# Hippos in Colombia

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-in-colombia/1005209>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 3, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-in-colombia/1005209 "2024-08-03T21:50:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-in-colombia/1005209/81 "2024-08-27T15:52:31Z")

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> [@El\_DeLuxo](#):
>
> As I said above, the default reaction people have when nonhuman animals get in their way, or might conceiviably get in their way, or just exist where humans don’t want them to, the resort to “Kill them! Kill them! KILL!” and the accompanying idea that the animals don’t count

As near as I can tell, people who think it necessary to kill the hippos think this because they’re trying to protect other animals from the hippos.

It’s not a matter of thinking “that the animals don’t count.” It’s a matter of recognizing when an animal out of place is endangering other animals.

I don’t know enough about the ecology there to know whether killing the hippos is the right thing to do or not. But it does seem to me a) that you’re entirely wrong about the motivation and b) that you’re focusing on one species to the exclusion of all others. There are a whole lot of species involved here that aren’t humans, not just one.

> [@El\_DeLuxo](#):
>
> We’ve dealt with rodent invasions the old-fashioned way, namely with traps (whose fatal nature still gives me pause and regret, but the so-called humane alternatives don’t work worth shit) and making foodstuffs unavailable to them, and with insects by means of simple agents like boric acid and diatomaceous earth. So far it’s worked, too

So what, precisely, is the difference between your killing rodents in traps when other alternatives don’t work, and potentially killing hippos if other alternatives don’t work?

Besides the hippos not being in your personal house, of course.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-in-colombia/1005209/82 "2024-08-27T16:09:09Z")

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They might be. I feel compelled to post the house hippo video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvdlVKHpzhw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvdlVKHpzhw) .

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-in-colombia/1005209/83 "2024-08-27T16:48:13Z")

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> [@El\_DeLuxo](#):
>
> We’ve dealt with rodent invasions the old-fashioned way, namely with traps (whose fatal nature still gives me pause and regret, but the so-called humane alternatives don’t work worth shit)

We use these humane traps every winter, when field mice find their way into our home. They work as well as snap traps IME. I set three traps and catch two or three mice on day one, then fewer as the problem improves. My gf releases the mice in our barn, where she has a little mouse town set-up with food and water.

The traps are too small for hippos, though.

> **[CaptSure](https://www.amazon.com/stores/CaptSure/Homepage/page/D852FC63-4C8F-4E9A-A08E-EA6040BDD489)**
>
> captsure

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