Comment by pavelstoev

Comment by pavelstoev 3 days ago

9 replies

This story is dear to my heart. Let me tell you why - this is the tale of how my wife of 15 years, bless her heart, an occasional unstable genius, proposed a startlingly effective method for eradicating these invasive pythons.

She slammed her coffee cup down one morning with the conviction of an Old Testament prophet and declared: “Exploding rabbits.”

“Excuse me?” I said, wiping marmalade off my chin.

“Exploding. Rabbits. Stuff ‘em with quarter pound of C4, or maybe just enough tannerite to surprise the neighbors but not call down the FAA, and set them loose in the Everglades. Pythons love rabbits. Boom. Problem solved. You’re welcome, America.”

Now I’ve heard my share of madcap schemes. Once she tried to compost credit card offers. But this time she looked me square in the eye with the righteous glow of a woman who had just solved two ecological crises and accidentally founded a billion-dollar startup in the process.

“We’ll call it Hare Trigger™,” she added, deadpan. “It’s got product-market fit and explosive growth potential.”

She even sketched out a logo involving a jackrabbit with aviator goggles and a plunger.

I asked if this might attract some sort of federal attention.

“Good,” she said. “That’s called buzz. Besides, the pythons started it.”

And just like that, I found myself wondering how far true it is that behind every successful man stands an even more genius woman. Waiting for Elon to offer Series A.

metaphor 3 days ago

For decades, Guam has had an invasive brown tree snake problem that completely decimated its native bird population and then some. Your wife's proposed solution reminded me of something the military actually tried: parachute thousands of dead mice "pumped full of painkillers" across the island...no joke[1].

I suppose the key difference in liability here is: see a dead mouse on Guam, hope your pet doesn't eat it...see one of your wife's rabbits (live or dead) in Florida, immediately cordon off and notify local UXO disposal team.

[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-thousand-mice-dropp...

  • IAmBroom 2 days ago

    Not just painkillers, but acetaminophen - a really cheap OTC drug. And from what I heard, it was very successful.

    Now explosive bunnies... Dunno, but I did enjoy playing the card game with kittens.

southernplaces7 3 days ago

I thank you friend for that good laugh.. Hats off to you and your wife. May her idea never see the light of VC funding though.

RobRivera 3 days ago

Oh oh oh, alternative title, Monty Pythons Exploding Circus!

junon 3 days ago

Hare Trigger is hilariously genius. Your wife seems cool.

nkrisc 3 days ago

Why would they explode?

  • nine_k 3 days ago

    Tannerire, when crushed, initiates a small explosion, which triggers the C4. When a python swallows a rabbit, it then crushes the rabbit's body with its powerful muscles, to help the digestion. This is when the explosion would happen.

    This is my best understanding. I have no idea where inside a rabbit there would be room enough for the C4 and tannerite, and how to put it inside enough rabbits.

    • nkrisc 3 days ago

      From what I’ve read a .22 caliber bullet or heavier is necessary to ignite tannerite. I’m not a herpetologist, nor a firearms expert, but I have my doubts that a python ingesting prey produces similar forces as a .22 striking a target, at least in terms of force per area.

  • IAmBroom 2 days ago

    Because of the push plunger the rabbit is trained to use, before death.

    Obviously.