People spreading coqui

[mella l]

quote:

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This seems to be a very interesting couple.

Checkout what else they believe at www.selfstudycenter.org.


Yes, this situation needs to be investigated.

I'll go down with my Coqui stomping shoes to begin the process.....

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That isn't the guy who wouldn't vaccinate his child for school attendance requirements is it? Sounds like the same guy!

mella l

Edited by - mella l on 09/03/2007 16:03:52

[Dave M]

I just can't remember any coqui sounds when I was there in the late 90s. Were they there then? I keep hearing about these lil devils and I just can't muster up much concern.

OK.. I have a question, do any of you own cats? Truthfully, i have a six yr old son and two outdoor cats, all of which love to bring me things such as frogs lizards and snakes. So what's the deal with cats, don't they kill the frogs?

Oh man.. i just figured out a way to make a living in paradise..

FOR SALE: Highly trained coqui killing cats. These cats are bred and cross bred to be the most efficient preditor of the coqui frog. Call 1-800-EAT FROG

Ok ..really whats the deal do cats not hunt them. Im serious.

Blessings,
dave


"Sometimes you're the bug and sometimes you're the windshield"

[Greg]

I first heard coqui in the late 90's (give or take a few years..lol)at the kurtistown gas station while getting propane. I asked the attendant if that noise in the palm trees was some kind of bird. They were also at the Ke'eau transfer station early. At that point eradication was a realistic option. Too late now! It does underline the dangers of introducing invasives to this Island. Snakes? Genetically modified crops? What other pandora's boxes are there to be opened?

[David M]

Eradication may be questionable, but I think containment is quite possible.

The Cocqui websight has been around a couple years or so, but it has been updated. Scary people!!!!!!!

David

Ninole Resident

[NanawaleJulie]

I have a stupid question. (Although being from the mainland and never seeing one of these or rather hearing one before, please allow me the leeway.)
Isn't there like an exterminator to get rid of these guys? How do people deal with them? Is it because you are in the islands where we just let living things live?
I mean, I get that you probably can't get rid of them all, but you could get rid of a bunch of them if you could poison them or something, no? Again, I have no experience in this issue. Mahalo for any answers.

[Carey]

Julie, early on, there was no real drive to exterminate the frogs. I really do believe no one thought that their population would explose like it did. By the time there was any thought given, methods had to be developed (after all, most areas do not have rampant frog population explosions....so there was very little data on HOW to get rid of the frogs).
The county does have sprayers that indivduals & homeowner assn. can utilizr & there are a couple of indepedant copanies that have started in the last couple of years to work on frog extermination.
The main problem is that by the time there was data on how to control the frogs, the frogs were way out of control, and even if everyone living on their land could control all of the frogs on their land, there are so many landowners who do not live on their land, and so much land that is state, federal or in large landowners, that many people I know are now just dealing with the frogs near the house....
It can be pretty amazing going through areas of Puna where there has not been much build out. It is also amazing to go by some of the greenhouse areas that where stereophonic frogs a couple of years ago & are now quiet, most have had to install mega buck systems just to be able control the frogs so that they can sell their plants.

[Hotzcatz]

Last weekend we had a group of our neighbors together, the big County sprayer on the trailer, a truck to pull it with and over 300 pounds of hydrated lime. It takes one person to watch the sprayer, one person to man the hose nozzle and two or three people to shift the hose around since it is very similar to a fire hose. All this in the dark, too. The frogs near our houses are now much quieter, but there are still some there. We don't even have a very big infestation!

Part of the problem with using hydrated lime to kill coquis is you have to get the lime ON THE FROG and not merely on the foliage. During the day the frogs hide in the leaf litter on the forest floor so you have to run around in the dark spraying lime at echoing frogs. That is, if you can get close enough to the areas they are in. The terrain is not flat and the sprayer is huge and on a trailer. The frog calls echo off of things and it is difficult to determine exactly where they are.

Hopefully, with the new baking soda fogger - sprayers which can be carried and used by one person we will be able to get closer to where the frogs are and not have to get a large group of people and trucks together to get the frogs. The hydrated lime must be on the frogs and becomes ineffective within several hours. The baking soda is supposed to stay active until the next big rain and will kill the frogs when they travel across the sprayed area so hopefully we will be able to spray the areas during the day and still get the frogs.

We could also use a predator or two who would like to eat frogs, perhaps the bufo will? I've heard of chickens eating coqui frogs and they will scratch and turn over the leaf litter, however, Kauai is covered with chickens and I hear they have frogs, too. A scary thought is if the brown tree snake from Guam gets to Hawaii then with the coquis already here it will have loads of food to eat so then it would proliferate as fast as the wretched coquis.

[Greg]

I also believe they can be controlled to some extent, But eradication is impossible at this point. If only one pair or a pregnant female survives, it's only a matter of time before they're back inn numbers. There will allways be misguided pseudo intellectuals like Sidney Singer, who woud probably sue anyone trying to control frogs on his property. A biological control (fungus, bacteria, ??) might work, but at what cost?

[Kelena]

Kauai's frogs are very well confined, so far, and Kauai has poured millions into eradication. They had a localized infestation near a reservoir. Kauai County was right on it, sparing no expense. Maybe we do need more chickens, though! Couldn't hurt!

If the frog makes it to Princeville, we will have a solution. The solution has to be genetic or biological, because we can't cover every inch of the island in baking soda........lava maybe! Could there be an upside?

[Brad W]

I'm having much better luck with citric acid than with lime. It seems to be just as effective and doesn't require aggressive agitation to keep it from settling out. Unless the recirculation system in your spray rig is a butt kicker, there's quite a bit of waisted lime. Acid can be mixed in advance (like during daylight) and stays in suspension. It isn't as messy and leaves no visible residue. It also doesn't seize the pump as lime did. It's more expensive at $40 a bag, but I only spray about every three months, and half a bag will do my place.