Opossums Overrun Brooklyn, Fail To Eliminate Rats 343
__roo writes "In a bizarre case of life imitates the Simpsons, New York City officials introduced a population of opossums into Brooklyn parks and under the boardwalk at Coney Island, apparently convinced that the opossums would eat all of the rats in the borough and then conveniently die of starvation. Several years later, the opossums have not only failed to eliminate the rat epidemic from New York City, but they have thrived, turning into a sharp-toothed, foul-odored epidemic of their own."
Re:Wild Animals Should Stay In the Wild (Score:3, Informative)
Oh no. If you aren't hunting them (gigging them from a boat & hitting them with a bangstick), you're going to want either a reasonably large caliber rifle / pistol or a 12ga with buckshot. Shooting them in the head does fuck all unless you sever the spine. The good thing about alligators is they generally leave you the hell alone if you do the same. Water moccasins are the ones you really have to watch out for, they will attack you unprovoked, especially during mating season.
Possum + Rabies? (Score:4, Informative)
Opossum's are particularly resistant to rabies due to a low body temperature+environment. That's just FUD sensationalism.
Don't badmouth the opossum like that.
Re:Wild Animals Should Stay In the Wild (Score:3, Informative)
You've never ate gator? I guess it's just a regional thing, since I don't think there is a seafood restaurant in Florida that doesn't offer it as an appetizer.
It's pretty tasty, usually served fried & with a ranch or mustard based dipping sauce. It's a bit like a cross between chicken & pork, but a lot chewier.
Re:EPIC FAIL! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:possum is a food group here in alabama. (Score:3, Informative)
I've never seen them play dead.
I have, but only in response to my dog, not to me.
Re:Wild Animals Should Stay In the Wild (Score:3, Informative)
I've known about them for years before max Payne. I know that Taurus isn't exactly the highest quality brand out there.
You do not always have the option to carry a long shotgun with you for both practical and legal reasons. You definitely don't want to be walking around with a short shotgun for legal reasons. But you still may need a self defense weapon if you are out in brush/swamp, and for that the judge is more effective than just about anything else you can carry. I would definitely prefer it over conventional pistol when faced with a snake and prefer it over a .410 shotgun if faces with an aggressive wild dog.
Re:Alligators (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Wild Animals Should Stay In the Wild (Score:3, Informative)
I saw someone mention clubbing an animal...
I doubt they've tried it. I clubbed a rabbit (was sick, not getting better) and it moved right as I was fully committed to the swing.
Effin hell I felt bad for the thing. What should have been a clean strike to the back of the skull turned into a painful head-blow.
Now when I have to dispatch an animal I use a 33 gallon drum and compressed N2.
Painless for the animal and no boom that would upset the newer neighbors (right on the boundary of greenbelt/open land and suburbia). There is a new Rd5 development literally half a block away on one side and several acres of horse property and farmland leading to a river on the other side.
The horse people and farming people know what a .22 / .223 sounds like and also know if it's at dusk then it's likely a varmit being dispatched. The urbanites? They call the cops "OMFG I heard a *GUN* send help quick."
-nB
Re:Wild Animals Should Stay In the Wild (Score:4, Informative)
Shooting a gun in the same situation seem even more irresponsible - the bullet may just go through the critter, and end up into one of your neighbors..
That is why you use a shotgun.
Re:Wild Animals Should Stay In the Wild (Score:3, Informative)
That is why you use a shotgun.
Contrary to popular belief, shot will go through several layers of sheetrock. It is not safe for shooting in a residential neighborhood.
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot3.htm [theboxotruth.com]
And yet they stupidly outlaw ferrets! (Score:3, Informative)
Further, NOWHERE in the Western Hemisphere are there any feral colonies of the domestic variety of ferret. They just don't survive well here outside of captivity.
So New York, in its "infinite wisdom" (pardon the sarcasm), outlaws ferrets but imports possums, which ARE known to breed in the wild and form feral colonies.
Yet another reason I don't live in New York. Its leadership has made many decisions of this quality.