The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem • Hacker News Board

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#161

Post by hoppyhoppy2 » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 5:35 PM UTC

ocschwar wrote: post #112

skissane wrote: post #45

Brodifacoum? I don’t buy that on Amazon, I buy it at my local supermarket. Not the US, Australia. I’ve never heard any controversy about availability of brodifacoum in Australia (maybe some environmental or animal welfare group has complained, but if so I haven’t heard about it) Glue traps, now that’s controversial. In the state of Victoria, illegal to use in residential settings (on animal welfare grounds), but stil…

Environmentalism in the US started with a book, Silent Sprint, in 1962, which pointed out that when you poison pest species, you also poison the predators that prey on them, and risk shooting yourself in the foot that way. So pretty much the #1 line item in American environmental law was to restrict access to pesticides.

Silent Spring*

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#162

Post by pcmaffey » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 5:47 PM UTC

kingcharles wrote: post #143

pcmaffey wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with most traps is that they only catch one at a time. By far the most effective way to deal with a mouse problem is a bucket with a ramp leading up to a cylinder(bought online) that spins and drops the mouse into the bucket when they come for the peanut butter taped to the cylinder. You can fill the bucket with water to drown them or something non lethal. It can catch many mice at once, they stay inside…

I had one of those and somehow the fuckers would always clean the cylinder and not fall in. I lubed the shit out of the cylinder too. I put a video camera on it. They would keep their back feet on the top of the ramp and stretch their whole body along the cylinder to lick it clean without tipping in.

That's crafty. I put the peanut butter in a ring of tape hanging around the middle of the cylinder. I did this to keep it from falling off into the water and eventually, getting moldy (I keep the bucket permanently set). It also means I almost never have to re-set it... I wonder, if something like that would be more difficult to reach stretched out. You also must have large mice.

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#163

Post by justsaying9 » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 5:53 PM UTC

dredmorbius wrote: post #149

justsaying9 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God I hate that bullshit. They have accomplished what, exactly? Oh, a big annoying banner that I now have to click through. So helpful. A testament to the stupidity of mankind.

Awareness of a problem is the first stage in addressing it. Tracking became as ubiquitous as it is silently for most people. As you're demonstrating, it's no longer silent.

Address the problem? LOL! Yes, we are totally going to stop the tracking problem dead in its tracks by bombarding the poor serf with annoying popups. A foolproof, masterful plan. Pure genius.

Next thing you know, the executives of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, The Government, the Church, YCombinator, and every other corporation on the planet will be arrested en masse, charged with egregious violations of civil rights, convicted, then publically executed.

If only the common serf had understood sooner that their every move and all details of their lives were being monitored, tracked, and recorded for sinister purposes, and their data, dignity, and rights exfiltrated by ubiquitous malware installed by Big Brother on every single digital device. Their minds controlled and manipulated by an endless barrage of disinformation; their bodies, souls, and lives totally owned by their betters. If only they had known they were born into chattel slavery.

But now the dawning of truth and justice is at hand! Finally, at long last, the masses are going to rise up in revolt against digital slavery by faceless corporate/government/religious demons! I'm sure of it! And all it took was ubiquitous, annoying popups, to finally awaken the power of the masses against their corporate/government/religious overlords. The era of total freedom from serfdom is at hand! Arise, my people, and FIGHT! Launch all zig! For great justice!

Meanwhile, be sure to wear that scrap of fabric across your face, citizen, or the boogie-virus'll get ya! lol.

Like I said, humans are extraordinarily stupid creatures. A worthless, failed, unrepentently evil species. Bring on the asteroid. ANY DAY NOW.

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#164

Post by ocschwar » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 6:13 PM UTC

hoppyhoppy2 wrote: post #161

ocschwar wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Environmentalism in the US started with a book, Silent Sprint, in 1962, which pointed out that when you poison pest species, you also poison the predators that prey on them, and risk shooting yourself in the foot that way. So pretty much the #1 line item in American environmental law was to restrict access to pesticides.

Silent Spring*

Whoops.

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#165

Post by ocschwar » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

emerged wrote: post #137

pvaldes wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a big enough garden, you could put an owl nest box in a calm place when the owlets constant screeching noise will not suppose a problem. Owls can be territorial and attack to protect the nest also, so leave them far from the house and alone. Unlike traps, they will catch ten mice by night each night and will dispose of the corpses so you don't need to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-KWBSbis4

I use a reflective metal owl to deter woodpeckers who love destroying my house. It seems to be effective because I’ve not seen or heard the little peckers since. Your comment makes me wonder if these would also help with mice.

Just saw that my neighbor installed one on his fence. I'll ask him in a week how that's going.

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#166

Post by ocschwar » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 6:15 PM UTC

Something1234 wrote: post #156

14 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only issue I have with bats is I am now terrified of them. Several years back my kids Taekwondo instructor, a 21 year old picture of perfect health magnificent human being, was killed from rabies after a bat brushed against him in the night while taking a pee on the side of the road. Months later after it was too late signs of rabies appeared and he died in hospital. It was devastating. The bats in my neighbourho…

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/human_r... This is absolutely nuts. Also how would he know that he wasn't bitten if it brushed up against him.

He didn't know. Bat bites are barely perceptible.

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#167

Post by sokoloff » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 6:15 PM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #129

bin_bash wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather die by internal hemorrhaging than being stuck to glue until I starve

That comparison doesn't make sense. Glue traps are not a risk to humans. Poison is a risk to humans, including that of internal hemorrhaging.

Some humans might be considering the experience of the intended target of the control device.

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#168

Post by dmitrygr » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 6:23 PM UTC

boppo1 wrote: post #160

my parents have mice in their attic & have pretty much just been letting the problem go after 8 snap traps only got one. They don't leave the attic & are only there in winter. What's the harm of ignoring them?

Chewed wires and ruined insulation

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#169

Post by johnnyApplePRNG » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 6:32 PM UTC

Amazon skirts a lot of consumer protection laws for the sake of profit.

Pill presses are regulated in Canada. [0]

If you bring one into the country the government wants you to register that fact with them.

Amazon.ca doesn't even try to hide the fact that they sell pill presses. [1]

They're branded as "vitamin supplement devices" but they're definitely, obviously, pill presses.

[0] https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/meeting-lega...

[1] https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=pill+press&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

Re: The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

#170

Post by JackMorgan » Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 6:33 PM UTC

thegrimmest wrote: post #159

JackMorgan wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, it's definitely an oversimplification. I don't think though we live in a society that could allow people to negotiate for a thriving wage without a power as large as the government. It is in no way a hyperbole to state that if the American government's worker protections weaken much more we will have companies with their own private armies forcing people into company towns like what happened to our grea…

You've rather hit the nail on the head - companies shouldn't be allowed to use violence (private armies) in order to force people to cooperate. Likewise, government should not be allowed to force terms of employment on employers. When things turn violent is the exact point the government should intervene, no sooner. It should otherwise refrain from interfering with private, peaceful negotiations between its citizens.…

And yet the power Kellogg's has means that they can just find enough desperate people elsewhere to take their unlivable wage. It's a race to the bottom, and the end is a few massive companies all colluding to pay slave wages. See Amazon and Walmart for examples of this happening right now. People think that market will reach equilibrium, but don't realize that equilibrium will be reached with third world style factories with 12 hour days and dorms for the "employees" and nets outside the windows so they can't even die the way they want.