The USDA will stop using sodium cyanide "bombs" in Idaho (at least temporarily) following an incident that put a 14-year-old in the hospital and killed his dog:
About a month after an anti-predator device spit sodium cyanide in the face of an unsuspecting boy and killed his dog, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced it is ending its use of the M-44 mechanisms in Idaho indefinitely.
"We take seriously the incident in Idaho," Jason Suckow, western regional director of the USDA's Wildlife Services agency, told conservation groups in a letter Monday. "We immediately responded by removing all M-44s from the area, initiating an inquiry into the incident, and launching a review of current [Wildlife Services] operating procedures."
Suckow noted the agency has "removed all M-44s currently deployed on all land ownerships in Idaho" and has refrained from planting new ones.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by julian on Sunday April 16 2017, @06:35PM (11 children)
Joe Rogan recently had a guest, Dan Flores, on his podcast who studies coyotes in the US. It was very interesting. Apparently, many methods that ranchers and the government use to reduce the coyote population actually have the opposite effect. Putting pressure on the population actually increases their fecundity. The episode is ~2.5 hours long, but worth it. [youtube.com]
This particular method of population control seems almost comically evil. I'm surprised these sorts of accidents don't happen more often.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @09:46PM (5 children)
That stuff is purposely misleading nonsense from people who think these deadly beasts are cute little doggies.
Fecundity goes to zero, period. Dead animals don't breed.
As in war, we get a lot more pain and suffering if we drag things out forever. If there are a million to kill, you can kill a million now or you can kill a half million of every generation until the end of time. There is no limit to the killing if you drag it out, failing to apply the overwhelming force required to wipe out the enemy.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday April 16 2017, @09:54PM (2 children)
That stuff is purposely misleading nonsense from people who think these deadly beasts are cute little doggies.
They are and have been part of nature for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. The war on coyotes is just part of the war on predators, and any other animal which might cut into rancher profits, that are a disgusting holdover from the 1800's.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @04:38PM (1 child)
As soon as a kid is smart enough to stay out of the street, it should be safe to leave them outside. Kids should be able to play.
Any creature that would interfere needs to be eliminated. That includes animals, criminals, and toxic plants.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Thursday April 20 2017, @08:56PM
Just move to Disneyland already.
(Score: 2) by Lagg on Sunday April 16 2017, @10:45PM
I have no interest in debating the obvious problems with fucking cyanide sentries. But for what it's worth Joe Rogan isn't stupid. He's lived in the Colorado mountains and is very well versed in natural history. I don't even like the podcast that much anymore and I disagree heavily with a lot of what he says. But it's dumb to imply he doesn't know what he's saying.
Also I'm not sure where that left field war rant came from but how 'boutchu and the rest of the cunts go back to twitter. The liberals turn you on so much because they're a lot like you and you're a lot like them. You deserve each other - and you know it.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 17 2017, @04:48AM
Of course, there won't be any unforeseen consequences of wiping out an animal species. It can't happen, because mankind is so smart, he can't be surprised by anything nature might do. The rabbits, rats, squirrels, and other rodents in the country certainly won't overpopulate when the last coyote is gone, will they? And, rabies won't run rampant as a consequence, right?
Life must be to good. Far to many people have forgotten what they are, and where they come from. As much as we have fucked with nature, nature still reigns supreme on this planet. Don't forget that, you simple animal.
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Sunday April 16 2017, @09:56PM (1 child)
Comically evil, you say?
You are comically correct, julian.
You do realize that these were designed against Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius, don'tcha?
How could they be anything less than comically evil? ;-)
But all jokes aside, these seem like chemical weapon land mines, and that is evil...just ask that hospitalized 14 year old boy that lost his dog to one of them.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday April 17 2017, @01:54AM
Coyote killing bombs would have been set BY Wile E, in an attempt to get the Road Runner.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Monday April 17 2017, @02:07AM (2 children)
I'm not that surprised - coyotes adjust their litter size based on stress and available resources, from only one or two to a dozen or so. Assuming the culling techniques are not especially stressful for coyotes not culled, having fewer coyotes around means more available food per coyote, and much larger litter sizes. And if culling eliminates a large portion of the population every generation, then it's going to represent a huge evolutionary pressure in favor of whatever physical and behavioral traits make the survivors more resistant to culling.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @07:51PM (1 child)
This does not mean much larger liter sizes. The liter size is undefined, and the food per coyote is infinite, because there are zero coyotes after a successful culling. The theory that some animals just pop into existence hasn't been taken seriously for well over a century. Dead animals don't breed.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday April 17 2017, @09:00PM
Culling does not mean total extermination - it means killing the "undesirable"/ less fit members of a population. Such as those easily trapped or poisoned.
Besides which, if you've worked out a method to kill 100% of any animal population, Australia would love to talk to you about their rabbit problem, and there's a long line of others behind them.
And with litter sizes over ten in good times, coyotes can potentially recover from an 80% successful extermination in a single season (well, plus maturation delays)