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Click bait. The cause is known: "Blue tissue and flesh can be a sign of rodenticide ingestion, which can occur by eating bait – which often contains dye to ide
by xnx 1y ago
Click bait.
The cause is known: "Blue tissue and flesh can be a sign of rodenticide ingestion, which can occur by eating bait – which often contains dye to identify them as poison."
- mattmaroon 1y ago[flagged]
- mc32 1y agoHow can you make that claim if the poster is lifting a quote from the article in question itself!
- mattmaroon 1y agoIf you Ctrl+F the article you’ll see they didn’t, it’s a different quote from elsewhere. The article does not say it’s a mystery, neither does the headline, just that it is happening and alarming. It is and it is.
- lostlogin 1y agoThe photo in the photo Independent link shows the colour being so vivid that flesh looks plastic. I learned something.
- mcphage 1y agoI’m not sure how reporting on a thing of concern that is happening counts as clickbait. That’s just… reporting.
- perching_aix 1y agoThe title makes it sound like the cause is unknown and so this is mysterious, a possible cause for panic. Hence why GP specifically leads with that the cause is actually known and even explained in the article...
- baq 1y agoTitle doesn’t say anything about whether the cause is known or isn’t.
- perching_aix 1y agoYes, that's how hinting works: you don't spell the stuff out. Hence why it's a bait (something misleading), and not an outright lie.
- zahlman 1y agoIt describes a phenomenon that a layperson would find extraordinary, and does not mention the cause, which is in fact known. It's reasonable to interpret this as suppressing the cause from a title which reasonably ought to mention it.
- fallinghawks 1y agoYes and no. OP's title says alarm: great fear and concern. However, there was reporting back in 2015 (https://gilroydispatch.com/blue-pig-shot-at-morgan-hill-ranch/ https://gilroydispatch.com/blue-pig-shot-at-morgan-hill-ranc...) about this identical issue. The cause and the solution was known then, and even before.
- 7402 1y agoIt's a pun. I think? The article references squirrel bait as the cause. "Bait" combined with an article that you click on. So ... "click" "bait." Get it? The tipoff is that people usually write it as one word, "clickbait," when talking about a sensationalistic title designed to simulates clicks generating ad revenue. OK, so maybe that person's joke wasn't so successful, but it seems like a fairly gentle attempt, which shouldn't be punished.
- nielsbot 1y agoI thought headlines were supposed to be a quick summary of the article as much as possible. Now I see many headlines that are basically "click to learn why!"
- pempem 1y agoWould you prefer: "Wild pigs' flesh turning neon blue in California don't eat wild pig or other game meats you kill because they're eating the rodenticide people put out there - authorities are concerned people will not know and get sick"? Seems wordy.
- xnx 1y agoHow about: "California hunters find wild pig meat tainted neon blue by rat poison"
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- bikenaga 1y agoLooking at the title I can see your point - you're thinking something like "Rodenticide consumption turns pigs' flesh blue" would have been better? I try to stick with the original title, but since I had to edit it to make it fit anyway, I guess I could have made it less click-baity. Thanks for the suggestion.
- xnx 1y agoLeaving the title as is was the right thing. It's an interesting story. Thanks for sharing. My complaint is more with phys.org (and the entire rest of the attention economy) that is foremost focused in getting your attention instead of informing.
- gopher_space 1y agoIt's only clickbait if the cause was the important part of the article for you.
- nielsbot 1y agoSounds like CA banned the poison in question in 2024 for precisely this reason: wild animals may consume the poison. The poison was coming from baited squirrel traps which the pigs were seeking out and eating from.