Slashdot Mirror
Crocodiles With Frickin' Magnets Attached to Their Heads
Brickwall writes "Florida, faced with a problem of crocodiles returning to residential neighborhoods after being relocated elsewhere, is trying to solve it by affixing magnets to the crocs' heads. The theory is the crocodiles use the Earth's magnetic field for navigation, and the magnets may interfere with that. What I'd like to know is, whose job is it to put the magnets on?" So far the magnet program appears to be working, unfortunately the crocs have started to collect huge amounts of take-out menus and child artwork.
Please read and understand the summary before asking stupid questions.
Why not just shoot them?
Because the objective is to relocate them, not to kill them.
Also, fuck you.
I can't imagine the croc being very happy about being dizzy all the time.
They use the magnetic field for navigation, not balance. Crocodiles don't even have a sense of balance as we know it, what with having no internal ears and all.
More over how does this stop them from wondering in to town?
If they can't find the town, they can't exactly wander through it, now can they?
Bad idea. Humans tend to find human-adverse aversive.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Why not just shoot them? I can't imagine the croc being very happy about being dizzy all the time.
To be honest I think they'd like being shot even less.
"Three eyes are better than one" -- Lieutenant Columbo
maybe you received a backlash because that kind of arrogant attitude towards other living creatures is just sickening and systemic of an unenlightened mind when it comes to the enviroment around you.
remember that as a species you are the new kid on the block.
have some fucking respect.
nite nite...
as for you mods...get bent.
"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."-- Fred Hampton
than alligators with gun turrets.
The primary threat to this animal comes from habitat loss.
it should read- The primary threat to this animal comes from the human race.
for the record: i am not any leftie, granola eatin, moonbeam hugging retard.
however, this cavalier attitude towards destroying life because it is inconvenient is just maddening to me.
"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."-- Fred Hampton
First, this has nothing to do with natural selection.
Actually you even show a clear ignorance for natural selection because you want to kill the ones that actually adapt and have become better hunters and can thus provide more food.
I.e. the basis for evolution under the 'natural selection' (I'm kinda keeping it simple)
Without wanting to start a pro/contra hunting argument, it is kinda like saying you are helping nature by going hunting.
Uhm, no. What you are doing is simply cutting down the healthy ones and leaving the rest.
While naturally speaking you should be hunting the sick, weak and old (like their natural predators do).
But then which hunter wants to eat that meat?
Second this is not only an issue with Crocs but with many more animals. Or should I say it is less of an animal then of a human issue.
Unlike humans, animals still need to hunt for their food and are not particularly picky when they find something they can eat.
And the easier they can get to it, the better.
This is where we come in.
* trash:
It might seem like trash for us but anything edible you throw away will probably attract animals.
Note, this does not exclude trash that is not thrown into the bin but can basically include anything we drop or store like bread crumbs or our basement food stock.
* habitat:
Rodents like mice, rats or cockroaches are typically problems in our habitats, among others to the above-mentioned trash issue.
But you might think, hey these are only mice, we were talking about Crocs, you would have to remember that there are animals out there that hunt these, f.i. snakes.
In addition to that our habitats are also warm/cool and protect us from the weather.
And if they protect us, they also protect animals.
Plus our other technological advances attract animals a well.
F.i. Tar roads that can heat up quite nicely are ideal places for reptiles.
Some animals love our hoses and wire isolation.
* pets:
Even our own pets are viable food sources to hunters and our domestication can cause them to lose their natural suspicion.
And maybe that log they are sniffing is not really a log.
* animal habitat reduction:
As humanity increases in size we stupidly also increase our habitat size in crazy proportions and thus reduce that of the animals.
This makes it easier for animals to enter our habitats.
Kinda like if you compare the distance between towns 100 years ago to now. Back then the habitat spheres were far from each other. Today these spheres are much closer, touch or even overlap.
Plus the amount of crocs might also be forcing the crocs to hunt in larger areas.
But it would probably be more of the former then the latter.
Humans are not interesting as a food source for most of the animal kingdom.
To big, tough meat, hard to catch and dangerous.
Nearly all accidents of animals attacking humans was because the humans were playing around in areas they should not be.
More humans die in Africa due to Hippoes then to Crocs.
More humans die in Australia to Jellyfish then to sharks.
That's what the cyborg raptors are for!
node-def: a tactical hacking sim. Now in open beta.
Well as an Australian, I often ask the "Why not just shoot them?".
We end up with a bloody Koala problem, where they are overpopulated, and are going to die of starvation. The greenies persuade everyone that the population needs to be reduced. So a cull right?
Hell no. We go in there and neuter them. At several hundred dollars per animal. We knock them out, and cut their nuts off, and stick them back up a tree. All this because they are cute and fluffy.
Of course when it comes to kangaroos, we just shoot them. Guess they didn't evolve to be fluffy and loved by hippies.
These are the same hippies that block the creation of firebreaks... because it destroys the native vegetation. Hows the native vegetation doing now?
FFS. This is why democracy fails - you get raving loonies like this (and our religious net censorship advocate) holding the balance of power.
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
As a native Floridian I'd rather have them on your beach than in my pool.
and tonto called, he has tipi in hand and wants you to get your house off his land.
Nowadays, being "first" doesn't make it yours. Having it, and being able to keep it for a sufficient period of time makes it yours.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
I'll bear that in mind when I steal your laptop. How long do I need to keep it before it's mine?
What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
The native vegetation is probably doing just fine, thank you. Wildfires are part of a natural cycle. Furthermore, even if fire were not beneficial to the ecosystem, humans trying to prevent fires usually just leads to one big fire instead of smaller ones spread over time. This is probably NOT good for the vegetation.
So, while I don't really think we should not create firebreaks to save people's lives and property, I do not think it is correct to argue that they benefit the natural vegetation.
Long enough to get the police to call off the search... If they even try.
As a LIFE LONG Florida resident who's tired of being disturbed by all the noise pollution generated by your jet skis and ski boats I'm cheering for the crocs.
Also, your immediate environment? Your environment is land sonny boy; you don't have gills, you don't have fins, no tail, can't hold your breath more than a few minutes. This is why we had to invent snorkels, SCUBA and why you have to wear a life vest on your water craft. See, the water is the crocs environment and trespassers may be eaten.
I don't know koalas. I do know that neutering and releasing is an effective means of population reduction in some species. The neutered animals compete successfully for mating opportunities and the population's birth rate drops. This can be a more effective and lower cost mode of control than other interventions in some situations. Like if the State has determined that allowing a bunch of hard partying, beer drinking, 4WD driving asshole hunters to screw up the forests is the more costly alternative.
Also, from what I've heard koala meat tastes like cough drops and is inedible. Also, fuck you.
There. I said it.
As territorial and aggressive as humans?
"The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
Drop a chimp in a lake and he drowns. Pull him out before he dies and he'll likely get pneumonia anyhow.
Will he get pneumonia before or after he rips your face off?