Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Death to the Toads
Thanks to fellow orkut-person Tom F. for drawing my attention to the fact that Australia’s army has been mobilised to fight the cane toad menace. Tom writes:
I was pleased to see the Australian Army is battling the swarming amphibian hordes. I suggest your Prime Minister fly in and declare Mission Accomplished amid a huge flock of yowping toads.
Good idea. A win here would be just the boost our national psyche needs after our disastrous showing against the emus:
At the height of the depression, Western Australian farmers called in the army to fight an "Emu War". Soldiers armed with machine guns mounted on trucks, spent several days trying to engage the enemy. But the birds seemed adept at rapid battlefield manoeuvres and were difficult targets to hit. When they did stop a bullet, they showed a remarkable capacity to keep moving. The birds even won the admiration of their enemy. The artillery commander, a Major Meredith, later said: "If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world." The experiment was quickly abandoned, amid debate as to who should pay for the wasted ammunition.
Hopefully after we vanquish the toad, we can turn our attention to villainous Johnny Aphid.
I was pleased to see the Australian Army is battling the swarming amphibian hordes. I suggest your Prime Minister fly in and declare Mission Accomplished amid a huge flock of yowping toads.
Good idea. A win here would be just the boost our national psyche needs after our disastrous showing against the emus:
At the height of the depression, Western Australian farmers called in the army to fight an "Emu War". Soldiers armed with machine guns mounted on trucks, spent several days trying to engage the enemy. But the birds seemed adept at rapid battlefield manoeuvres and were difficult targets to hit. When they did stop a bullet, they showed a remarkable capacity to keep moving. The birds even won the admiration of their enemy. The artillery commander, a Major Meredith, later said: "If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world." The experiment was quickly abandoned, amid debate as to who should pay for the wasted ammunition.
Hopefully after we vanquish the toad, we can turn our attention to villainous Johnny Aphid.
