LangleyAdvance
Spoonin’ at Arts Alive! pg A15
Your community newspaper since 1931
Friday, August 20, 2010
Your source for local sports, news, weather, and entertainment: www.langleyadvance.com
Audited circulation: 41,100 – 44 pages
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Cathy Paul donated this delectable blackberry pie to the Blackberry Bake-Off Wednesday afternoon.
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Blackberry creations were devoured by hungry visitors on Wednesday. by Troy Landreville
tlandreville@langleyadvance.com
Mmmm, blackberries – so tasty, yet so invasive. The delicious berry is an invasive plant species which, when introduced to an area, can overrun it and destroy native plants in the process. Of the invasive plant and animal species in the Lower Mainland, blackberries have
the strongest foothold, according to Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) executive director Nichole Marples. “They won’t be eradicated, but we can get people to control them,” she said Wednesday during the Blackberry Bake-Off, held as part of the Langley Demonstration Garden’s 10th annual open house. The stars of the annual bake-off are the blackberry creations made available for the public to devour. Marples said the event “opens the conversation about invasive species.” The Himalayan blackberry was introduced to North America from India via
England in 1885, and quickly became a highly invasive species. Himalayan blackberry vines spread rapidly, blanketing vast areas. While its fruit is delicious, the plant itself takes over natural vegetation and forces out indigenous plant life. Marples said cutting the plant down, in addition to picking the fruit off its vines, is an excellent way of controlling its spread while at the same time getting your hands on some of the more hard-to-reach berries. She noted that invasive species are the biggest threat to biodiversity, behind habitat loss.
Crime
Police probe dismembered cats
Mounties are warning pet owners after two cats died under unusual circumstances. by Matthew Claxton mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
At least two cats have been found dead and dismembered, and Langley Mounties are worried the animals may have been deliberately killed. A woman living in South Brookswood told the Langley Advance that she and her daughters found one of the cats on Tuesday morning. The cat, a local stray, had followed her daughter home the
previous night before vanishing under a bridge near 204th Street and 24th Avenue. The woman, who asked not to be named, said they found the back half of the cat the next morning, and recognized it by its colouration. She said the cat had two puncture wounds, and appeared to have been cut cleanly in half. “The other thing is there was no blood, like it had been hit by a car,” she said Langley RCMP Cpl. Holly Marks confirmed that another cat was also found dismembered in the area earlier in the month. “Police would obviously be concerned if it was determined the deaths were caused by a
person,” Marks said in a press Langley Animal Protection release. Society, which runs the local So far, there is no conclusive Patti Dale Animal Shelter, has evidence telling police how helped the police dispose of the the animals died. Investigators remains of the cats. haven’t ruled out the possibilHowever, they don’t have staff ity that the cats were killed by with the expertise to determine another animal. how the animals died, said LAPS “Usually in director Sean Langley the biggest Baker. This story first appeared problem we have Mounties are as breaking news at is coyotes,” said encouraging pet www.langleyadvance.com Conservation Officer owners to ensure Jack Trudgian. animals are He noted that usually if animal secured every evening. parts are missing, it indicates a Anyone who has seen suspipredator has attacked the animal. cious activity in their neighbourBut a coyote isn’t capable of cuthood, or has information on how ting a cat in half. the cats died, can call Langley “Unless I see them, I can never RCMP at 604-532-3200, or verify [the cause],” he said. CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.