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Video To Loose Your Lunch By


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#1 Guest_Brooklamprey_*

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Posted 07 August 2007 - 09:38 PM

http://www.krqe.com/...eAdTag=homepage

#2 Guest_farmertodd_*

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Posted 08 August 2007 - 08:05 AM

Gambusie, huh? If you can't read the name from a sheet a paper and pronounce it, should you be allowed to stock it?

I liked the pond guy's comment. Man, I would have paid good money for him to say the mosquitos were "Evil Doers".

Todd

#3 Guest_killier_*

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Posted 08 August 2007 - 11:47 AM

NM has gila topminnows right? why dont thety jsut stock those if they are threatened giving them a place to live and get plenty of food couldnt hurt

#4 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 08 August 2007 - 12:47 PM

](*,) They didn't metion the fact that they have babies by the hundreds, and when people that take them home end up with too many guess where the "extras" go?

#5 Guest_paoutlaw13_*

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Posted 08 August 2007 - 08:47 PM

just more boot stomping for me to do

#6 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 08 August 2007 - 10:16 PM

One thing that gambusia can do, that just any ole mosquito-eating fish can't, is survive in hot water. And by hot, I mean HOT. I was out this week in a stream that was bath-water warm, and there were isolated pools that were uncomfortable they were so hot. Didn't faze the little buggers, which inhabited these pools in swarms. It is their survivability which makes them a top choice for mosquito control, and ironically makes them so invasive.

Do the benefits to humans outweigh the damage they cause? I dunno - I wonder if anybody has actually measured mosquito reduction after introducing gambusia. I would think mosquitofish are preferrable to malaria or west nile, but do they really make a difference?

#7 Guest_TurtleLover_*

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Posted 08 August 2007 - 10:31 PM

Ahhhh, New Mexico, my home state. Finally a discussion about the place I was born and raised.
That being said, our way of doing things down here have never been the brightest approaches to any situation. Things that sound good and work for the moment with no real outlook at the big picture or what affects in the long run our current actions today hold is a popular way of living down here. Remember this about Albuquerque:
A city sprawling larger every day in the middle of a desert along the banks of our state's main river system. The aquifer is getting lower by the day, the city keeps growing, more and more people moving in need more and more water for those green lawns, lawn ponds, and big, backyard swimming pools to escape the dry, desert heat. What's the solution? They pull water out of the Rio Grande itself to supply their thirsty demand. Now, a little fish, the silvery minnow is suffering and close to extinction due to the degraded health of the river and is placed on the list of federally endangered species list which means a stretch of the river is now protected for it's habitat and Albuquerque can not suck the river dry and end the Rio Grande at their city. How do the locals respond to this you may ask? They wait down river from release sites (efforts are underway at the Albuquerque Aquarium to spawn and raise the minnow for re-release into the Rio Grande. I've seen pics of their artifical river setups which are pretty awesome) and they catch the newly released minnows in seine nets and throw them in buckets and run off before law enforcement sees them. What do they do with these fish? They hold "Fish Frys" where locals gather in protest of the Endangered Species Act by eating the silvery minnows. This was a few years ago, and there were several of these demonstrations around the state. Aren't we proud New Mexicans?
Given this idea of how things are thought about down here may give you all a better understanding of why people around here consider using Gambusia as a good "natural defense" against West Nile Virus. This is a state that is regularly nailed with Hanta Virus and now we're getting WNV and people are in panic mode. Like I said, all those Albuquerqueans like their good looking yards and are in fear of getting bit as a result of their landscaping and when they hear something is a "natural defense", it's like a godsend. They don't ever really thing of the consequences later on.
While gambusia are native to the lower Rio Grande, yes they invading many bodies of water all over the state. As for the Gila topminnow, yes we have a few of them left, but after what I've told you about how a lot of people thing around here, do you really want people like that taking care of an endangered species? For the most part, people around here see fish as one way, if you can't sport fish and eat it, it's useless and worthless. I've talked to people about it (including my own family) till I'm blue in the face and they just don't get it. The way they see gambusia is the way a lot of new hobbyists view the cheap comet goldfish at the pet store: They're cheap (or free); wasy to care for (or so they think); and when you're done with them, you can just dump them somewhere convienent (like a nearby stream or pond).
And by the way, half of the TV reporters in this state can't pronounce a lot of stuff that's spelled out for them on a sheet of paper. It gets to be a running joke hearing them butcher various words on a regular basis.

#8 Guest_MScooter_*

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Posted 09 August 2007 - 02:28 AM

Ahhh. Gambusia. That's Finnish for a
Spoiler

--- I had to ---
Sensational!!! news

#9 Guest_why_spyder_*

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Posted 09 August 2007 - 06:14 PM

Turtlelover - great post!




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