Beware the Kudzu Strangler!

Crawlin’, crawlin’ like a spider,

Kudzu weaves its web of green.

Creepin’, sneakin’ ever wider,

Trappin’ trees in each ravine.

Reachin’, reachin’ towards the blacktop

Stalkin' all the cars that pass.

Can’t the guv’ment make it stop

‘Fore it strangles us en masse?

Kudzu grows everywhere, and here it is right in downtown Selma...on the river bank, through the fence and heading for the pavement.

Often called "the vine that ate the South," kudzu is not native to America. The government imported it from the Far East in the 1930s for erosion control. But the fast-growing plant took over like a tyrant...swallowing trees, gripping power poles, threatening ecosystems. It is very difficult to kill, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture officially declared it to be a weed in 1972.