We have done a fair bit of Ragwort pulling this year. Ragwort is a native flower which does well in disturbed or poached fields. It has the unfortunate property of containing poisonous alkaloids that can kill livestock, particularly cattle and horses. It is most poisonous when dried so fields with ragwort in them cannot be made into hay. Most of our meadows are free from ragwort but the drier fields with a history of hard grazing and those with lots of rabbits in them had a good crop of ragwort growing in them thanks in part to the dry conditions in the early part of the year. Our Saturday morning work parties managed to clear most of the Ragwort from these fields taking care to leave a few ragwort plants with the stripey Cinnabar Moth caterpillars on them. The caterpillars of this moth strip the ragwort and help control it. They also take up the poison into their bodies making them poisonous to insect birds. Isn't nature wonderful? |
