Skies go black in Africa’s worst locust plague in decades

[Freighter]

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/afri...attack-decades

The hum of millions of locusts on the move is broken by the screams of farmers and the clanging of pots and pans. But their noisemaking does little to stop the voracious insects from feasting on their crops in this rural community.

The worst outbreak of desert locusts in Kenya in 70 years has seen hundreds of millions of the bugs swarm into the East African nation from Somalia and Ethiopia. Those two countries have not had an infestation like this in a quarter-century, destroying farmland and threatening an already vulnerable region with devastating hunger.

“Even cows are wondering what is happening,“ said Ndunda Makanga, who spent hours Friday trying to chase the locusts from his farm.

“Corn, sorghum, cowpeas, they have eaten everything.”

When rains arrive in March and bring new vegetation across much of the region, the numbers of the fast-breeding locusts could grow 500 times before drier weather in June curbs their spread, the United Nations says.

“We must act immediately,” said David Phiri of the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, as donors huddled in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where one expert had to reassure attendees at a press conference that the locust invasion was not a portent of the biblical “end of times”.



Holy shit, I'd panic if I was living there.

[Daedius]

Send all the environmentalists that have started eating insects. That's an all you can it buffet!

[shadowmouse]

@Daedius

Well, as to that ...

They’re healthy; they’re plentiful; they’re kosher. Just in time for Passover, some Israelis are taking advantage of a swarm of locusts flying in from Egypt to whip up a unique holiday snack. The versatile insects, which are a couple inches long, are apparently equally tasty breaded and fried or covered in molten chocolate.

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...custs-7802747/

[PC2]

That's an all you can it buffet!

Haha excellent point! I remember in college ducks had wildly overpopulated all the mini-lakes and ponds on the campus. The teacher was asking us students for the solution. First person raises his hand; Invite the poor and homeless and set up a "duck feast".

Unfortunately it was against the rules to bother the wildlife.

[Queen of Hamsters]

@Daedius

Well, as to that ...


Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...custs-7802747/

"Locusts are the only kosher insects"...

You learn something new everyday! I had no idea. I was thinking this when I saw the news of the swarm though, that collecting them somehow with giant nets seems like a perfect way to source a shitton of protein.

[derpkitteh]

do they bite? i wouldn't mind them touching me if they don't bite. that's the only reason i'm nervous around bugs, i don't want to be bitten. i know katydids will bite the shit out of you.

but yeah, might as well just pile them up and eat them if they're really fucking up the other food.

[Skulltaker]

do they bite? i wouldn't mind them touching me if they don't bite. that's the only reason i'm nervous around bugs, i don't want to be bitten. i know katydids will bite the shit out of you.

but yeah, might as well just pile them up and eat them if they're really fucking up the other food.

They might if panicked (like all life forms), but otherwise, no.

The problem is catching them in large enough numbers. You can spend hours and catch hundreds or thousands, that doesn't even put a dent in their population numbers, and they reproduce incredibly fast. 'Easiest' way to get rid is poison, but that would kill everything living and could have a damaging impact on the eco system.

[Yunru]

They might if panicked (like all life forms), but otherwise, no.

The problem is catching them in large enough numbers. You can spend hours and catch hundreds or thousands, that doesn't even put a dent in their population numbers, and they reproduce incredibly fast. 'Easiest' way to get rid is poison, but that would kill everything living and could have a damaging impact on the eco system.

Nah the best way is to burn them.
Only issue is the forest fires.

[Mormolyce]

So how many signs of the Apocalypse are we up to so far in 2020, and it's only January?

[Powerogue]

I'm not saying the end times people are right, but what I am saying is if four horsemen start wandering the earth culling people, they get to say "I told you so."

[Shadowferal]

I'm not saying the end times people are right, but what I am saying is if four horsemen start wandering the earth culling people, they get to say "I told you so."

Just because:

[Pony Soldier]

Where the flame throwers at? Set all those little shits on fire.

[eschatological]

Wait, why are locusts kosher?

Is it because they were one of the 10 plagues which freed the Israelites from Egypt? I'm legit curious if this is the reason. "Hey, you saved us from slavery, that means you're a clean animal I can eat!"

[Deja Thoris]

They might if panicked (like all life forms), but otherwise, no.

The problem is catching them in large enough numbers. You can spend hours and catch hundreds or thousands, that doesn't even put a dent in their population numbers, and they reproduce incredibly fast. 'Easiest' way to get rid is poison, but that would kill everything living and could have a damaging impact on the eco system.

This is bullshit.

You can't feasibly catch them, its insecticide (which don't kill everything living) or chemicals that affect their ability to reproduce.

And no, they don't bite.

[shadowmouse]

@eschatological I used to date an Israeli girl back in my undergrad years and ended up having to get a vague familiarity with the dietary rules.

The most widely accepted species among them is the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria). Interestingly enough, these locusts also pose the biggest threat to crops since they swarm and can quickly fly over great distances. Indeed, some explain that the Torah permitted this species of locusts precisely because they consume all the crops. Thus, even when all the crops were eaten by the locusts, there was still something left to eat. In fact, some explain that a distinguishing characteristic of kosher grasshoppers is that they sometimes swarm.

Source: https://www.chabad.org/library/artic...-Some-Jews.htm

[derpkitteh]

Wait, why are locusts kosher?

Is it because they were one of the 10 plagues which freed the Israelites from Egypt? I'm legit curious if this is the reason. "Hey, you saved us from slavery, that means you're a clean animal I can eat!"

i think it's because david or someone was stuck eating them for several days once.

i guess they didn't make him sick, so they're ok to eat. back in those days, eating pork or shrimp, stuff like that, lead to getting seriously ill. i won't eat pork either, that stuff is laden with far too much shit to screw you over. on top of that, it smells like old people.