon grease drizzled over the dandelions instead of oil (hence the scalded).

Your not alone! Dandelions are a staple for Pennsylvania-Deutsch folks like me. Popular one I don't see in the comments below, dandelion salad with hot bacon dressing, or more typically, shortened to just dandelion dressing.

Lawrence: You can make Salad out of Dandelions... and a lot of the fancier salad mixes you buy in the store will have dandelions as one of the greens.

Note to self: Do not eat a late dinner while watching Lost in the Pond. It is a choking hazard!

I am tickled by seeing Lawrence's arms waving in the reflection behind him. Great work, mate!!

As a Brit, we fully expect you to blame the French whenever the opportunity arises. I'm surprised you don't do it more often ;-)

The Spaniards released wild boar. Now days we have Hoggzilla roaming the wilds of the deep south.

The collective noun for starlings is "murmuration." The collective noun for those who love large groups of starlings is "heart mumuration."

Young dandelion leaves can be used in salad. When I grew up starlings were called by kids as mcdonalds birds cause they were always looking to steal your food.

I LOVE Dandelions. They were a big part of my youth. So many wishes were blown on dandelion seeds. Some of them came true, most did not. But they gave me hope on many bleak days of my sad and difficult childhood. One of my favorite flowers, even now. Thank you, UK.

Flowing from Kansas into Missouri, there is a river named Marais des Cygnes (marsh of the swans) and there is a town beside it on the Kansas side, named La Cygne (the swan). According to the French traders who named the river and its adjacent wetlands, they had heard an old native legend about a Romeo and Juliet type couple from rival tribes, who drowned together while trying to elope. Their spirits rose out of the river/marsh in the form of two white swans (trumpeters, presumably), and their tribes made peace with each other. Whether there is any truth to legend, it is surely evidence that the area was inhabited by swans for a good long time. The steel water tower in La Cygne has a picture of a swan on it and many residents have swan lawn ornaments. I've not seen a live swan there, though - most of the the marshes were drained for agriculture long ago, and the river flow controlled. Happily, a nature preserve was established by the Fish and Wildlife Service a little over 20 years ago to bring back at least a portion of the wetlands. I hope native swans will return to the area.

FYI. 2 species of swan ARE native to the US: the Trumpeter and Tundra. Mute swans were introduced.

The Brown Trout is stocked in many rivers, lakes and streams and originates in the UK/Europe. They have become naturalized in many places especially in the Great Lakes.

you can actually eat and make tea out of dandelion leaves you can easily get some at whole foods. they are medicinal and good for the liver. also anyone else watching the reflection on the china cabinet glass watching his hands and arms swing all over the place? xD

I can tell you my Grandma's favorite was Dandelions. When I was a kid she once went out to the yard and picked a bunch of the leaves. We thought she was crazy! She boiled them up and ate them with butter and salt. Turns out in tough times in the past they would boil and eat Dandelion "greens". And I guess you acquire a taste for some things no matter if they come from a dark time. It was kind of cool.

Star thistle, from Italy, is a major plant pest that puts the dandelion to shame.

Besides the '60s American band THE BYRDS, there was a '60s British band called THE BIRDS, led by future Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, of all people. Maybe Mick does listen, after all.

Hemlock, also toxic to Athenian philosophers

Of course, some of the nice things about the abundance of pigeons, is how tasty they are, and how easy they are to harvest. They're all dark meat, and they taste a bit like wild duck. I like them roasted, personally. And all you need is a reasonably accurate air rifle, some bread crumbs for bait, and a Wal-Mart parking lot. I've eaten a lot of squab since retirement. I have a lot more time on my hands, these days, and pigeon hunting is unregulated in Florida. Now I'M getting hungry!

What you call gorse we call broom. Scotch Broom.

Another yellow-flowered plant you guys brought over: Scotch Broom, which is related to the Gorse. It's far worse in Oregon than gorse, to the point I'd never heard of gorse before (though it's very possible that some of the "scotch broom" I've seen was gorse).

Dandelions are one of the first flowers in Spring that bees can feed from. They're pretty, smell nice and are good in salads or as cooked greens. You can make tea (as Tara said) and wine from them and they are supposed to have medicinal properties, as you mentioned.

We have a lot of making up to do just for Poison Hemlock.

You didn't include Europeans. A few came over from Europe back in the 16th century and now they're everywhere and crowding out everyone else.

Dandelion greens are a big deal and crop in Vineland NJ, particularly among Italian Americans. (Vineland is deep down in South Jersey near the shore resorts.) Ps. Starlings flocks often dance in the sky in something called a murmuration.

