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Post by sandy on Sept 29, 2005 11:20:14 GMT -8
Isn't it funny that this gerbil forum is based in California, where gerbils are illegal!
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Mud Pony
Member
We can only be, what we give ourselves the power to be!
Posts: 284
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Post by Mud Pony on Sept 29, 2005 15:44:01 GMT -8
Reminds me of that old Alanis Morrisette song...
"Isn't it [glow=red,2,300]Ironic[/glow]... Don't yah think?"
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Post by sandy on Sept 29, 2005 15:45:37 GMT -8
Yeah. I'll say. Poor Californians. How could one live in a state where gerbils are illegal? In Hawaii, too, I understand. At least Hawaii would have it's compensations!
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Post by meganb52 on Sept 29, 2005 19:24:18 GMT -8
Man, that seals the deal. I'm never moving to California! I never really liked the state (especially L.A.), but gee whiz!
-Megan
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Sept 30, 2005 3:23:15 GMT -8
Yes, gerbils are illegal in California, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand! Fat-tailed gerbils and several other species in Belgium (only Meriones and Gerbillus species are allowed there), but there they can be kept with a license.
It is indeed funny that this forum (Proboards actually) is based in a state where gerbils are illegal pets. ;D
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Post by sandy on Sept 30, 2005 9:07:03 GMT -8
Psssst. Wanna buy a gerbil? (opens raincoat with pockets inside filled with gerbils) ;D
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Post by sorchajude on Sept 30, 2005 9:13:17 GMT -8
why are they banned i mean what harm can they do ? ellorie
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Post by whitmoregirl on Sept 30, 2005 9:22:59 GMT -8
Psssst. Wanna buy a gerbil? (opens raincoat with pockets inside filled with gerbils) ;D Hahaha I can just see that happening in all the scummy backalleys filled with millions of other illegal things Ohh just a thought but I bet its something to do with Arnie being their Gov'nor... I bet he was attacked my a vicous gerbil as a butch Austrian child ;D Edit: HAHAHAHA I can just see him running from an agouti screaming like a little girl HAHAHAHAAH
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Post by ashgerbil on Sept 30, 2005 9:31:00 GMT -8
hehe, 'tis a funny thought ;D it is actually that if gerbils escaped to the wild, they would find the californian deserts to make a great home and would wipe out the native kangaroo rats/desert rats ( actually, i'm not entirely sure which species it is! lol) but i like your explanation better!
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Sept 30, 2005 10:45:07 GMT -8
I've been reading a book...Gerbils all about them, which has a section 'what not to do with extra gerbils' touches just this issue, how releasing gerbils into the wild (even accidentally) can be harmful for the gerbils and dangerous for the local ecological balance. To quote ''Every wildlife community lives in a delicate balance,[] ..When a new species is introduced into a balanced natural community, no one can predict for sure what changes will occur'' Australia and New Zealand have both seent he devastating effects introduced species can have. Anyone who's ever seen pictures of Australia's plagues of rabbits and mice will understand the danger. In New Zealand European wasps are devastating the ecological balance of some rain forests. Even the UK has examples of introduced species causing problems, from privet hedges destroyed by stick insects in Cornwall to the competition from slipper limpets in the English Channel and biofouling by encrusting worms in Southampton Water. On the Isle of Wight a colony of gerbils was established for some years after the BBC released them. It must be frustrating to live somewhere where yoru choice of pets is limited by law but when you realise what accidental or intentional release can do to a delicate ecology you can understand the precaution.
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Post by RyanF on Sept 30, 2005 17:09:59 GMT -8
Stupid CA politicians look at gerbils as "mice" and don't want a "mice" infestation in their large cities.
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Post by sandy on Sept 30, 2005 20:16:28 GMT -8
The BBC released them??!!! Why on earth!
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Post by meganb52 on Sept 30, 2005 21:47:14 GMT -8
Stupid CA politicians look at gerbils as "mice" and don't want a "mice" infestation in their large cities. Even some of the veterinarians at the teaching hospital where I go to school called my gerbils "mice" when I brought them to school with me one day. Sheesh. If anyone should know what a gerbil looks like, I would think a vet would! -Megan
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Oct 1, 2005 2:27:07 GMT -8
Stupid CA politicians look at gerbils as "mice" and don't want a "mice" infestation in their large cities. Not exaclty! Gerbils can well survive in Califonia! There as Doomgerbiluk explained they can become invasive alien species! Populations of these non-endemic species will compete with native species, and quite often the new species wins, and result in the extinction of the other. Hawaii for example has already lost many native species due to introductions of others. Australia and New Zealand too. For example the Grey Squirrels from America are now a big problem for the Native Red Squirrel in the UK and Italy. Soon probably also in the rest of Europe. The American Mink has made the European Mink almost extinct already! The brown tree snake has made dozens of native bird species extinct on Guam, etc. There are hundreds of examples all over the world. Gerbils could do the same with native rodent species!
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Post by RyanF on Oct 1, 2005 6:47:57 GMT -8
Well, yes of course, Peter. They ban gerbils because they could become wild, infest cities, spread disease, etc... But I don't see any other states concerned about gerbils... I don't like CA.
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