On the other hand there is really no need to kill them. We could harness
their power in many ways. Innovative behavioral experiments could be
conceived. There is much to be learned from rats. <br>
<br>
Imagine a floor-to-ceiling, wall-wide Plexiglas-faced maze with Arduino-based gates
and timers and chutes and ladders, all powered by dynamos turned by our
furry friends. It could be a giant Rube Goldberg Mousetrap kind of
thing except that the rat operates the gizmos rather than gravity. And
instead of bashing the poor bastard's head in at the end, we give it a
treat and then open the trap door that sends it down a chute to the
alley. Maybe each rat could be uniquely marked in some automated way (or photographed)
when it enters the maze and detection circuitry could identify those
who return and how well they learn to solve problems built into the
maze. <br><br>How about studying rat communication? Do they have language? Challenges for the cunning linguists in the group.<br><br>We
could lure them into little rat-powered sweepers that move Roomba-like
around the space. After a certain amount time has passed, the
Arduino-controlled steering mechanism navigates to the alley-chute and
sends the rat bastard on its way. <br>
<br>Just a few ideas off the top of my head but there is no end to the
possibilities. Instead of thinking of them as problems or things to be
killed, let's think of them as opportunities.<br clear="all"><br>-- Don<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 12:43 AM, Shannon Lee <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:shannon@scatter.com">shannon@scatter.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I've been saying -- two counter-rotating wheels in contact with one another, a hopper full of four pounds of surplus sewing machine needles, a tracking system, and an internet-controlled roomba will solve this problem.<br>
<font color="#888888">
<br>--S</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:11 PM, Don French <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dcfrench@gmail.com" target="_blank">dcfrench@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
And now something completely different: furniture that lures and digests rodents to generate power <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17372-gallery-domestic-robots-with-a-taste-for-flesh.html" target="_blank">http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17372-gallery-domestic-robots-with-a-taste-for-flesh.html</a>. You could start pumping the rats back into the grid!<br clear="all">
<font color="#888888">
<br>-- Don</font><div><div></div><div><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 7:56 PM, Don French <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dcfrench@gmail.com" target="_blank">dcfrench@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
And speaking of robot cats: <a href="http://www.therawfeed.com/2006/03/headless-robot-cat-now-shipping.html" target="_blank">http://www.therawfeed.com/2006/03/headless-robot-cat-now-shipping.html</a><br><font color="#888888"><br clear="all">
<br>-- Don</font><div><div></div><div><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 7:50 PM, Don French <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dcfrench@gmail.com" target="_blank">dcfrench@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Here is an inexpensive system for tracking rodents using a trap-like
device that contains a harmless powder that gets on the meeses and then
rubs off and their tracks glows under UV light. <a href="http://www.rodotrak.com/" target="_blank">http://www.rodotrak.com/</a>. The
idea is once you know how the little bastards are gaining entry to the
space you can plug the holes. <br><br>But if that doesn't work one
might draw inspiration from this wonderful 1967 Tom and Jerry cartoon
that features, among other things, a robot cat that hunts mice:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Solar_Meow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Solar_Meow</a><br clear="all"><font color="#888888"><br>-- Don</font><div><div></div><div><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:27 AM, jim <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jim@well.com" target="_blank">jim@well.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
sealing cracks and plugging holes goes a long<br>
way toward reducing fauna such as bugs and rats.<br>
first places to seal up are joints between walls<br>
and floor; second places are holes where ceiling<br>
fixtures are installed; third are doors and<br>
windows, notably space between door and floor....<br>
<div><div></div><div><br>
<br>
<br>
On Tue, 2009-08-18 at 08:27 -0700, deleTed wrote:<br>
> On that note, has the possibility of getting a cat been broached with<br>
> the membership / landlord.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Personally, I'm allergic, but I don't know of a better way to get rid<br>
> of rodents.<br>
><br>
><br>
> dlt.<br>
><br>
> On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 8:14 PM, Andy Isaacson <<a href="mailto:adi@hexapodia.org" target="_blank">adi@hexapodia.org</a>><br>
> wrote:<br>
> On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 06:53:20PM -0700, Shannon Lee wrote:<br>
> ><br>
> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6041241/Rat-eating-plant-discovered-in-Philippines.html" target="_blank">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6041241/Rat-eating-plant-discovered-in-Philippines.html</a><br>
><br>
><br>
> That'd be flora that eats fauna.<br>
><br>
> -andy<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br></div></div><div><div></div><div class="h5">-- <br>Shannon Lee<br>(503) 539-3700<br><br>"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."<br>
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