Plants and animals threaten our health and the health of our pets

Rats, house mice and cockroaches are all invasive non-native species and can be serious house pests.  Other species may be less apparent, such as Giant Hogweed which causes severe burns, or the poisonous Thorn Apple. 

[picture: burn caused by Giant Hogweed sap]

Among all the potential health risks, vehicle collisions with invasive non-native deer are perhaps the most serious.  Almost 30,000 traffic accidents a year are believed to be the result of collisions with invasive non-native deer resulting in a range of human injury, including death.


[picture: example from America of a deer vehicle collision]