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GCP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 06:24 AM
Original message
Eagles Battle Giant Gerbils
Edited on Tue Aug-19-03 06:28 AM by marshallplan
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030819/325/e6gpa.html


BEIJING (Reuters) - China is deploying eagles to control giant gerbils that have damaged an area of grassland larger than Switzerland.
The China Daily said on Tuesday burrowing by great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) and other rodents had damaged 4.76 million hectares (11.76 million acres) of grassland in the far west. About 33,000 hectares (81,540 acres) had been completely destroyed.

snip
:crazy:
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matcom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 06:30 AM
Response to Original message
1. i vote this thread title.......
THREAD TITLE OF THE YEAR!! :D

:hi: Sue :hi:

GREAT POST!!

:bounce:
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GCP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 07:16 AM
Response to Reply #1
12. When I saw the title on yahoo I thought it was a battle of the bands
kind of thing!

:)
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MrMonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #12
34. or another NFL expansion team.
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catzies Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 03:58 PM
Response to Reply #12
36. Yeah, or the Flaming Lips' next album
After you title an album "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" anything is possible. :crazy:
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LosinIt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 06:43 AM
Response to Original message
2. And here is a link to a picture and more info on the furry beasts
http://www.rodent.demon.co.uk/gerbils/great.htm


Funny they don't look real harmful, just plentiful, hungry, and horny.
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RapidCreek Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 06:45 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. Just like human beings!
RC
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Corgigal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 06:45 AM
Response to Reply #2
4. Cute
I want one. I can walk him on a leash.
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noonwitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 09:40 AM
Response to Reply #2
18. They're cute rats
My cat would still view them as edible toys.
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AlGore-08.com Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 09:42 AM
Response to Reply #2
19. They're cute, but they're no capybaras


http://www.capybara.com/capybaras/What/What_2.html
What is a Capybara?
Largest rodent alive with body length of 42 to 53 inches and height at shoulder 20 to 24 inches; weight of male is 77 to 140 pounds, of female 80 to 145 pounds. Small eyes set towards the top of the head as are nostrils. Front and rear legs are different lengths with the front shorter; toes are slightly webbed with 4 toes on front feet and 3 toes on rear feet. Skin is tough and thinly haired with the color of the hairs usually from brown to red.
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sprockets Donating Member (98 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 10:52 AM
Response to Reply #2
27. Here's the REAL picture they dont want you to see!
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0rganism Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 11:31 AM
Response to Reply #2
31. What you can't see from the photos is they're 50 feet tall
If you zoom in real close, you'll see those aren't twigs and pebbles, but skulls and bones of their many victims.

Yeah, they look cute from a distance, but up close... watch out!
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R Hickey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 06:46 AM
Response to Original message
5. The Chinese Government should declare the area a national park.
The Chinese government could then make trails for four wheelers, and allow the riders to carry .22's to hunt the gerbils. The tourist board could market the area to Westerners as a sportsman's paradise.

Perhaps they could name it Gerble-stone Park. My vision is a giant game park, with gerbils as targets. In the winter, authorities could allow snowmobilers to carry guns and do the same. Gerbil-burgers might also become a favorite at the Chinese's McDonald's franchises.
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LosinIt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 06:48 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. My God, you're brilliant!
You have a future in marketing.
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chromotone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 09:39 AM
Response to Reply #5
17. How 'bout "Rich Rhomboid Mouse State Park?"
It'll give American Sportsmen a chance to try out the new S&W .50 handgun:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20030213-1426-newrevolver.html

"The primary market for it is hunting" big game, spokesman Ken Jorgensen said. (Big gerbils = big game)
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northzax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 10:44 AM
Response to Reply #5
25. yeah-ok
but who's going to pay money to go gerbil hunting?
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Spentastic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 06:47 AM
Response to Original message
6. Rodents of Mass Destruction?
Invade China!
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FlashHarry Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 07:02 AM
Response to Original message
8. I liked 'Godzilla versus Mothra' better.
What? This isn't a new Toho Studios film?
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Elidor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 07:03 AM
Response to Original message
9. I had this image of Glenn Frey and Don Henley
Fighting off rabid hampsters. Not a bad image, actually.
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zekeson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 09:05 AM
Response to Reply #9
16. Has such a Spinal Tappish Ring, doesn't it --eom--
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gratuitous Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 09:49 AM
Response to Reply #9
20. Well, there was the one night in Wichita . . .
Take it from me, only deal with people you know!

