1. INVASIVE! Canada Thistle Not from Canada (despite the name)
Probably from Europe

2. INVASIVE!
Colonizes disturbed areas (pastures/fields, roadsides, ditches)
Is distasteful to most grazing animals, giving the thistle a competitive edge (animals don’t eat it, letting it live)
Introduced from Europe and Asia, probably in 1800s
Bull Thistle

3. INVASIVE!

4. Scotch Broom A major problem on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands
“said to have been introduced to Vancouver Island from Hawaii in the 1850s by Capt. Walter Calhoun Grant who planted it on his farm near Sooke”
Of European origin, probably from Scotland
“is too successful and able to out-compete the indigenous plants in reproducing, in taking over space, chemically inhibiting neighbouring vegetation, discouraging browsing, and holding viable seeds till the opportune moment to germinate arrives. It can actually replace the natural forest. The only plant that I have seen out-compete broom is another European invading immigrant, the European or Himalayan blackberry”
Scotch Broom

5. Himalayan Blackberry
INVASIVE!

6. NOT INVASIVE! Trailing Blackberry
The difference between non-native and native blackberries:
Native blackberry is a trailing plant (runs along the ground, not as bushes)
Stems are slender & red
Leaves formed of three dark green leaflets
Flowers have petals that don’t overlap

7. Giant Hogweed (Cow’s Parsnip)
INVASIVE!

8. INVASIVE! Grey Squirrel
Native to central and eastern North America
In the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, and has now made its way into the South Okanagan
In 1909, a small number were released in Stanley Park, where they are now a thriving resident. In 1966, several escaped from a game farm on Vancouver Island, where they pose a threat to sensitive Garry Oak ecosystems.
has hurt the red squirrel through out-competition and disease
displaces native birds of their nesting habitat, eating the birds’ eggs and nestlings
also competes with native mice and voles

9. Red Squirrel (Douglas Squirrel)
NOT INVASIVE!
The only squirrel native to the west coast
Is being out-competed by the grey squirrel 
Grey Squirrel
INVASIVE!

10. Invasive Plants of BC
Invasive Animals of BC

11. A CREATIVE SOLUTION TO SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF INVASIVE SPECIES…