02-03-2007, 04:15 AM
Here, here. Brainstorming is exactly what is required to address the coqui problem. Of course, we must first agree it is a problem. As the frog is a standard disclosure in real estate contracts, along with the possibility of molten lava, I think we have step one out of the way.
Step 2 is eradication. Pocket eradication does nothing to restore silence. It will only reduce the noise to a tolerable level, like background noise. However, until a grand plan is devised, this is all we have. And so we need to encourage neighbors to go on coqui patrol within their neighborhood.
Lastly, neighbors need to band together to communicate to lawmakers the importance of a statewide approach to the problem, especially in light of the Superferry, which is bound to carry this pest far and wide. If you think coquis love the Big Island, wait until they get to Kauai (which they have in a very small pocket near a reservoir on the southside).
With respect to your particular idea, Darwin may interfere as the females will only mate with the loud frogs, just as humans do. But I will support almost any idea that aims to reduce the coqui. As a prospective resident of the island, nothing, but nothing turned me off more than this little frog.
Whenever I think of the frog, I think of that scene from the Monty Python movie where the guy is warning the knights about a most dangerous creature which turns out to be a rabbit. The knights scoff when they see the bunny. Then the bunny flies through the air and cuts the knights to pieces (something like that).
At present, the coqui is not seen as much of a threat. I saw ---or heard--- it as a threat when first I drove past Lava Tree State Park in the dark.
People live in Hawaii for the peace it provides. Peace and quiet go together. That quiet has been broken. Only a statewide solution can restore the peace.
Step 2 is eradication. Pocket eradication does nothing to restore silence. It will only reduce the noise to a tolerable level, like background noise. However, until a grand plan is devised, this is all we have. And so we need to encourage neighbors to go on coqui patrol within their neighborhood.
Lastly, neighbors need to band together to communicate to lawmakers the importance of a statewide approach to the problem, especially in light of the Superferry, which is bound to carry this pest far and wide. If you think coquis love the Big Island, wait until they get to Kauai (which they have in a very small pocket near a reservoir on the southside).
With respect to your particular idea, Darwin may interfere as the females will only mate with the loud frogs, just as humans do. But I will support almost any idea that aims to reduce the coqui. As a prospective resident of the island, nothing, but nothing turned me off more than this little frog.
Whenever I think of the frog, I think of that scene from the Monty Python movie where the guy is warning the knights about a most dangerous creature which turns out to be a rabbit. The knights scoff when they see the bunny. Then the bunny flies through the air and cuts the knights to pieces (something like that).
At present, the coqui is not seen as much of a threat. I saw ---or heard--- it as a threat when first I drove past Lava Tree State Park in the dark.
People live in Hawaii for the peace it provides. Peace and quiet go together. That quiet has been broken. Only a statewide solution can restore the peace.