permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <hemenway@jeffnet.org>]

Cattails are indeed edible, at least the young shoots are quite tasty raw or
steamed. As to whether the Guarani will eat them, they'd have to be
presented in a culturally appropriate manner, whatever that would be. For
control, the Bullocks in Washington State US had their delicious cattail
crop inadvertantly controlled by muskrats, which thrived on the shoots
growing in the new bog that they created. The muskrats in turn beccame
controlled by otters, eagles, and other predators that came to feast on the
new food source. So perhaps you can find a native aquatic vegetarian rodent
that would not upset the wetland system. The question to ask is why aren't
other nearby ponds choked out by cattails? Or is this pond simply eutrophic,
which would put you on a tough uphill course if cattails are really the next
stage of succession.

toby