[CH] Repellent for Those of You With BIG Pest Problems
McWilliams, Dan (DMcWilliams@fendall.com)
Wed, 21 Jun 2000 08:33:44 -0500
The other day I posted some information on a process which was being
developed to bond capsaicin in all sorts of materials to act as a repellent
for various forms of wildlife. Today I have run into an article that really
demonstrates the power of peppers to repel even the biggest of pests. I am
sure that there is probably a few of you out there that actually have this
problem. Seem as if in the Zambezi River Valley in northern Zimbabwe the
farmers have a hugh problem with elephants eating the crops.
"Therein lies the root of Dr. Osborn's years-long quest for the ultimate
elephant repellent -- and a potential career shift from zoologist toward
pepper-extract eco-entrepreneur. He has devised a multipronged array of
repellents, some of which rural farmers can concoct themselves, all using
capsaicin, the chemical that puts the heat in hot peppers" - NY Times -
6/21/00
Now we have trained most of the elephants here in Wisconsin to behave but
for those of you with unruly pachyderms here's the link to an article that
will hopefully help -
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/062000sci-animal-elephant.ht
ml.. I am sure Martha Stewart will not be far behind with her own brand of
smoking hot peppered elephant dung and a segment on how to properly use it.
All kidding aside it is an amazing story about how the use of Habs is saving
both the farmer's crops and some elephants. My concern is that the elephants
will actually develop a taste for the hot stuff and then, considering how
many jalapenos an elephant could eat, there might end up being a shortage.
Heck they could even end up in MY pepper patch. I think I am going to put up
a bigger fence.
The Chile Cheese Head,
Dan McWilliams
What this country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds. - Will
Rogers