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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 07/12/2003 4:23:56 PM PDT by buickmackane
POSTED: 1:46 p.m. EDT July 11, 2003
UPDATED: 1:55 p.m. EDT July 11, 2003
MIAMI -- A judge let sharpshooters begin killing the last of the black-tailed jackrabbits at Miami International Airport on Thursday night.
An animal supporter has asked for an emergency injunction to allow a trapper to keep catching them and shipping them to Texas for two more months.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Norman Gerstein said he isn't condoning or condemning the switch to sharpshooters, but he said it doesn't violate state law to let the gunmen proceed as planned.
Eighteen months ago, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the airport to get rid of the rabbits because their carcasses attract migratory turkey vultures, which will return to Florida in October. The birds have proved a danger to planes.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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On whose dime is this costing? U.S. taxpayers or airline passengers? Probably both.
*plink* I been *plink* workin' at the *plink* aaaairport *plink* all the live-long *plink* daaay...
-Jay
It's not just you...
No info is available on who will collect any damages awarded on behalf of the rabbits.
Oh, rabbits.
Never mind.
This is a outrage,especially since they're so yummy.
The key to having a great tasting jackrabbit is to: (1) Clean the meat while trying not to puncture the intestines and thus getting their contents all over the meat,
(2) Once the meat is cut into six pieces (two front legs, two back legs, upper back w/ribs, and lower back) you should sprinkle salt on the meat and then soak it for 4-6 hours in cold water with a cup of vinegar added,
(3) Next rinse the meat thoroughly and take off all visible fat, fur, and shotgun pellets,
(4) mark the contents and date of freezing on the outside of the bag, and freeze the meat in reclosable, freezer bags, and lastly,
(5) parboil the meat for several minutes in water with a couple tablespoons of vinegar added. The reason for using a little vinegar during both the soaking and parboiling process is to rid the meat of any wild taste that is absorbed from the type of vegetation the jack was eating prior to being harvested. Now you have a lean and tender meat that will absorb the spices of any recipe you use to cook it.
JACKRABBIT IN MUSHROOM GRAVY
1 jackrabbit, cut into bite sized serving pieces
1 qt. water
3 tbsp. salt
4 tbsp. vinegar
8 tbsp. butter
2 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. chopped parsley
1/2 c. dry sherry
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 c. heavy cream
Make a brine from the water, salt, and vinegar. Marinate the rabbit pieces in the brine for 24 hours. Remove the meat, rinse with cold water and wipe dry. In a heavy skillet, brown the meat in the butter. Cover and continue cooking until tender. Add a little water, if necessary while cooking. When tender, remove the meat and add the mushrooms to the butter remaining in the skillet (add a little more butter if necessary). Cover the skillet and simmer the mushrooms in the butter for another 15 minutes. Stir the mushrooms frequently while simmering. Add the parsley, sherry, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes more. Stir in the cream; season to taste and pour the hot sauce over the rabbit. Serves 6 to 8.
I had a .25-06 for a while; had some 60g loads so hot they were better than laser sights -- I pointed it, took a breath, let half out, and if the target didn't drop, I didn't shoot -- I'd missed already.
An average of 6 people are killed annually in the entire US because of planes hitting birds... of those 6 , how many are killed because the bird was attracted to the area because of the smell of a dead nonindigenous jackrabbit, as opposed to the bird being attracted to the indigenous marsh hare or indigenous cottontail, or the bird just passing through, the bird having been chasing a potential mate, the bird having found a good nesting site in the area, a birdfeeder in the area, a dead dog, cat, coon, rat, armadillo, snake, fish? How many birds which were responsible for getting hit by a plane were attracted to the smell of a live French tourist? A blind chad-punching senile Floridian democrat?
What's the average annual kill of airplane passengers in Miami who are killed because a vulture was attracted tot he area because a rabbit - and not something else- just happened to die?
How do we know that shooting or removing jackrabbits will have any impact whatsoever on the presence or lack thereof of migrating vultures, which by definition aren't even in the area part of the year, much less actually have an impact on the average number of people killed in aircraft/ bird crashes?
While I don't have any problem with shooting jackrabbits, it seems like this was nothing more than a way to waste taxpayers' money since I doubt very much that the expense of removing or shooting jackrabbits will be worth it since I doubt very much that that many jackrabbits die every day in Miami Florida, or lie around long enough on the ground to attract vultures, and if they did, one vulture could consume it and leave in a minute or two, assuming a groundskeeper didn't pick it up, or a dog didn't eat it.
Isn't it more likely that a vulture would be attracted to the scores of other species, mammal, avian and reptile, which die on occasion and which are not being removed? Or the vomit of homeless drunks or overimbibed schoolkids on spring break?
Couldn't they just let coyotes or dogs take care of it for free, or would coyotes and dogs attract the vultures when they die of old age just as surely as the corpse of a dead homeless guy? Couldn't Busch Gardens donate or sell a spare cheetah? Wouldn't it have been cheaper to shoot all of the rabbits, rather than bother with the expense of trapping and removal?
If this was their money, they would find better things to do with it...
More on-topic, I don't remember having to get a judge's permission when I was pruning the jackrabbit population in west Texas with a single-shot, cocking-button .22 rifle as a kid. Tularemia was rampant, and they ate drought-stricken food our livestock needed, so they were toast!
The .25-06 came later, when I got a nice bounty for coyotes. All that needed to remain was two ears and tissue connecting them. The speed and flat trajectory of the bullet made a lot of difference with the wolves, who were always running and a ways off, and I did a lot better with the .25 than I did with a .243 [with either 80g or 100g loads :-).
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