4 ms·

I think it's pretty gross and unethical to train crows to pick up cigarette butts (and likely poison them).

by throwaway2245 6y ago

missedthecue 6y ago
Which part of the butt would poison them? They're not smoking it.
- throwaway2245 6y ago
  Humans often get oral and gastrointestinal cancers from chewing tobacco, without smoking it. Not to mention the filter is designed to trap tar, nicotine and other carcinogens. From Wikipedia: "Children who ingest 6 cigarette butts, or a total of 0.5 mg/kg of nicotine should be admitted to a hospital." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_filter#Health_risks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_filter#Health_risks Crows weigh ~1kg and cigarette butts ~5mg, i.e. ingesting a single cigarette butt is 10 times what would send a human to hospital.
  - missedthecue 6y ago
    So the fear is that they might ingest one?
  - notRobot 6y ago
    > Crows weigh ~1kg and cigarette butts ~5mg, i.e. ingesting a single cigarette butt is 10 times what would send a human to hospital. This assumes that humans and crows are physiologically identical, which they are not. Are the affected by tobacco in the same manner? How much do they end up injesting from the typical butt?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - throwaway2245 6y ago
      > This assumes that humans and crows are physiologically identical I accept that this is partially relevant, but: Since humans choose to consume tobacco, and animals including birds generally won't (hence tobacco plants are becoming invasive), if anything we should expect humans to have a higher tolerance and crows to have a relatively lower tolerance for tobacco products. Is your point that it should be considered ethical until your questions have been exhausted? That isn't a good standard of ethics.
      - notRobot 6y ago
        > Is your point that it should be considered ethical until your questions have been exhausted? Not at all. I agree with your point. I was just pointing out that the math isn't very accurate.
- ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
  I remember, when I was a kid, we visited a national park (in Africa). The antelopes would eat cigarette butts, and we were told not to bring any with us (apparently, people would bring them, just to feed them). This was at a part of the park that had animals being rehabbed (or were permanent residents).

I think it's pretty gross and unethical to train crows to pick up cigarette butts (and likely poison them).

missedthecue 6y ago

Which part of the butt would poison them? They're not smoking it.

throwaway2245 6y ago
Humans often get oral and gastrointestinal cancers from chewing tobacco, without smoking it. Not to mention the filter is designed to trap tar, nicotine and other carcinogens. From Wikipedia: "Children who ingest 6 cigarette butts, or a total of 0.5 mg/kg of nicotine should be admitted to a hospital." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_filter#Health_risks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_filter#Health_risks Crows weigh ~1kg and cigarette butts ~5mg, i.e. ingesting a single cigarette butt is 10 times what would send a human to hospital.
- missedthecue 6y ago
  So the fear is that they might ingest one?
- notRobot 6y ago
  > Crows weigh ~1kg and cigarette butts ~5mg, i.e. ingesting a single cigarette butt is 10 times what would send a human to hospital. This assumes that humans and crows are physiologically identical, which they are not. Are the affected by tobacco in the same manner? How much do they end up injesting from the typical butt?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - throwaway2245 6y ago
    > This assumes that humans and crows are physiologically identical I accept that this is partially relevant, but: Since humans choose to consume tobacco, and animals including birds generally won't (hence tobacco plants are becoming invasive), if anything we should expect humans to have a higher tolerance and crows to have a relatively lower tolerance for tobacco products. Is your point that it should be considered ethical until your questions have been exhausted? That isn't a good standard of ethics.
    - notRobot 6y ago
      > Is your point that it should be considered ethical until your questions have been exhausted? Not at all. I agree with your point. I was just pointing out that the math isn't very accurate.
ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
I remember, when I was a kid, we visited a national park (in Africa). The antelopes would eat cigarette butts, and we were told not to bring any with us (apparently, people would bring them, just to feed them). This was at a part of the park that had animals being rehabbed (or were permanent residents).