h a l f b a k e r yTastes richer, less filling.
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random
news, help, about, links, report a problem
browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
register,
|
|
|
Locusts have been regarded as a disaster for all of
recorded history. How about we stop thinking of them
as
a disaster, and start thinking of them as migrant farm
workers. They harvest everything in sight, turn it into
locust flesh, and hop right into a net for convenient
munching by some
starving person.
We should fish for locusts like we fish for fish, with mile
long nets suspended from, say, dirigibles. I'm not dead
sure I want to just pop one of these guys in my mouth,
but
I have no doubt that, given a steady and cheap supply of
them, someone will find a way to make potato chips out
of
them.
Trigger for locust swarming behaviours identified
http://www.scidev.n...ing-identified.html
[zen_tom, Feb 09 2009]
Link found between Serotonin and Swarming Behaviour in Locusts
http://www.efluxmed..._Locusts_34162.html
[zen_tom, Feb 09 2009]
They're crunchy, they're delicious, heck they're kosher.
http://www.iol.co.z...qw1104048545560B252
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 09 2009]
Leave Schistocerca Alone
http://www.savethelocust.com/
[Amos Kito, Feb 09 2009]
Squirrel Fishing
http://images.googl...p&resnum=4&ct=title
after they've eaten some locusts, obviously... [k_sra, Mar 10 2009]
Please log in.
If you're not logged in,
you can see what this page
looks like, but you will
not be able to add anything.
Destination URL.
E.g., https://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)
|
| |
since they have lots of serotonin, perhaps they'd make a great winter snack. |
|
| |
I can see it now - "Like tofu, but crunchy!"... erk. |
|
| |
Perhaps we could just shorten the food chain. Would chickens and trout eat locusts? |
|
| |
Well, I'm told chickens are good for keeping down cockroaches, so they might. |
|
| |
It's a little bit more subtle than that - normally locusts are quite happy to munch away in relative isolation - on their own, they don't really do much damage - however, when food is scarce, and they start blundering into one another while competing for the same crop, their proximity to one another raises their stress levels - this stress triggers a radical change in their behaviour that causes them to swarm.
Since food is already scarce, the swarm quickly utilises what's left before other animals (i.e. us) get a chance. |
|
| |
Research has been done that shows that if you spray a bunch of locusts just prior to them getting upset with mood lightening drugs (I think serotonin was one mentioned) you can avoid them getting into swarm mode (conversely, I suppose, you might be able to spray them with agitating substances that gets them all upset and swarmy under conditions where they wouldn't normally) |
|
| |
The problem with the idea arises when you ask what it is that your (already scarce) crops are going to be used for - if it's something that can be replaced by locust protein then fine - but less so if you want to make bread, feed your cattle (assuming cattle don't eat locusts) or other crop-specific usages. |
|
| |
//agitating substances that gets them all upset and swarmy// |
|
| |
I'm thinking of angry mobs with pitchforks. What sort of spray might do that, do you suppose? |
|
| |
Well if serotonin calms them down, there must be some form of anti-seratonin - maybe cyproheptadine? [edit - I did just google "anti-seratonin". Surprised to find any results at all, I've just blindly copied one in here to look clever] |
|
| |
Norepinephrine is the fight-or-flight chemical. |
|
| |
This is why locusts are kosher. |
|
| |
ooooh, doesn't zen_tom look clever! |
|
| |
Could you kill locusts, peel off their exoskeletons, dehydrate the insides, grind them into a powder and make them into various baked goods? |
|
| |
The Shrimp of the Air. (I thought I posted this as an idea one time, but I can't find it now. I don't think people liked it very much at that time, though). |
|
| |
grind locusts, pour on boiling water... |
|
| |
Ewww, locust tea! It might taste a bit like bovril. |
|
| |
Not as salty or metallic, i would've thought. |
|
| |
The exoskeleton is not edible, so quite a wasteful harvest. |
|
| |
As they dine on every part of crops and vegetation, pesticides/herbicides (that usually are either sprayed long before harvest, or are not incorporated into the fruit) might be a problem. |
|
| |
Fair distribution of the harvest to farmers might pose some difficulties too... |
|
| |
But hey - dirigibles with gargantuan nets! Yay! |
|
| |
Maybe you could feed the exoskeletons to hedgehogs and eat them. |
|
| |
That might induce swarming behaviours in hedgehogs - this in turn might cause them to get all sticklebricked together in an unsightly lump. |
|
| |
The exoskeleton of shrimp isn't edible, either. |
|
| |
Jeezus. The annotations here puzzled me until I realized it
was "fishing" not "fisting". |
|
| |
can we fish for squirrels next? i think they'd be darn tasty and they do chatter so. (see link) |
|
| |