02-02-2007, 05:04 PM
i have lived in hawaiian shores since 1990 and remember the tranquil nights before coqui frogs. over the years i have witnessed (correction, heard) the coqui frog problem steadily spread throughout the big island, inevitably marching downhill from pahoa town and invading my neighborhood and my own yard.
i have seen the inadequate, practically futile response of our government (caffeine, citric acid spraying), and well-intentioned but equally ineffective community response to this invasive pest.
and lastly i have suffered the fools who have had the unmitigated gall to suggest we accept the frogs and learn to live with their deafening noise and yet-to-be-fully realized impact on the hawaiian landscape.
to these latter idiots i say: NEVER. same as snakes, the coqui has NO place in the hawaiian ecosystem. i will kill every coqui i can despite knowing my limited efforts will not fully eradicate the little amphibians. I have given eradication much thought, and feel this is the forum to present my thoughts for discussion and feedback.
the primary drawback of the sanctioned spray approach, regardless of what u spray, is that it will only kill frogs where u spray, and even then not very effectively. since u can't spray everywhere, the frogs will eventually return.
we dont need to buy more sprayers and work harder. we need to work SMARTER.
the university of hawaii has a world-class genetics research and development department, the one that was able to create mice that glowed in the dark by recombinant DNA engineering.
our governor and legislators are willing to throw big money at this problem.
now some of u may already know where i m going with this, but i have an idea, a novel approach to getting rid of the coqui, which won't be without it's detractors, but we need to start thinking outside the box, and talking about realistic alternatives.
i propose we fund our own university to do a feasibility study of which the primary objective will be to determine if it is possible to genetically engineer and create a female coqui frog with a modified RNA/DNA sequence. now i m not talking jurassic park here, but simply, can our scientists remove a single trait from the coqui's genetic code.
simply put, i propose we take away the male coqui's ability to make that high decibel "KO KEE" sound, which is how they attract the female and how the female is able to find the male to reproduce. i envision our scientists being able to clone thousands of these female frogs with this modification.
after that we simply need to release these modified frogs into controlled areas and see what happens. first, the modified females will be attracted to the males in the area and reproduce, as they would normally.
however, all the males produced will be unable to make that loud "KO KEE" sound. and all the females produced will carry on the modified genetic code and only be able to produce males without this noise producing ability.
the approach has a two-prong solution: first, it will eliminate the noxious noise problem, which is the primary negative impact of the frog. second, without the male's ability to attract the female, and with the female unable to find the male to reproduce, their population will theoretically diminish and hopefully, ultimately become extinct.
i m not suggesting this idea is not without drawbacks and possible repercussions. right now GM (genetically modified) species of fruits and other crops are touted as threatening native species which have developed from eons of natural evolution. yet i see no problem since the coqui is not native to our islands.
well that is my solution. or at least one possible solution. i welcome discussion and feedback on this. thank u for your time and consideration.
i have seen the inadequate, practically futile response of our government (caffeine, citric acid spraying), and well-intentioned but equally ineffective community response to this invasive pest.
and lastly i have suffered the fools who have had the unmitigated gall to suggest we accept the frogs and learn to live with their deafening noise and yet-to-be-fully realized impact on the hawaiian landscape.
to these latter idiots i say: NEVER. same as snakes, the coqui has NO place in the hawaiian ecosystem. i will kill every coqui i can despite knowing my limited efforts will not fully eradicate the little amphibians. I have given eradication much thought, and feel this is the forum to present my thoughts for discussion and feedback.
the primary drawback of the sanctioned spray approach, regardless of what u spray, is that it will only kill frogs where u spray, and even then not very effectively. since u can't spray everywhere, the frogs will eventually return.
we dont need to buy more sprayers and work harder. we need to work SMARTER.
the university of hawaii has a world-class genetics research and development department, the one that was able to create mice that glowed in the dark by recombinant DNA engineering.
our governor and legislators are willing to throw big money at this problem.
now some of u may already know where i m going with this, but i have an idea, a novel approach to getting rid of the coqui, which won't be without it's detractors, but we need to start thinking outside the box, and talking about realistic alternatives.
i propose we fund our own university to do a feasibility study of which the primary objective will be to determine if it is possible to genetically engineer and create a female coqui frog with a modified RNA/DNA sequence. now i m not talking jurassic park here, but simply, can our scientists remove a single trait from the coqui's genetic code.
simply put, i propose we take away the male coqui's ability to make that high decibel "KO KEE" sound, which is how they attract the female and how the female is able to find the male to reproduce. i envision our scientists being able to clone thousands of these female frogs with this modification.
after that we simply need to release these modified frogs into controlled areas and see what happens. first, the modified females will be attracted to the males in the area and reproduce, as they would normally.
however, all the males produced will be unable to make that loud "KO KEE" sound. and all the females produced will carry on the modified genetic code and only be able to produce males without this noise producing ability.
the approach has a two-prong solution: first, it will eliminate the noxious noise problem, which is the primary negative impact of the frog. second, without the male's ability to attract the female, and with the female unable to find the male to reproduce, their population will theoretically diminish and hopefully, ultimately become extinct.
i m not suggesting this idea is not without drawbacks and possible repercussions. right now GM (genetically modified) species of fruits and other crops are touted as threatening native species which have developed from eons of natural evolution. yet i see no problem since the coqui is not native to our islands.
well that is my solution. or at least one possible solution. i welcome discussion and feedback on this. thank u for your time and consideration.