6 ms·

"Step one, therefore, would be to mount an intensive (and expensive) rat annihilation program. Residents would, no doubt, be happy to go rat-free, ..." I desp

"Step one, therefore, would be to mount an intensive (and expensive) rat annihilation program. Residents would, no doubt, be happy to go rat-free, ..." I despise rats. Yet I find it disconcerting that the author just brushes this off as a triviality. We are perfectly happy saving one species by wiping out another.

3am 15y ago
Black rats are extremely common worldwide and are at no risk of extinction so nobody is 'wiping out' black rats. They're only talking about on Howe Island. The goal is not to avoid killing animals, it's to preserve biodiversity. Same reason people try to wipe out Kudzu, zebra mussels, snakeheads, rats, and other invasive species that displace endemic populations.
- InclinedPlane 15y ago
  At one point there were more passenger pigeons on Earth than there were humans. Pigeons are widely considered by many folks to be little more than rats with wings, so it's unsurprising that few people cared as passenger pigeon populations were "wiped out", until ultimately the species became extinct. I don't imagine that black rats will become extinct, but we should not pretend as though the prospect of "wiping out" local populations of any species is anything other than a morally ambiguous activity.
  - nikatwork 15y ago
    If the animal is an introduced species that has decimated native populations, I would think the morality quite straightforward.
lysol 15y ago
Black rats are in no danger of extinction.
- fsniper 15y ago
  Even that, this means genocide for a species.
  - astrodust 15y ago
    Nuclear weapons couldn't kill off even half of the rats on this planet.
    - sitkack 15y ago
      Which is exactly why if we want to survive a nuclear war we need to start cross breeding with black rats and probably cockroaches.
      - theon144 15y ago
        Well that's an unpleasant mental image... However, cockroaches actually aren't any better at surviving radiation than any other species, mythbusters tried it.
        sitkack 15y ago
        They can survive in harsher environments using less energy. Wasn't actually thinking about a rad-hard organism. Maybe throw in some flatworm, someone has to have a robust error-correcting code system built into their genetics. Granted we would have to figure out a different neuro chemistry or physiology for having human level cognition on a much smaller energy budget.
DanBC 15y ago
Wiping out another - on that particular island, where they were non-native. Invasive species cause havoc and removing them (whether by killing or by trapping[1]) is hard but useful work. [1] See hedgehogs on some obscure Scots islands.
- unseen 15y ago
  Duh, its evolution. You make it sound like a war theatre.
  - DanBC 15y ago
    April 2003 - Attempts to begin a cull of hedgehogs on North Uist in the Western Isles have got under way. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2920067.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2920067.stm) April 2005 - Animal rights activists are trying to rescue hedgehogs as an annual cull gets under way in the Outer Hebrides. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4406675.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4406675.stm) October 2005 - Protest over annual hedgehog cull (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4390054.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4390054.stm) April 2007 - The board of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has decided to suspend its cull of hedgehogs in the Western Isles. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6378245.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/63...) February 2010 - Hebridean hedgehogs: a prickly issue The Uists cull has already cost more than £1m, but we should question the causal link between bird and hedgehog populations (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/25/hedgehogs-cost-eradiction-translocation-scotland http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/25/hedgehog...) February 2011 - £1.3m hedgehog cull to save islands' birds eggs 'fails' (http://www.scotsman.com/news/163_1_3m_hedgehog_cull_to_save_islands_birds_eggs_fails_1_1493828 http://www.scotsman.com/news/163_1_3m_hedgehog_cull_to_save_...)
    - JL2010 15y ago
      Also: Australia's efforts against the cane toad, invasive fish species all over the world introduced by humans for "sport", Florida's efforts against the Burmese python (which has become the dominant predator - even swallowing local adult alligators).
nazar 15y ago
They should import cats. Thats how they got rid from enormous rat population after Leningrad (current St.Petersburg, Russia) blockade during the WW2. That would be a natural way of annihilating rat population(passive killing).
- JL2010 15y ago
  So long as there's something there to eat cats. Introducing one invasive species to cure another can lead to unpredictable ordeals.
  - nazar 15y ago
    There are always big predators at top of the biological food-energy chain. They are few in numbers. Anyways, I believe populations of cats and rats will fluctuate. Increase in cats will cause decrease in rats and then subsequent decrease in cats. Like phase difference between sine and cosine wave graphs. I believe introducing some small wild cat population would be a right thing to do, tho I would like to hear opinions of experts. Edit: I don't think cats are invasive in the way rats are
    - ars 15y ago
      > There are always big predators at top of the biological food-energy chain. Not on islands. That's why islands have such unique animals found nowhere else.
    - eurleif 15y ago
      Wouldn't the cats eat the insects?
      - nazar 15y ago
        Not exactly their niche. They might hunt for insects, but it won't be enough in terms of energy acquired. So probably they will reduce in population until rats' population will restore back. And its good to keep rats busy. They won't wander as freely as they do now and hence eat less insects.
ranit8 15y ago
I doubt anybody in the world can anihilate rats.

