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This week Collected Wisdom looks at a couple of Canadian exports that the world has been less than happy to receive.

THE QUESTION: "We often read of species that are accidentally introduced into Canada, often with a negative impact," wrote Ted Reesor of Burlington, Ont. But he says we never seem to hear about other countries dealing with invading species from Canada. "Are there any?"

THE ANSWER: Indeed there are. There was Celine Dion's invasion of Las Vegas, for a start. But, on a more ecological note, there have been others.

"There is the case of the importation of Canadian beavers into Argentina with devastating effects on the ecosystem," writes John Holding of Schomberg, Ont.

He says 25 pairs were introduced into the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in 1946 with the intention of developing a fur industry. "Without natural predators, the beavers have proliferated to a population now estimated at 200,000. Naturally herbivorous, they have taken to eating fish, increasing in size and creating dams 100 metres in length."

R. Garth Kidd of London. Ont., says there is recent evidence beavers have crossed the Strait of Magellan onto mainland Chile, putting the tree cover in Torres del Paine National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve, under serious threat.

Biologist Rick Page of Victoria adds that once European beavers had been trapped to near-extinction in the 19th century, Finland and Sweden imported the more robust Canadian species. "Canadian beavers are now rampaging across the boreal forest into Russia and displacing their European brethren."

Britain, he says, refused to allow importation of Canadian beavers, deeming them "uncivilized brutes."

Canada geese, however, have become a major pest in Britain.

"They were introduced in 1665 by King Charles II, who released them into beautiful St. James's Park in London," writes Danielle Kenney of Toronto. "I was studying near an English castle last year and the moat was full of smelly, messy Canada geese who would honk so loudly it was sometimes difficult to hear the teachers."

A final word on this from C. David Johnson of Toronto.

"I lived in New Zealand (a country plagued with introduced species) for a time, and when a fellow discovered I was from Canada, he sneered slightly and said, 'Canada, eh? Thanks for the bloody geese!' They were everywhere, with all their predictable residue."

HELP WANTED

Neil Neate of Victoria wonders why avocado skins take so long to break down as compost. "They persist for years when all else around them breaks down to damp humus."

If Sharon Housser of La Have, N.S., wants a pot of boiling water, is it more economical for her to fill the pot with cold water and let the electric stove heat it, or fill the pot with hot water, making the time until the water boils on the stove considerably less?

And speaking of H2O, Denise Mumford of Toronto writes: "I have started doing my laundry in cold water, and have purchased a cold-water detergent, but it is quite a bit more expensive than other varieties. What, if any, advantage is there to using a detergent that specifies it is for cold water?"

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