Well, chaps ...

[Baron Kurtz]

The days of the great mounted fly hunts are over ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060510/ap_on_sc/endangered_flies

Paul Hogan will be horrified. I picture the flies overrunning the humans. Island of the flies ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!

bk

THINK BEFORE YOU SWAT!

 

[Katt in Hat]

Good Lord...

To the Moon, Alice!

fftopic:

 

[scotrace]

I wish I had time

and the memory to follow up on this claim:

"Researchers have also found antibiotic resistant bacteria on some Hawaiian flies, including some of the newly protected species, that may help scientists find new ways to combat diseases such as bird flu and even cancer, he said."

Claim it'll cure cancer or that inaction will harm children and... who can argue with that? Next thing you know, bada-boom bada-bing, a chunk of your family's money is going to study some bugs in the Pacific.

*shrug*

 

[Etienne]

Good grief! So if you swat a fly in your kitchen ("protecting HIS territory") does the "S.W.A.T." team come charging in to inspect what species of fly it is??? Lunacy in the extreme! Like flies need to be protected--they multiply like rabbits!!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Well, this is my problem with the article. These flies may indeed need to be protected (and presumably they do, or they wouldn't have gained protected status) ... but the article never stated why they need to be protected, except for the one with a very small population recently discovered. The article reads like a piece about some demented, fruit fly obsessed mad scientist on an island ... Rather than a piece about an important topic - protecting species from us.

Science is often a tangential and somewhat abstract business, and i guess the guy has some reason for claiming his flies can cure cancer. Without seeing his rationale - miserable reporting (hey, what can you expect from yahoo news?) - i can't comment.

bk

On a side note, i was staying in a hostel in Eugene, OR once while training in a lab out there. I asked the guy in charge to give me a bug screen for my window because i got eaten alive during the night. His reply?: "Hey Man, we can't tell the bugs where to go, Man" This the same man who said to me: "Why do you let them make you work so hard, Man?" (i had worked 10 hours that day.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Fear not, my intrepid friends

You can mount an expedition abroad on a fly-swatting safari in the humid land Down Under when summer returns to the southern hemisphere. The heat and dry conditions lend themselves to the donning of true khaki bush regalia (yes gents, by all means bring your pith helmets), and there will be flies aplenty for you to hunt.

Indeed, the blighters get so big that you can mount their heads as trophies on your walls when you return home.

You guys think I'm joking about that last part, don't you . . . ? Unfortunately, only by a half-measure . . .

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Will we need to hang those dangly things from the brims of our hats?

 

[RedPop4]

[sings] The Swaggie comes in covered in dust and flies,
throws his swag on the bar wipes the sweat from his eyes.
He turns to the barman and says "What's this I hear.....
I've trudged FIFTY. FLAMIN'. MILES. for a pub with no beer.....[/sings]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Baggers]

Will we need to hang those dangly things from the brims of our hats?

I'm not hanging my danglies from the brim of my hat!

Cheers!

 

[mysterygal]

Was almost thinking the article was a joke of some kind...now it's flies huh? protected or not, I'll be swatting at them!

 

[Benny Holiday]

Ah, the classic 'Pub With No Beer'

[sings] The Swaggie comes in covered in dust and flies,
throws his swag on the bar wipes the sweat from his eyes.
He turns to the barman and says "What's this I hear.....
I've trudged FIFTY. FLAMIN'. MILES. for a pub with no beer.....[/sings]

You're quite the cosmopolitan commentator there Redpop! Yeah, the flies and dust sure do go together.

As for the corks dangling from the brim of your hat Tony, we'll leave that entirely up to you. You will need a good cussing vocabulary, though, 'cause after fifteen minutes outdoors in summer you'll be waving your hands around like a madman muttering, "#$%^& you mongrel thing! Pffoohhh!" (spits out fly) "Get lost you #$%^& thing!"

I've always wondered if the corks are really effective or just an old desperate attempt to keep the pests at bay. They sure look, for want of a better word,
'silly'.