# Oh, Australia, you try and you try... more imported species issues **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271 "2009-01-14T16:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/1 "2009-01-14T16:43:05Z")
Every time the Aussies try to do something about a troublesome species, it backfires on them, to the point of comedy it seems. I dunno, maybe they don’t actually do anything worse than other countries, but they just get beat up more by the media. Here’s an AP story about the latest fiasco: [Removing cats to protect birds backfires on island](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090113/ap_on_re_au_an/as_australia_rabbit_infestation). > [@](#): > > It seemed like a good idea at the time: Remove all the feral cats from a famous Australian island to save the native seabirds. > > But the decision to eradicate the felines from Macquarie island allowed the rabbit population to explode and, in turn, destroy much of its fragile vegetation that birds depend on for cover, researchers said Tuesday… Further down… > [@](#): > > What was wrong was that the rabbits were not eradicated at the same time as the cats," University of Auckland Prof. Mick Clout, who also is a member of the Union’s invasive species specialist group. “It would have been ideal if the cats and rabbits were eradicated at the same time, or the rabbits first and the cats subsequently.” … > > Wren said plans to eradicate both rabbits as well as rats and mice from the island will begin in 2010. Helicopters using global positioning systems will drop poisonous bait that targets all three pests. Later, teams will shoot, fumigate and trap the remaining rabbits, she said. > > Some of the earlier critics are now behind this latest eradication effort, saying it should help the island’s ecosystem fully recover because it would remove the last remaining invasive species. I can’t wait to find out what the lead bullets, poison pellets, and poison gasses will do next. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/2 "2009-01-14T16:46:02Z")
Well, it seems to me that the obvious choice would be to release some velociraptors to take care of the rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/3 "2009-01-14T17:14:56Z")
So Australia is the old lady who swallowed a fly. I see. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/4 "2009-01-14T17:22:05Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Every time the Aussies try to do something about a troublesome species, it backfires on them, to the point of comedy it seems. I dunno, maybe they don’t actually do anything worse than other countries, but they just get beat up more by the media. > … > I can’t wait to find out what the lead bullets, poison pellets, and poison gasses will do next. Obviously the birds are quite hardy so the poisons and bullets will have no effect on them. It was only the pesky cats eating them and rabbits eating all the food that was getting in the way of their survival. Surely they will be able to hold on another year without a decent food source until the rabbits can be removed. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/5 "2009-01-14T17:27:41Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Well, it seems to me that the obvious choice would be to release some velociraptors to take care of the rabbits. Definitely. But keep a few T-Rexes on hand just in case that goes south. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/6 "2009-01-14T17:40:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Definitely. But keep a few T-Rexes on hand just in case that goes south. Good thinking. We’ll keep that tentative appointment with [Apophis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis) on the calendar iff’n the T-Rex’s get uppity. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/7 "2009-01-14T20:52:44Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > So Australia is the old lady who swallowed a fly. I see. I don’t. Why did she swallow a fly? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/8 "2009-01-14T21:36:39Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I don’t. Why did she swallow a fly? I don’t know why, but she swallowed a spider to eat the fly, and a bird to eat the spider, and a snake to eat the bird, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/9 "2009-01-14T23:14:56Z")
I thought it was a cat to eat the bird? Fly\>Spider\>Bird\>Cat\>Dog\>Goat\>Cow\>Horse (she died, of course!) ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/10 "2009-01-15T01:56:51Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > So Australia is the old lady who swallowed a fly. I see. Most accurate and succinct description ever. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/11 "2009-01-15T02:03:00Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I thought it was a cat to eat the bird? > > Fly\>Spider\>Bird\>Cat\>Dog\>Goat\>Cow\>Horse (she died, of course!) That story screwed me up when I was a kid! I first heard it in 1st grade and I still don’t like it. The old woman is obviously mentally ill, seeing as how she keeps swallowing animals, and no one is helping her. And when she died (of course!?), it is said with such callousness as if it’s a throwaway thought. Every life is important and should be cherished and just saying “of course” like it’s something that doesn’t matter is not how life should be viewed. This old woman who swallowed a fly, was someone’s daughter at one time, possible a sister and mother. The fact that no one thought she was important enough to merit a bit more than an ‘‘of course’’ is a scary thought to a child. What if I ended up like that? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/12 "2009-01-15T02:07:56Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > And when she died (of course!?), it is said with such callousness as if it’s a throwaway thought. Every life is important and should be cherished and just saying “of course” like it’s something that doesn’t matter is not how life should be viewed. This old woman who swallowed a fly, was someone’s daughter at one time, possible a sister and mother. The fact that no one thought she was important enough to merit a bit more than an ‘‘of course’’ is a scary thought to a child. What if I ended up like that? Old ladies die. This is truth. I have seen it. Dead old ladies uncounted may be found in my lineage. One died when she tripped over her cat. If she’d had a rabbit she might have lived. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/13 "2009-01-15T02:25:17Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > That story screwed me up when I was a kid! I first heard it in 1st grade and I still don’t like it. > > The old woman is obviously mentally ill, seeing as how she keeps swallowing animals, and no one is helping her. What always confuses me is why she keeps eating _herbivores_ to deal with the problem. Shouldn’t someone have suggested that she swallow a Nile Crocodile instead? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/14 "2009-01-15T02:29:21Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > If she’d had a rabbit she might have lived. For ever? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/15 "2009-01-15T03:04:55Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > For ever? There’s some kind of joke in there that should end with the punchline, “Yes, but the rabbit died.” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/16 "2009-01-15T03:52:40Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > > [@garygnu](#): > > > > So Australia is the old lady who swallowed a fly. I see. > > Most accurate and succinct description ever. Not exactly. More like we are the doctor who extracted the spider, resulting in the old lady dying from the fly. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/17 "2009-01-15T11:32:10Z")
I would have said more like the doctor who inserted a fly first because it should solve a few problem the old bat had with not cleaning her teeth and then the problems started … Cane toads anyone? Try finding something to swallow after consuming that thing. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/18 "2009-01-15T12:04:54Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > For ever? There can be only one. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/19 "2009-01-15T13:57:00Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > That story screwed me up when I was a kid! I first heard it in 1st grade and I still don’t like it. > > The old woman is obviously mentally ill, seeing as how she keeps swallowing animals, and no one is helping her. > > And when she died (of course!?), it is said with such callousness as if it’s a throwaway thought. Every life is important and should be cherished and just saying “of course” like it’s something that doesn’t matter is not how life should be viewed. This old woman who swallowed a fly, was someone’s daughter at one time, possible a sister and mother. The fact that no one thought she was important enough to merit a bit more than an ‘‘of course’’ is a scary thought to a child. What if I ended up like that? Ah, see…it made me uneasy, too, but for entirely different reasons. I kept imagining the logistics of actually swallowing those animals. The gaping maw, the scraping of the tonsils as limbs passed, the bulging of the esophagus and the distention of the stomach… By the time we got to the goat, I was kind of faint with panic. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271/20 "2009-01-15T16:21:03Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Ah, see…it made me uneasy, too, but for entirely different reasons. > > I kept imagining the logistics of actually swallowing those animals. The gaping maw, the scraping of the tonsils as limbs passed, the bulging of the esophagus and the distention of the stomach… By the time we got to the goat, I was kind of faint with panic. Talk about threads that head off in unexpected directions… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-australia-you-try-and-you-try-more-imported-species-issues/481271.md?page=2)