Ep 91 Myxomatosis: Down the rabbit hole

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Science

4.8 • 17.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2022

⏱️ 88 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Invasive rabbits so numerous they form a “gray blanket” across the land. A killer virus, intentionally released to keep the bunnies at bay. An ensuing evolutionary arms race with no end in sight. It sounds more like the premise of a bad sci fi movie rather than a textbook case of biocontrol. But truth, especially in this case, is stranger and even more fascinating than fiction. If this is the first you’re hearing about myxoma virus and its place in the long history of European rabbits in Australia, get ready for a gripping story filled with rabbit facts, discussions about what drives pathogens to be deadly or benign, and philosophical musings about the situational difference between pest, pet, and keystone species. That’s right, we’re heading deep down the rabbit hole with this one. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's hard to imagine losing a loved one, a wife, a husband, a child.
0:04.4	For many, it's their biggest fear.
0:06.4	Amarissa Jones, host of The Vanished.
0:09.0	A podcast that tells the stories of often overlooked and unsolved missing persons' cases,
0:13.6	in an effort to uncover the truth.
0:15.8	Follow The Vanished on Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:20.2	Hi, I'm Bridger Weinerger, and I host I said no gifts, on exactly right.
0:24.0	Each week I invite my favorite people in comedy over for conversation, and I tell them no gifts.
0:28.8	But every time they bring me a gift, and then we have to talk about the gift.
0:32.4	It's infuriating. You'll love it.
0:35.0	Listen to I said no gifts on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:41.9	No one would believe the mischief the rabbits are doing unless they could see it.
0:46.0	The sheep farmers have not tried to clear them, and now many of the runs are so bare that there is not
0:51.2	grass enough to feed the rabbits, let alone the sheep.
0:54.5	The consequence is that the rabbits are traveling in thousands in search of food.
0:59.1	Last Friday morning, soon after sunrise, I met a swarm coming from the hills.
1:03.6	I never saw such a thing before.
1:05.6	The ground was scarcely to be seen for about a mile in length.
1:09.2	Five weeks since I could not find a rabbit on my land, but since then we have killed thousands.
1:15.6	When the sun is hot, you can go along the fences, or any place where it is shady and kill hundreds with a stick.
1:21.3	Today has been cool, but still, I several times killed two or three at a blow.
1:25.7	The paddock stink with the dead ones.
	...

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