3am 15y ago

Black rats are extremely common worldwide and are at no risk of extinction so nobody is 'wiping out' black rats. They're only talking about on Howe Island. The goal is not to avoid killing animals, it's to preserve biodiversity. Same reason people try to wipe out Kudzu, zebra mussels, snakeheads, rats, and other invasive species that displace endemic populations.

InclinedPlane 15y ago
At one point there were more passenger pigeons on Earth than there were humans. Pigeons are widely considered by many folks to be little more than rats with wings, so it's unsurprising that few people cared as passenger pigeon populations were "wiped out", until ultimately the species became extinct. I don't imagine that black rats will become extinct, but we should not pretend as though the prospect of "wiping out" local populations of any species is anything other than a morally ambiguous activity.
- nikatwork 15y ago
  If the animal is an introduced species that has decimated native populations, I would think the morality quite straightforward.

lysol 15y ago

Black rats are in no danger of extinction.

fsniper 15y ago
Even that, this means genocide for a species.
- astrodust 15y ago
  Nuclear weapons couldn't kill off even half of the rats on this planet.
  - sitkack 15y ago
    Which is exactly why if we want to survive a nuclear war we need to start cross breeding with black rats and probably cockroaches.
    - theon144 15y ago
      Well that's an unpleasant mental image... However, cockroaches actually aren't any better at surviving radiation than any other species, mythbusters tried it.
      - sitkack 15y ago
        They can survive in harsher environments using less energy. Wasn't actually thinking about a rad-hard organism. Maybe throw in some flatworm, someone has to have a robust error-correcting code system built into their genetics. Granted we would have to figure out a different neuro chemistry or physiology for having human level cognition on a much smaller energy budget.

DanBC 15y ago

Wiping out another - on that particular island, where they were non-native. Invasive species cause havoc and removing them (whether by killing or by trapping[1]) is hard but useful work. [1] See hedgehogs on some obscure Scots islands.

unseen 15y ago
Duh, its evolution. You make it sound like a war theatre.
- DanBC 15y ago
  April 2003 - Attempts to begin a cull of hedgehogs on North Uist in the Western Isles have got under way. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2920067.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2920067.stm) April 2005 - Animal rights activists are trying to rescue hedgehogs as an annual cull gets under way in the Outer Hebrides. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4406675.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4406675.stm) October 2005 - Protest over annual hedgehog cull (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4390054.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4390054.stm) April 2007 - The board of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has decided to suspend its cull of hedgehogs in the Western Isles. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6378245.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/63...) February 2010 - Hebridean hedgehogs: a prickly issue The Uists cull has already cost more than £1m, but we should question the causal link between bird and hedgehog populations (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/25/hedgehogs-cost-eradiction-translocation-scotland http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/25/hedgehog...) February 2011 - £1.3m hedgehog cull to save islands' birds eggs 'fails' (http://www.scotsman.com/news/163_1_3m_hedgehog_cull_to_save_islands_birds_eggs_fails_1_1493828 http://www.scotsman.com/news/163_1_3m_hedgehog_cull_to_save_...)
  - JL2010 15y ago
    Also: Australia's efforts against the cane toad, invasive fish species all over the world introduced by humans for "sport", Florida's efforts against the Burmese python (which has become the dominant predator - even swallowing local adult alligators).

nazar 15y ago

They should import cats. Thats how they got rid from enormous rat population after Leningrad (current St.Petersburg, Russia) blockade during the WW2. That would be a natural way of annihilating rat population(passive killing).

JL2010 15y ago
So long as there's something there to eat cats. Introducing one invasive species to cure another can lead to unpredictable ordeals.
- nazar 15y ago
  There are always big predators at top of the biological food-energy chain. They are few in numbers. Anyways, I believe populations of cats and rats will fluctuate. Increase in cats will cause decrease in rats and then subsequent decrease in cats. Like phase difference between sine and cosine wave graphs. I believe introducing some small wild cat population would be a right thing to do, tho I would like to hear opinions of experts. Edit: I don't think cats are invasive in the way rats are
  - ars 15y ago
    > There are always big predators at top of the biological food-energy chain. Not on islands. That's why islands have such unique animals found nowhere else.
  - eurleif 15y ago
    Wouldn't the cats eat the insects?
    - nazar 15y ago
      Not exactly their niche. They might hunt for insects, but it won't be enough in terms of energy acquired. So probably they will reduce in population until rats' population will restore back. And its good to keep rats busy. They won't wander as freely as they do now and hence eat less insects.

ranit8 15y ago

I doubt anybody in the world can anihilate rats.