Germans banned from killing ants

Google | 4-29-03

[WKB]

Ananova:

Germany has introduced new laws making it illegal to kill ants and appointed 85 ant protection officers to protect the insects.

Homeowners and gardeners who attempt to destroy an anthill or underground nest will face hefty fines if caught.

They must now apply for a permit from their local forestry office to have the ants carefully moved to local woods.

"People with an ant hill in their garden must under no circumstances resort to the use of poison," said senior ant protection officer Dieter Kraemer.

"This is a violation of federal nature protection laws and punishable with hefty fines."

He added that ants were highly valued by German foresters for eating insects which attack trees.

A high ant population can prevent costly and environmentally unfriendly woodland spraying aimed at pests such as the Nun moth which attacks pines and other conifers.

[Charles Martel]

Maybe we should sent them some fireants. That would change their minds in a hurry.

Hehehe... yep, or some of these:

The dreaded "Bullet Ant" - shown actual size (!!)

[jlogajan]

Kent Brockman: "Ladies and gentlemen, uh, we've just lost the picture, but what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has apparently been taken over -- 'conquered' if you will -- by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive Earthman or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves." (Deep Space Homer)

[bedolido]

"Now the Germans are surrendering to the ants? They must still be taking lessons from the French!"


lol... I needed a good laugh today. Thanks

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Leave it to the Germans, to pass a law to protect ants, after passing a law to exterminate, Jews, gays, and other undesirables as so deemed by the state.

There is something deep and dark in the minds of the Germanic people in that country.

[headsonpikes]

"...I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords."

Quick, hide the magnifying glasses!

[SunStar]

These parodies are just so damn funny. Is this from the Onion?

[steve-b]

It least it's better than what the french are doing. They just surrendered to their new ant overlords.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have just lost the picture. But what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has apparently been taken over, conquered if you will, by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them the ants will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new insect overlords. Would like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality I could be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar cave."
  --Kent Brockman

[hawkaw]

What the hell kind of report is this?

I guess my son will now have to put his magnifying glass away seeing he won't be able to re-focus the sun's rays and burn the these little insects anymore.

On a side note - I thought ants were one of the most sucessful creatures and made up the biggest population of all creatures in the world.

[vetvetdoug]

My thoughts exactly, fireants would make the Germans fine tune what they are good at and that is making insecticides (Zyclon B for example).

[WKB]

These parodies are just so damn funny. Is this from the Onion?

I haerd it on a local radio station this morning.
Came home did a Google search and lo and behold there it was!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

My husband and I inadvertently harmed some birds last week. My husband trimmed our red-tipped bushes, which were too tall. Not thinking about spring-time and the visable nest, he chopped away.

We saved the nest, with four robins eggs inside, put it back in the bushes. The mother robin found her babies, and they hatched the next day.

However, the nest is empty, now... the trimmed bush is much shorter, and we think the nest was too low. A cat or something must've killed the baby birds.

We wonder if will soon be served Friend of the Court papers, courtesy of PETA!

[diamond6]

OK, so its illegal to kill an ant but ok to kill an unborn baby. Makes lots of sense.

[Renfield]

This has GOT to be a lost Monty-Python script.

My brother-in-law, who is a colonel in the USAF, is being posted to Stuttgart for a while, and wants us to come and visit. If I do, I might engage in a little rabble-rousing...make some anti-ant speeches, get some Germans to stomp on some ant mounds....then send a videotape of it to FOX. Or, maybe we should export our Fire Ants to them. That would open their eyes.

[WKB]

OK, so its illegal to kill an ant but ok to kill an unborn baby. Makes lots of sense.

Just as much sense as the candle lights for those on death row.

[Old Professer]

Sounds good to me -- if they would do that here, maybe we could keep the wackos busy for awhile.

[Dad was my hero]

I wonder if you are ticketed or arrested if you are driving along and run over a couple hundred on an ant trail? Maybe they could put up little ant bridges for overpasses to protect them.

At least it's better than what the french are doing. They just surrendered to their new ant overlords.

That was way too funny!

[Amore]

Thank God I'm here in America. I have been sitting at my desk all morning squishing ants as they run across the surface of my desk. I really need to figure out where they're coming from!

[Oztrich Boy]

He added that ants were highly valued by German foresters for eating insects which attack trees.

In that case the German foresters can declare just how much they value the ants, and everybody will be willing to arrange to the ants to be lovingly moved to a new home.

With a policy of Specie for Species there is no need for permits, hefty fines and ant protection officers.

[Nowhere Man]

Well there are always the "Three S's," - "Shoot, Shovel, and Shut-Up." Or more appropriatly, "Shovel, Stomp, and Shut-up." Ant-Police, dang, these people need to get a life.

[Nowhere Man]

Thank God I'm here in America. I have been sitting at my desk all morning squishing ants as they run across the surface of my desk. I really need to figure out where they're coming from!

I know, we had the same problem in the neighborhood, everyone seemed to be getting black-ants in their homes. I squashed a few on 'em myself and sometimes the cats would catch them. It's warming up a bit so hopefully they will be gone for a while, so far I haven't seen anymore withing the last week or so. I remember a year or two ago, it was ladybugs that were a problem.