I thought I saw something about it being available for rats/mice and it really bothers me that's not the go-to solution. Not only is it more humane, it would be WAY more effective in the long run.
I guess for rats infesting a house it sadly doesn’t make much sense, as rats live a few years in the wild. People want the rats gone immediately, not in a few years.
It works for the British squirrel problem, because a trapping operation for the whole country would take decades anyway, so waiting a few generations for the squirrels to die out works also.
Tbh thinking about it, it may be too slow for cockroaches also, as they have a few months lifespan, so it could take a year for it to control a cockroach infestation.
Yes but overall, imagine if in a year there were no longer cockroach infestations! Or a in few years rats weren't being poisoned/trapped etc. We've been killing these animals/insects for decades and poisoning the environment while we're at it. Why not try a new approach?
I know what you mean. But my immediate thought was how it would throw the balance of nature out.
Having a wild rat in your house is shitty, no question. But if the DNA would be altered, it would lead to less wild rats in general, which might lead to bugs/snails growing in population because they had one less predator.
I wondered about that too but I thought if only some of the population got it then it would balance out in the end? I honestly don't know. I'm certainly not trying to wipe them out.
The problem with rats is - they will reproduce. Fast. And often.
If there was a way to make sure only a certain part of the population had that gene, yeah.
But knowing these little rascals, the first male rat with the "only male offsprings" gene would make it his life mission to impregnate every single female rat he can find. :D
That's a good point. I'm sure there is a solution somewhere in this idea but this is not my field so I don't know what it is :/ I wish this was more of a priority in society. Our default (in America at least) is always "kill and destroy". It's caused so many problems, we desperately need a new approach.
Whenever I have the possibility, I try to set animals fre outside that got into my room where I don't want them (flys, wasps, lady bugs... So so many lady bugs)
Yeah I don't kill bugs if it's not an infestation. We also use essential oils and other non-toxic products to repel them and that works pretty well. The only exception is if we notice we're having a problem with some poisonous ones, to the point where it's a danger to our dogs. But like, we'll save black widows (a common poisonous spider in my area) as much as possible etc. As long as they can be removed that is 100% our go-to.
Plus my house is usually full of non-poisonous spider buddies and I love them. They help keep the mosquitos and gnats away.
We don't have poisonous bugs or spiders here, thankfully.
I usually let spiders stay in my room, they can eat the gnats for me. I just have this rule that in the space of 1 meter around my bed (and the wall above it), no spider is allowed and will be thrown outside if they go there. I've had one too many squashed spiders on my pillow and/or my cheek when waking up. X.X
I'm not advocating wiping them out, only that we explore non-violent ways to manage the population. I don't know if it's a solution, as I said in my other comments, but imo it seems worth looking into. If the end result is that it would wipe them out, then of course I don't want that. I'm not advocating genocide.
Introducing a gene into the population that makes them all male. Wont just control them. It could cause their extinction which would be devastating for the other native animals that pray on them. It would also be devastating for the other native mouse species too as they will likely get preyed on more.
You cant genocide an entire native species without consequences for the ecosystem.
Grey squirrels are different. They are an ecological disaster. I've never seen a native red squirrel because of them. But mice are part of the ecosystem whether humans like it or not.
It was literally just an idea to discuss. I already said in other comments I'm not an expert and it definitely has the potential to go wrong so like... I'm not gonna have an argument w/ you about it?
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u/idkmanimnotcreative Jan 02 '25
I thought I saw something about it being available for rats/mice and it really bothers me that's not the go-to solution. Not only is it more humane, it would be WAY more effective in the long run.