It is my understanding that the English colony of Jamestown is the introduction point for both starlings and dandelions. They were supposedly brought over as a food source because they will grow anywhere. What the Pilgrims introduced is feral carrots. The carrots the Pilgrims planted were white as are the wild carrots that grow coast to coast. The worst thing from Russia is the Russian Thistle, also known as the tumble weed.

At one time pigeons were more popular to eat than chicken in the United States. How times have changed. Kentucky Fried Pigeon???

So close to 100,000 subs!! Been watching since 20,000 and are so excited to see you cross that line! Thank you for the smiles and laughs - you're helping us survive confinement here in France.

"My Dad makes Dandyline wine." Is a quote in one of the episodes of Little House on the prayer. You can make Dandiline whine.

Dandelion leaves are tasty in salad, and you can make wine from the flower buds. Side comment, I really enjoy the videos on the differences in language and concepts. My fascination for British terminology began when my Dad bought a 1972 MGB MKII...a fun and pretty car. It's also how I learned the phrase "The best thing about British cars is they need you back." Seriously, you have the check the oil. In the carburettors. Two of them. For a four cylinder engine. Regularly. Side side comment, my dream car is a 1955 MG TF, quite possibly one of the most beautiful cars ever built.

I thought they brought the dandelions for dandelion wine!

Thank you for the Dandylions! I love them.

You teach history in such an awesome way. Thank you!

How could you miss the honey bee? There were no bees in North America before the Europeans brought them. Not to mention all citrus, peaches, horses and pigs.

Dandelions can be tea,the greens ,though bitter.can be eaten as a green when yound, Also the root can be eaten boiled or roasted and ground into a coffee substitute.The only caveat would be that the leaves should be rinsed in water to lose the milky sap Oh and the best use for Dandelions is Dandelion wine www.allrecipes.com/recipe/162202/dandelion-wine/

Very entertaining and interesting. Thank you.

Took me a bit to realize that the reflection in the cabinet was you waving your arms, and not some invasive species come to carry you off.

The only invasive species from England I can remember is the alan partridge, a fowel bird at best. Then, of course, was the insect invasion of the beatles.

Is the person in the mirror practicing to do the YMCA dance or something??? Looked like they were trying to guide a jet in for landing.

I really enjoy your videos! They make quarantine just a little better!

Always look forward to your videos, you're too funny, not to mention educational. 😄

Starlings fly in flocks! They can strip cherry trres in a couple minutes

Instead of gorse look up broom, that's it's west coast name, at least up here in the real PNW

Not too long ago I took some interest in learning about my "native" weeds for food and medicinal purposes. One of the things I learned is that most of our common backyard weeds (dandelions) are not native to North America, but were brought over from European settlers, for the same reason I was interested in them. Most of them do have medicinal value.

Love your videos! When I was growing up in my town we had a neighbor that raised homing pigeons!! He probably had a couple hundred that would fly off every morning and return every evening and if he noticed a couple missing he would call out to them and they would fly home as the sun was setting...

How do you know Mick Jagger isn’t watching your material...

In our Seattle garden, we have invasive poison hemlock, English Ivy, dandelions, and one other species you forgot to mention, holly.

great to see the hand gestures in the reflection behind you!

I love seeing your hands and arms talking through the reflection

English (house) Sparrows are another bird brought over here...

Starlings absolutely do not eat grapes and tomatoes.....grapes are high in iron and would kill them......beside the fact that they are insectivores.......how do I know you might ask?.....well go on ask.....I have one for a pet and it is the most wonderful bird that I have ever been owned by......it has a vocabulary of about 50 words and sounds that it mimics but can and does put them into sentences such as ...give me a kiss....and because my wife is Russian.....it can speak Russian as well......the only down side.....the food we have to feed it is fairly expensive.....crickets.....meal worms and the occasional dry cat food....any damage they cause is completely offset by the enormous amount of insects they eat .....there are a lot of people that keep them as pets and a quick search here on RU-vid will bring up lots of results......one of my favorites is WeeWoo.....fun fact......they do not migrate and are very cold tolerant and spread out in early summer.....then gather up in fall to form those huge flocks know as murations

I couldn't stop watching Laurance's reflexion in the glasses behind him. Lol.

Timothy hay probably came from Europe. It spread very rapidly, some think it might have already been here. Because it is beneficial to agriculture its not considered an invasive species

Know what is HILARIOUS? Watching his hands move as he talks being reflected, but not in camera view....

