5 ms·

The U.S. almost became a nation of hippo ranchers

35 points by gaws 3y ago

actionfromafar 3y ago
South America may yet succeed, with their mini hippos.
- isk517 3y ago
  I'm going to assume these mini hippos are a cross between the standard African hippo and the North American House Hippo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijcoS8qHIE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijcoS8qHIE
  - nomel 3y ago
    Seems like a good way to lose a toe. Those things are vicious!
quantified 3y ago
Awesome detailed story with some recent discussion: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031]
- dang 3y ago
  Thanks! Macroexpanded: American Hippopotamus (2013) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031 - May 2023 (4 comments) American Hippopotamus - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29281993 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29281993 - Nov 2021 (2 comments)
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
akkartik 3y ago
Book recommendation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_of_Teeth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_of_Teeth
AlbertCory 3y ago
That same trader whom I wrote about in here: https://albertcory50.substack.com/p/how-about-not-overcoming-fear https://albertcory50.substack.com/p/how-about-not-overcoming... was on a trip in Africa where the tourists were, uncharacteristically, allowed to hike instead of riding in a truck. They found out why it's not usually done when a hippo came charging around a bend and took a huge chunk out of a hiker's leg. She would have bled to death had there not been a trained nurse in the party. Hippos are aggressive even if you're not bothering them.
discardable_dan 3y ago
Lake Cow, and not River Horse?
LatteLazy 3y ago
You cannot really farm ("ranch"?) hippos because they are not suitable for domestication. You cannot keep them in herds (they fight each other) and you cannot safely handle them (they fight you). It's actually only a very small number of animals that are domesticable. That's why of the 1000s of species we mostly eat pigs, cows, sheep/goats, horses, and a few birds.
- SideburnsOfDoom 3y ago
  Yep. As mentioned in the other links ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35945777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35945777 17 days ago ) This did not "almost" happen, it was not going to happen since Hippos are "the world's deadliest large land mammal" ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35946285 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35946285 )
PeterStuer 3y ago
Title queues obligatory European joke about the American waistsize: "I thought they did?".
iancmceachern 3y ago
I learned today the hippos sweat is pink

35 points by gaws 3y ago

actionfromafar 3y ago

South America may yet succeed, with their mini hippos.

isk517 3y ago
I'm going to assume these mini hippos are a cross between the standard African hippo and the North American House Hippo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijcoS8qHIE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijcoS8qHIE
- nomel 3y ago
  Seems like a good way to lose a toe. Those things are vicious!

quantified 3y ago

Awesome detailed story with some recent discussion: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031]

dang 3y ago
Thanks! Macroexpanded: American Hippopotamus (2013) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031 - May 2023 (4 comments) American Hippopotamus - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29281993 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29281993 - Nov 2021 (2 comments)

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

akkartik 3y ago

Book recommendation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_of_Teeth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_of_Teeth

AlbertCory 3y ago

That same trader whom I wrote about in here: https://albertcory50.substack.com/p/how-about-not-overcoming-fear https://albertcory50.substack.com/p/how-about-not-overcoming... was on a trip in Africa where the tourists were, uncharacteristically, allowed to hike instead of riding in a truck. They found out why it's not usually done when a hippo came charging around a bend and took a huge chunk out of a hiker's leg. She would have bled to death had there not been a trained nurse in the party. Hippos are aggressive even if you're not bothering them.

discardable_dan 3y ago

Lake Cow, and not River Horse?

LatteLazy 3y ago

You cannot really farm ("ranch"?) hippos because they are not suitable for domestication. You cannot keep them in herds (they fight each other) and you cannot safely handle them (they fight you). It's actually only a very small number of animals that are domesticable. That's why of the 1000s of species we mostly eat pigs, cows, sheep/goats, horses, and a few birds.

SideburnsOfDoom 3y ago
Yep. As mentioned in the other links ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35945777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35945777 17 days ago ) This did not "almost" happen, it was not going to happen since Hippos are "the world's deadliest large land mammal" ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35946285 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35946285 )

PeterStuer 3y ago

Title queues obligatory European joke about the American waistsize: "I thought they did?".

iancmceachern 3y ago

I learned today the hippos sweat is pink