Slashdot Mirror
Radioactive Boar On the Rise In Germany
Germans who go out in the woods today are sure of a big surprise, radioactive boars. A portion of the wild boar population in Germany was irradiated after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, and the boars are thriving. In the last two years government payments to compensate hunters for radioactive boar have quadrupled. From the article: "According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost €425,000 ($555,000) was paid out to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was too contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007." I think the Germans are overlooking just how much money there is to be made from regenerating bacon.
GET OUT OF HERE STALKER
-- the opinions stated above aren't those of my employer. in fact, they're probably not even my own. you know what, ju
Boarzilla!
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
Germany could market these as "Self-Cooking Boar!"
Too lazy to cook? No fuel for your stove? No problem - just shoot, wrap in foil, and a few hours later...DINNER!
I need trepanation like I need a hole in the head.
Ahh, reminds me of my Magic: The Gathering days... cast "Wild Growth" on the "Dusterwaldkeiler" and goodbye to enemy "Serra Angel"s. Muhaha
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
I'm having trouble understanding how the Cherynobl meltdown has anything to do with wild boar populations in southern Germany. The article specifically mentions Bavaria, a region a thousand miles (and several countries) away. I admit I'm just an ignorant American, but surely this doesn't make any sense?
I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
Hunters also have to pay a fee to dispose of the boar carcass. So some let the animal go to a neighboring territory where the animals can be shot to be eaten.
At least the Yao Guai and Deathclaw populations remain at normal levels.
Gamertag: WyleType
I, for one, welcome our new radioactive grass-eating overlords
...must not make "Peter Porker" joke...
Because untainted boar meat is far more valuable?
And, yes, such an animal exists. They are called "boar."
(see also "sheep" in the UK, which have the same issue with Chernobyl fallout, and "reindeer" in certain Nordic regions, not to mention carnivores in a lot of places)
Lichen (aka. reindeer chow), fungi (loved by boar) and certain other plants (probably including the grasses or some other plant that sheep eat a lot of) are apparently great radioactivity concentrators.
Fortunately, C137 has a half life of about 30 years, not tens of thousands, so in a few hundred years the radioactivity remaining in most animals should be low enough that this isn't a problem any more. As long as we keep building reactors safely and running them to standards such that they don't blow up, we'll only glow when it's REALLY dark.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
"Radioactive Boar" would be an awesome name for a heavy metal band...
IMHO nuclear power requires a kind of long-term thinking that is utterly alien to modern politicians and industry managers.
Case in point: Back in the 1980s there was a political decision to develop an old salt mine (Gorleben) into a long term storage for highly radioactive waste. But today it seems that the major reasons for that decision were
A) Gorleben was close to the Border to East Germany
B) The people there would be grateful for any jobs and would keep voting for the conservative parties forever
Geology seems not to have influenced the decision very much, which is a pity as a similar testing facility (Schacht Asse) developed great problems.
Only a few decades later, those criteria seem irrelevant today, and yet the stuff will be dangerous for thousands of years.
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."
Not much. You find yourself quite boared.
In my house, about 6 min.
Wild boars cause incredible crop damage to farmers in Germany. In areas with a large wild boar population, farmers pay hunters a token fee to keep the damage at a minimum. Most of the hunters' compensations comes from selling the meat to restaurants. It's a delicacy and tastes delicious. The Frischlinge (baby wild boars) taste quite outstanding.
To hunt boars in America it takes cunning, patience, stealth, patience, an uncanny knowledge of the boars' habitat, a good aim, and more patience.
In Germany, the wild boar hunter builds a small tower at the edge of a farmer field. He then crawls up there with his weapon, and a thermos of coffee in the evening. At then waits for a wild boar to show up. And waits. And waits. And waits. So your comment about "patience" is the same for hunters in Germany. Being a outstanding shot, and being able to keep quiet in the hunter tower are nice traits to have as well.
So the reason why the German government is compensating them, is that if they can't sell the meat, the whole endeavor isn't worth it anymore. And the wild boars are considered pests (varmints).
In the northern part of Germany, they have a problem with rats, that chew their way through the dikes. Bad news if there is a flood. So old, retired men keep themselves busy by killing the rats, and get paid something like 5€ per rat tail by the government.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!