One Little Seed

By Anna Owsiak - Idaho Department of Fish and Game Once upon a time, there was a little seed. Small and not very noticeable, it fell into the game bag in the vest of a bird hunter while he sat on the ground. When the hunter got home, he didn't notice the little seed, so there it stayed, all alone. Two weeks later, the hunter headed for a new spot and a day of bird hunting. He found lots of chukars and grouse to chase, and while dumping out the chaff in his vest, the little seed fell onto the ground. There the little seed waited, and when spring came, it sprouted and grew. It liked where it was, and soon it flowered and set seed. Later that winter, an elk walked over the plant and scattered the seeds. Over time the seeds sprouted and grew, adding a few more plants and a lot more seeds to the area. Within a few years, thousands of plants and millions of seeds could be found where once there had been only oneÉ With the 2010 hunting seasons under way, now is a good time to remind hunters about the dangers and consequences of inadvertently moving noxious weed seeds to new areas. Unfortunately the tale above is all too true. Last November, a chukar hunter on the Cecil D. Andrus Wildlife Management Area brought a unique looking plant to the management area office. Though just a brown, withered stalk, an unmistakable ring of spines around its dried flower head provided positive identification: a yellow star thistle. Further investigation revealed a patch of yellow star thistle about three acres. This meant it had already been here for several years. How the seed arrived will never be known for sure, but its location far from a road and on a popular chukar hunting hill suggests the original seed was most likely left by a hunter. This hill also winters many elk and mule deer, and individual star thistle plants were found growing along game trails on the hill. Some were as far as a quarter mile from the main patch, carried there by wintering big game. Over the course of this summer, and for many years to come, management area staff will spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars working to eradicate all the yellow star thistle in this one patch. Did we get every plant this year? Probably not. Many star thistle plants are small and can easily hide under grass clumps and shrubs. Seeds can be carried far along game trails to new locations that may not be discovered for many years. Also, yellow star thistle seeds can lay dormant in the soil for years, necessitating inspection and treatment far into the future. It is hard to believe that all the time and money spent can result from one little seed. But it's true. Controlling a new noxious weed means less time and money spent on other important activities at the wildlife management area. So hunters, please take the time to check your gear and make sure all seeds are removed from potential hiding places. It may not seem likely, but one little seed can have big impacts for years to come. Visit the Idaho weed awareness Website at http://www.idahoweedawareness.com/ to learn more about Idaho's noxious weeds and what you can do to help prevent their spread. Anna Owsiak is a wildlife biologist in the Southwest Region.