I really got worried when the lampshades started breathing . . .
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SpiralHawk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 07:07 AM
Response to Original message
10. I'm putting $2 on the gerbils...
Hey, if they can survive the idiocy of the Butt Thrill Brigade, they can best the Eagles.
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Spentastic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 07:14 AM
Response to Original message
11. These expansion team names have gone too far
Who's their QB?
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arwalden Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 07:22 AM
Response to Original message
13. What Are Giant Gerbils Doing In Switzerland Anyway
.
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Snellius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 07:44 AM
Response to Original message
14. On top of old smokey
On top of old smokey
All covered with grass
I saw a bald eagle
Ascratching his -
Ask me no questions
I'll tell you no lies
I saw a bald eagle
Ascratching is gerbils.
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DarkPhenyx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 07:45 AM
Response to Original message
15. The Hampster Liberation Front
will marshal our forces and go to the aid of our oppressed Asian Brothers and Sisters! Long live the resistance!
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AWD Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 09:53 AM
Response to Original message
21. Wow
I think the Eagles have enough trouble with the Buccaneers...now they are battling Giant Gerbils??

Where do the Gerbils play their home games? Are they the Grand Rapids Giant Gerbils??
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havocmom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 10:22 AM
Response to Reply #21
23. maybe the team from New Jersey ammended their name?
Yeah, I thought football too. Giant gerbils... hmmmm anybody have a link to that site with the angry gerbil spouting off in a bar?

Capybaras rock! Enormous guinne pigs from the looks of them. I recall 20 years or so ago, some Marines at Pendelton reported seeing a 60-90 pound rat while out on training in the hills. Figured someone set a cute baby capybara free when it got big and not so cute.

And don't assume the gerbils are a sure bet. Eagles are pretty resourceful. Don't count them out in the battle. Some of us here in Tiny Town have seen eagles work in tandem to wear down and kill full grown antelope! Amazing critters.
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ze_dscherman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 11:14 AM
Response to Reply #23
28. Gerbil bar link
http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/content/joe19

More sick (gerbil) animations by joecartoon: http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/spotlight/collections/joecartoon/
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ze_dscherman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 10:18 AM
Response to Original message
22. Gerbil fighting piranhas
Edited on Tue Aug-19-03 10:21 AM by ze_dscherman
Be warned, crude shockwave animation, but VERY funny if you like sick humour:

Gerbil Fishing: http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/content/atom_305

SCNR

On edit: Some advertisement as well ...
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GregW Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 10:25 AM
Response to Original message
24. Richard Gere breathes a sigh of relief
Edited on Tue Aug-19-03 10:26 AM by GregW
:eyes:
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davidinalameda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 10:47 AM
Response to Original message
26. this is a joke right?
or is this the plot for some B monster movie

Giant gerbils? How giant can they be? LOL

:bounce:
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On the Road Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 11:18 AM
Response to Reply #26
29. They are 16 Inches Long

according to the Yahoo article. Pretty big for a gerbil.
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sprockets Donating Member (98 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 11:21 AM
Response to Reply #29
30. Typo, they're actually 16 Feet long (picture)
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Aaron Donating Member (489 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 03:38 PM
Response to Reply #30
35. lol! Nice pic :) (n/t)
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alfredo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 12:00 PM
Response to Original message
32. If traveling to the Grand Canyon, be prepared
for a big surprise.
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SaintLouisBlues Donating Member (755 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 01:48 PM
Response to Original message
33. Rodents Of Unusual Size
Edited on Tue Aug-19-03 01:51 PM by SaintLouisBlues
I don't think they exist.
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catzies Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 04:01 PM
Response to Reply #33
37. And the winner of "Best gratuitous movie reference in this thread" goes to
SaintLouisBlues! :hi:
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SaintLouisBlues Donating Member (755 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-20-03 10:05 AM
Response to Reply #37
39. Thanks catzies!
N/T
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DeathvadeR Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-19-03 04:12 PM
Response to Original message
38. Sounds like a godzilla movie. n/t
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