By Alice Rossignol and Rachael Gleason
Editor’s note: Great Lakes SmackDown! Terrestrial Terror is an ongoing Great Lakes Echo series.
Colonel Mustard uprooted the Purple Plague in Round 1 with a two-pronged attack consisting of covering forest floors and dominating the root systems beneath. The Beast earned its heavyweight title against the The Hulk with this strong skill set: carrying various viruses and parasites, trampling wildlife and killing baby deer.
Now the Garlic Mustard and the Feral Swine face off. The swine has an impressive record, but can it beat out a more pervasive plant?
Let us know which one should prevail and why below.
Fighter Profiles:
Alias: Colonel Mustard
Legal name: Alliaria petiolata
Home Turf: Europe
U.S. Fighting Debut: 1800s
Agent: Originally used in the U.S. for food and medical uses.
Preferred Great Lakes fighting arena: All Great Lakes states and provinces.
Weight/Size class: 3 to 4 feet high.
Fighting Skills:
- Takes advantage of disturbed areas where trees have been removed such as trails and roadsides.
- A rapid sprawler, in some areas in Illinois its recorded spreading up to 120 feet per year.
- One the Colonel decides to put down roots, its committed, and becomes a permanent resident of that plant community.
- Displaces native plants and causes lower plant diversity, while hogging the ground layer of the ecosystem.
- The presence of garlic mustard can change the composition of habitats like growing taller than native plants and butterflies mistaken lay their larvae on.
Life Expectancy: Two years.
Offspring: One plant produces between 50 and 7,900 seeds. Seeds remain viable in soil for up to 5 years.
Alias: The Beast
Legal name: Sus scrofa
Home Turf: Europe and Asia
U.S. Fighting Debut: 1500s
Agent: In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue,
probably with domestic swine too.
They got away or were released, and now Great Lakes folks must deal with “the beast.”
(Other explorers probably brought some too.)
Preferred Great Lakes fighting arena: Mostly in Michigan with populations in Ohio, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Weight/Size class: Males: 100-440 lbs. Females: 80-330 lbs.
Fighting Skills:
- Ever the athletes, these pigs are swift and multi-talented — They can run up to 30 miles per hour and are excellent swimmers.
- Well-known as big bullies, these swine eat whatever plant or animals are in their path.
- These bad boys and girls can give you diseases and parasites like: brucellosis, balantidiasis, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis, trichinosis, trichostrongylosis, sarcoptic mange, tuberculosis, tularemia, anthrax, rabies and the plague — Just to name a few.
- Trampling is a feral swine strong suit. They’ve been known to damage crops, plant communities, vehicles, turf, soil and even archaeological sites.
Life Expectancy: 15 to 25 years.
Offspring: Females can start breeding at 6 months of age and can produce 4 litters a year of 4 to 12 piglets.
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