monkey business
Jim Watt
cull a small number of monkeys - locally known as apes
I see a press release about 'ape wardens' from the ESG today.
Personally I fail to see what anyone can achieve. The residents of
the apes den and the packs that live up the rock are not the problem,
and they are wild animals which no wardens can control. Feeding them
will make them less healthy and encourage contact with people which
may be unwise, so perhaps there is a role for someone to control the
visitors, which IS possible.
However, the problem is in monkey society they live in packs and when
one gets to a certain size those unhappy with the leadership leave and
set up their own group somewhere else.
As they are territorial, they need to do so at a distance from the
original pack. In time they have saturated the area and have moved to
the upper town and Catalan bay. Initially they found easy pickings at
the bins, but they have been protected. Now they raid peoples houses.
Let us not forget they are wild animals and are more intelligent and
potentially dangerous than any dog.
They are certainly NOT cute cuddly pets.
In my trip round the upper town, I talked to a pensioner who lives in
fear of them, and the general view was that something had to be done.
They will not go back up the rock because the other monkeys there will
see them off, so the only solutions are culling or transportation.
I believe they had a similar problem in the UK at one time with people
and sent a number to Australia and America.
However nobody seems to want our surplus monkeys, the IPPL rant about
the cull but do they want our monkeys messing on their doorsteps and
breaking their water pipes? NO.
At present there is not a problem in the town area, south district or
the new estates - but unless something is done in time there will be
and the Upper town and Catalan bay residents have the right to live in
peace.
http://www.gibnews.net/cgi-bin/gn_view.pl/?GPIX080415_1.xml
--
Jim Watt
http://www.gibnet.com
Ken
"Jim Watt" <jim...@aol.no_way> wrote in message
news:n9bf04l3l17qf61gu...@4ax.com...
I have seen the various articles of indignation in various papers in the UK.
What a pity they never come out as vehemently in defence of the endagered
Homo sapiens sapiens when the existence of these is placed under threat by
our immediate northerly neighbours!
The unnecessary extermination of Macaca sylvanus is to be avoided. What is
being sought here though is not extermination, but control and conservation.
The species is NOT under threat. There are examples in many zoos around the
world (to the extent no-one wants any more, as they are prolific breeders in
captivity) and while the total no of these in the wild in Europe equals the
number roaming Gib, the numbers roaming wild in the Atlas mountains are
several thousand (though it must be said they lead a far harsher life in the
Atlas than they do is Gib, but as we all know Gib is a splendid place to
live whatever the species!).
Culling by "acute lead poisoning" is the safest way forward. You can choose
with complete precision which animal is to be removed. Therefore you can
remove the trouble maker and the diseased more easily. The alternative
occasionally spoken of is contraceptives in the food. Excellent, if you
could guarantee which of the females is going to ingest the particular slice
of (devilishly sharp - Blackadder) mango you've popped the pill into. The
alternative of a depot injection of contraceptive into a targeted female is
a better option, if only you could guarantee that it will not render a prime
specimen of a female sterile for life - after all, what amount of research
has been done into the effects of sex hormone maniupulation in this species?
We seem to have the same arguments every 10 yrs or so. A couple of ounces of
lead are then shared unevenly among the monkey population, and all's well
again. let's not be having this chat again nearer 2020 then!
Ken
Jim Watt
>Surely this is an ideal time to cull those too?
>
>Go on... You know it makes sense. ;-)
I will not be tempted by the likes of you :)
However, the situation does remind me of the
Startrek episode 'the trouble with tribbles'
Jim Watt
wrote:
>We seem to have the same arguments every 10 yrs or so. A couple of ounces of
>lead are then shared unevenly among the monkey population, and all's well
>again. let's not be having this chat again nearer 2020 then!
True, what pisses me off are the 'do gooders' who say
oh there must be another solution, 'its all the fault
of Government for not solving the proble.'
And some bitch in the UK saying that we have to live
with the problem, although she and her little chums
are not prepared to give them a home.
Nor for that matter are the Moroccans who say they
don't want any more.
Ken
<luc...@eternal-flames.gov> wrote in message
news:18kg045iulgnj8214...@4ax.com...
>>choose
>>with complete precision which animal is to be removed. Therefore you can
>>remove the trouble maker and the diseased more easily. The alternative
>>occasionally spoken of is contraceptives in the food. Excellent, if you
>>could guarantee which of the females is going to ingest the particular
>>slice
>>of (devilishly sharp - Blackadder) mango you've popped the pill into. The
>>alternative of a depot injection of contraceptive into a targeted female
>>is
>>a better option, if only you could guarantee that it will not render a
>>prime
>>specimen of a female sterile for life - after all, what amount of research
>>has been done into the effects of sex hormone maniupulation in this
>>species?
>
> injection....
>
> A hollow-point bullet, with the said hollow-point filled with
> contraceptive, would create a fiendishly cunning delivery device. ;-)
Why would you want to deliver a contraceptive hormone to an animal receiving
a fatal bullet wound?
But no, I know what you mean - deliver the contraceptive by dart. Sure - and
again, how do you know mfor sure you will not be PERMANENTLY turning off the
reproductive system in that animal, an animal that next year or the year
after, you might want to breed from?
Ken
Jim Watt
>Across your border there are many native pests which go out of their
>way to avoid water ... and soap.
I believe the same problem exists in England
caused by sweatie socks.
Ken
<luc...@eternal-flames.gov> wrote in message
news:lv3k04h4ak83t99f6...@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:26:20 +0200, Jim Watt <jim...@aol.no_way>
> wrote:
>
>>I believe the same problem exists in England
>>caused by sweatie socks.
>
> and the home counties, is obsessed with a nauseating stench drifting
> across the channel...
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7354538.stm
>
> They're blaming it on a lot of things, but I think it's just the
> French having a bout of stronger than usual flatulence.
> AIUI it's very similar to the usual smell of Paris in springtime.
>
> I'm sure you get the same from the natives the Spanish side of the
> border.
Certainly the refinery can be detected nasallyy when the wind blows the
wrong way. Yet they claim it only exudes Vicks Vapours.
Ken
Jim Watt
wrote:
There is often a strange stench which we believe is released
by bunkering. Hard to put a name to but rotten cabbages come
close.