The Rodent plagues of China & Spain

by Loony Fringe Wed Jul 18, 2007 08:40

Maybe a permanent link to the Fortean times is in order for indymedia Ireland.

by Tall Tailer Wed Jul 18, 2007 03:09

Some years ago in a rural part of China farmers killed too many snakes, with the result that the field mice population increased. The mice ate the beans, lentils and maize. So the provincial government passed a law to protect the snakes, with resultant poisonings of good farm folk. Stone the crows in Ireland and the result is more rotten food for rats in corporation and county rubbish dumps. Nobody can win in the food chain game. Incidentally, there are snake farms in some areas of China to supply fresh meat to the restaurant trade. Deliciously fried snake served in oyster and other subtle sauces is supposed to benefit the lungs and intestines. And as for rat flesh - Remember [London]derry! Ta na francaigh ag teacht go hEireann ars' an tsean bhean vocht.

by O as if - (iosaf being just too serious) Tue Jul 17, 2007 19:19

For of course most decent Irish people have never laid eyes on an broc or as the difficult to classify Badger is known in French the Blaireau is in fact a byword for boring bastard wherever the plucky Gaul left traces of his imperialist culture. The use of the French slang as much as the word may in fact be traced to (& probably further by proper use of university resources or internet spider search engines) to the much overlooked writer of chronicles known as the Abbey of Rabas who of course we remember lived in St Jean-de-Cuculles in what was then Occitan (an oppressed neighbour of the Catalans) in the dim mists of prehistory about 6 centuries after Christ. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Jean-de-Cuculles
http://speleoclpa.free.fr/etymologie.htm when Ratzinger was still in his prime and lacked the moral authority to stop people speaking Latin. Thus they made up their own words for meles which we note is the largest of the weasel family & can break your leg if you put your leg in its jaws just as quick as a rottweiler but Dublin City Council still let tenants keep badgers. Tippoy toppy experts on arcania, verification of dodgey claims and oddities like PatC. & myself feel that the Norman invasion brought the conotations of "to badger" to England from 1066 onwards. Speakers of Gaeilge & saviours of the Tara EBE craft will relish one of the first entries on indymedia ireland which was about an broc a particularly sad one as well, not a boring or hectoring one like the one that got up the Iraqis' noses. http://indymedia.ie/article/16535

I can neither overstate nor understate the conviction based on reading of newspapers & the occasional bout of telly viewing I hold that we have in fact passed the age of Blair if not Blaireau. Many of you might share this conviction or be stumbling towards this conclusion just as I did. I wish I could tell you straight if Eire has rejoined the commonwealth & what the future for our north and south ridings might be. Alas I am no futurologist. Thus, I'll not waste you time on idle speculation.


I reckon the Spanish government stayed quiet about the field mice going biblical plague proportions because now farmers aren't allowed burn the chaff on fields because lowering water reserves has meant such an ancient agricultural practice is now less controlable and all too often leads to forest fires which annually see hectarage the size of Wales turn to ash. If that sounds too far-fetched, I'd like to hold onto my credibility & suggest lab chimera experiments have escaped from GM mind control projects and have bred with the voles from Castille to Shanghai as part of a Fu ManChu (pictured above) plot. Obviously for the moment only the Irish diasporia need worry about this. I wrote extensively about the problems of mice on my blog - but I lost the password. So can't refer you to De Selby like counsel..........pity.............just hammer them on the head or buy a cat.

by pat c Tue Jul 17, 2007 17:00

The Brits have let giant Badgers loose in Iraq. Maybe they could deal with the rodents.

Giant badgers terrorise Iraqis

The Iraqi city of Basra has been gripped by a scary rumour – giant badgers are stalking the streets by night, eating humans. The animals were allegedly released into the area by British forces.

Local farmers have caught and killed several of the beasts, but this has done nothing to dispel the rumour. “I believe this animal appeared following a raid to the region by the British forces,” said Ali Mohsen, a farmer in his 40s from Karmat Ali, near the air base used by the multinational force. “As we are close to the airport, they probably released this animal into the area.”

“I was sleeping at night when this strange animal hit me on my head. I have not seen such an animal before. My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer,” Suad Hassan, a 30-year-old housewife said. “It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey. It runs so quickly.”

“I saw it three days ago at night attacking animals. It even ate a cow. It tore the cow up piece by piece. I tried to shoot it with my gun but it ran away into the orchards. I missed it,” Sattar Jabbar said.

These Badgers would be well able to deal with rodents.