A hint: Don't film in front of the reflective surface. Your arm movements were being reflected, and it was distracting. Other than that, could we see a part 2 on invasive species?

Congratulations on 100,000 subscribers.

Sitting here watching you talk about Starlings with one sitting by me, hes a rescue also Dandelions are so good! especially sauteed.

Could British ex-pats be considered an invasive species? ;-)

So, nobody is going to mention white man? lol jk

Interesting topic, thanks for the video. BTW, I noticed in the reflection in the glass doors behind you that someone is making large gestures during the video. I hope that you did not have a silent heckler while you were filming.

I love seeing your arm movements in the glass behind you but not seeing them on camera lmao.

European Invasive Species Unleashed on America: The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, ABBA .... 😁

The usual French word for "dandelion" is "pissenlit", so-called because of its diuretic qualities.

🎵 Unlike our next entry 🎶. Love how you say that with such allure and mystery 😲👍

Two bits: actually the yellow invasive in Oregon is not gorse but the closely related Scotch Broom. Per my horticultural grandmother, it was originally introduced in the form of more decorative hybrids whose seeds reverted to the base. Also, a plant you might not know about is the famous "tumbleweed" that rolls across the plains and showed up in every Western movie. That is actually a Russian Thistle that came over as weeds in the grain seed stock brought by Russian peasant farmers in the eatly-mid 1800s.

Instead of always using Google to search for things, try alternatives such as duckduckgo.com or others.

Without further bamboo! Well done sir, well done

You missed broadleaf plantain Plantago major. It is a weed that closely followed the colonization of America and is sometimes referred to a settlers' plant. Also the house sparrow Passer domesticus was introduced in 1851 in Brooklyn NY.

LOL with the rock pigeons remark.😅

Loved it, perfect answer to isolation blues.

Well done!

i love how he as to use his hand to talk and its not even sign language lol another great trivia tube luv the doves

In the spring, the leaves of the dandelion ( preferably when small, once the get big they are yucky ) are quite tasty, both in a salad, but also stewed. I worked in a living history museum right out of grad school and we cooked ( and were allowed to eat - at our own risk ) period food. Dandelion leaves are rather nice. But don't eat the flowers or stem.

I see a reflection on the glass of somebody like doing exercises?!!? Oh wait, that's you flapping your arms. Very distracting, LOL Great video!

Dandelion greens are eaten like spinach or mustard greens or collards or turnip greens. Usually steamed, but like spinach can be eaten raw. They are really pretty good.

I thought for sure you were gonna say hedgehogs. Hahaha

The thing i always think of when it comes to invasive species from Europe I think of carp, Some English noble man was convinced that the peasants in america where starving because we had no carp a staple food of the English peasantry so he had some sent over to feed the peasants.

My grandmothers family ate a lot of dandelion greens when they migrated from the Midwest. Many pioneer families used them as a food source when food was short. Unlike turnip greens or other veggie greens that you plant, dandelions grew wild and so did sheep sorrel (an English native too), another greens favorite for families on the move. She was still cooking them in the late 80s or early 90s right before she passed so you are not strange but typical of many American pioneer families, lol.

⭐️CLOSE TO 100,000K! ⭐️ FABULOUS 💥 LOVE your channel 💜 You and Tara are a power couple ! Love you two ! 🌹

Hi Laurence. Love the vids. You're so funny! Thanks for entertaining us. I'm going to try to entertain you, with some facts. A pigeon is a dove. Same bird, different feathers. And I met a woman who fed them peanut hearts. They never messed on her, her car or in her car. Smart birds! Yes, they went in. I love love love English Ivy! For photography.

Haaaaaaaa Alice cooper “your lips are venomous poison ☠️ “. Lol 😂

A bunch of Starlings is a Murmuration, quite spectacular when there's thousands of them.

English ivy is like Galactus. Perfect!

In grade school my science teacher assigned us all a project to prepare dandelion soup and eat it. He gave us some precautions (you can eat the buds, but not the flowers, so you have to make sure the bud isn't in the process of opening) and basically just left it to us to follow them, because this project was done completely out of school. We then had to turn in a science report. It was a huge pain because I couldn't think of any scientific observations to write down other than I didn't get sick.

Though perhaps I shouldn’t encourage it...I have to say that I enjoy your puns. Thanks for the laughs...and the groans, too.

English Ivy is my favorite 💕We had it climbing up the side of my childhood home, in Texas of all places.

LOL! Thank you, you're so funny!

Dandelion wine, roast (think stuffing/dressing), tea as mentioned. Had them all

couldn't stop looking at the reflection :)