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Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

newyorker.com

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Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#91

Post by morsch »

J3yjg52 wrote: post #8

you haven’t had fun on this planet until you've gone hunting for invasive hogs in florida or texas. stars, night observation devices, suppressed semiautomatic rifles. regardless of your stance on guns or killing things almost as smart as humans, you should give this fun and useful activity a try sometime. you’ll learn some skills and make solid friends along the way.

Are they a different species than the wild hogs in Germany? They look the same. They're a pest, here, too. But hunters don't require night vision goggles and semi automatic guns to control them.

They're considered dangerous to pets (mostly dogs, which probably started the fight) and I wouldn't get too close to them. But deadly encounters are extremely rare; way less than 1/year in a population of 80m humans and 2m pigs.

Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#92

Post by arunc »

echelon wrote: post #67
mod wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article happened to talk about this.

I'm frequently guilty of reading the comments first, getting sucked into links, and never reading the original article. Thanks for the FYI.

You are not alone ;)

Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#93

Post by quickthrower2 »

refurb wrote: post #41
StanislavPetrov wrote: post #14

By any definition humans are an invasive species. Unfortunately killing our fellow humans has been a competitive sport from time immemorial.

Humans are as natural as any animal on this planet. Beavers build dams, flooding vast areas and it’s natural. When humans do it, it’s not. Makes zero sense.

Seems like a whataboutism. Is there any other animal outside of humans we see as a serious threat to our habitat, to the extent we are?

Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#95

Post by Rebelgecko »

morsch wrote: post #91
J3yjg52 wrote: post #8

you haven’t had fun on this planet until you've gone hunting for invasive hogs in florida or texas. stars, night observation devices, suppressed semiautomatic rifles. regardless of your stance on guns or killing things almost as smart as humans, you should give this fun and useful activity a try sometime. you’ll learn some skills and make solid friends along the way.

Are they a different species than the wild hogs in Germany? They look the same. They're a pest, here, too. But hunters don't require night vision goggles and semi automatic guns to control them. They're considered dangerous to pets (mostly dogs, which probably started the fight) and I wouldn't get too close to them. But deadly encounters are extremely rare; way less than 1/year in a population of 80m humans and 2m pi…

Some are similar to European boars but a lot are hybrids. It's relatively rare for them to kill people, but they can wreck a farm pretty quickly.

Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#96

Post by Rebelgecko »

usednet wrote: post #86
mlyle wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The people engaging in this activity are worse than poachers Sausage is yummy, and pigs do ecological damage.

Do you think your sausages are being made from wild pigs?

If you think that's crazy, wait till you hear what hunters do with the deer they kill

Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#97

Post by robotresearcher »

The article mentions eating lionfish, but it doesn't do this idea justice. They are seriously good eating. This unwelcome, invasive species is among the best fish I ever had simply grilled. You have to be careful to cut off the venomous spines, preferably before they get on the boat, which makes the handling costs high. But they are delicious.

We managed to threaten even the vast North Atlantic cod population because they are good food: an enormous native population that seemed near-infinite a hundred years ago. Technology drove the cod handling cost low. Commercial fishing is powerful force.

Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#98

Post by beachy »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #90
echelon wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's incredible, and honestly looks quite fun. The fact that they're venomous might keep me from trying, though. This got me thinking - as drone tech continues to improve and drop in price, I wonder if we could deploy a fleet of cheap autonomous fish-killing submersibles. The failure modes or evolutionary pressures might be problematic, but imagine the lionfish we could kill at volume.

Spearfishing is one of the most exciting and engaging sports I can think of. I’m not much for scuba, but spearing on a breath is pretty incredible. I’ve continued free diving but I don’t kill fish anymore for personal reasons. Regardless, I strongly encourage anyone interested to try it. Of all the ways to get a meal, getting in the water and selecting the ideal catch is the best I’ve ever known. Just like the articl…

I got into spear fishing last summer. It's an amazing sport/pastime. And if you buy fish from a shop normally, then spearing them instead has no negative environmental consequences, and avoids any bycatch. Just swim out from the shore instead of diving from your diesel-chugging boat.

Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#99

Post by providedotemacs »

Since at least 2000, the Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Program has offered cash rewards for catching this invasive species in the Columbia River.

> The Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program ... pays anglers for each Northern Pikeminnow that they catch that is nine inches or larger. Rewards range from $6 to $10 per fish, and special tagged fish are worth $500.

In 2022 the top earner has earner over $50k, and the twentieth highest earner has over $12k. In 2015 and 2016 the top earner broke $100k (over 14,000 fish caught by a single angler appears to be the record).

[1] https://www.pikeminnow.org/background/save-a-salmon-and-make...

Re: Killing invasive species is now a competitive sport

#100

Post by sacrosancty »

J3yjg52 wrote: post #8

you haven’t had fun on this planet until you've gone hunting for invasive hogs in florida or texas. stars, night observation devices, suppressed semiautomatic rifles. regardless of your stance on guns or killing things almost as smart as humans, you should give this fun and useful activity a try sometime. you’ll learn some skills and make solid friends along the way.

You should kill pigs regardless of your stance on killing pigs?
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