# Well, On Second Thought, Maybe Its A GOOD Thing That We Killed 'Em Off **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-on-second-thought-maybe-its-a-good-thing-that-we-killed-em-off/117134 "2002-07-03T01:11:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-on-second-thought-maybe-its-a-good-thing-that-we-killed-em-off/117134/1 "2002-07-03T01:11:43Z")
This just in: The dodo was merely a giant [pigeon](http://discover.com/july_02/breakdodo.html). > [@](#): > > In life, however, the odd-looking bird was just an oversize pigeon. A team led by Oxford University zoologist Alan Cooper extracted DNA from a stuffed dodo and compared it with 36 suspected relatives. The results placed the flightless bird smack in the middle of the pigeon family. Why they were even hunted to extinction is a bit beyond me since according to [this](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0227_0228_dodo.html), the damn thing’s didn’t even make good eating: > [@](#): > > According to the captain of a Dutch expedition to the birds’ home on Mauritius in 1598, the bird was also called walckvogel, meaning disgusting bird. The Dutch, although they killed them by the hundreds in hunting expeditions, apparently found the meat exceedingly tough no matter how long it was boiled. Well, just think, you big city dwellers, that one day you might not have to worry about pigeons crapping all over your cars and statues. They might just return down an evolutionary path taken by themselves once before and become large, flightless hunks of unappealing meat products you can runover with your car! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-on-second-thought-maybe-its-a-good-thing-that-we-killed-em-off/117134/2 "2002-07-03T01:36:47Z")
Don’t take cuisine advice from a Dutchman. I mean, it’s like hiring an Italian consultancy firm to get rid of corruption in your organisation. 🙂 Unless we’re talking about herrings or _kroketten_, of course. ---
**Author:** ![JBERGES](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@JBERGES](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBERGES)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-on-second-thought-maybe-its-a-good-thing-that-we-killed-em-off/117134/3 "2002-07-03T03:49:20Z")
::completely shocked and appalled by **Coldfire** ’s negative Italian stereotype, JBERGES goes to click \* Report this post to a moderator \* Oh…wait… 😃 So is the next step to kill all the pigeons? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-on-second-thought-maybe-its-a-good-thing-that-we-killed-em-off/117134/4 "2002-07-03T04:25:08Z")
I thought it was the Brits that killed them off. Maybe the Dutch of the time felt the same way the Brits did about hunting, i.e. killing an animal that just sits there and looks at you was jolly good sport. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-on-second-thought-maybe-its-a-good-thing-that-we-killed-em-off/117134/5 "2002-07-03T04:28:22Z")
The Dutch at the time didn’t even limit it to animals, I can assure you. ---
**Author:** ![EggNogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@EggNogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EggNogg)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-on-second-thought-maybe-its-a-good-thing-that-we-killed-em-off/117134/6 "2002-07-03T11:05:07Z")
“The day I Killed a Thousand Fuzzywuzzies” A heartwarming story of one mans travel across Africa egg :mad: ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-on-second-thought-maybe-its-a-good-thing-that-we-killed-em-off/117134/7 "2002-07-03T11:58:02Z")
> [@](#): > > The Dutch at the time didn’t even limit it to animals, I can assure you. And that folks, is why there are no cacti in Holland.