Fun at Walmart, FAM for Gophers (Re: BOMB PLANS)

[Subcommander Bob]

At 06:06 PM 8/10/01 +0200, Eugene Leitl wrote:
>On 10 Aug 2001, Secret Squirrel wrote:
>
>> Why not nitroglycerin? The components are very easy to get -- nitric
>> acid and glycerine.
>
>Easy to get? Haven't seen concentrated acids being sold at Walmart so
far.

34% HCl sold by the gallon
H2SO4 in plumbum batteries
nitrate salts in the gardening area

polyols in antifreeze, in the automotive section

pyrex, heatplate, etc. in cookwares :-)


>Hey, is ammonium nitrate fertilizer a watched substance yet?

Yes, in prilled form.

Wonder if its still used in those sports-injury
instant-cold bags that I used to recrystallize it from in my youth...

........

Fuel-Air Munitions for Gophers

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAW894O4QC.html

FARM SCENE: California Farmers Use Low-Tech Weaponry to Blast Furry
 Pests From Burrows - from Tampa Bay Online

 FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Stalking the elusive pocket gopher and the brazen

ground squirrel, farmer Mike Lagaluso is armed with the latest low-tech
weaponry to blast the varmints from their underground lairs.

In a scene being repeated in orchards and vineyards up and down the
Central
Valley, Lagaluso inserts an end of the Rodex 4000 into a hole in the
ground, injects a combination of oxygen and propane, hits a switch and
watches as the resulting explosion collapses a burrow several feet long.

"This has just been a never-ending battle. Now, hopefully, within a year
we
can get the population down to a manageable level and reduce our labor
costs for controlling these pests," said Lagaluso, who's using it on
apple
and peach orchards in San Luis Obispo County.

Despite concerns about the product's effectiveness and safety - mostly
voiced by university researchers - several farmers said they've had
unparalleled success with the Rodex 4000. They like its portability -
the
oxygen and propane tanks can fit on the back of a small all-terrain
vehicle
- and its pyrotechnics, though the explosions are mostly concussive.

To people who might think the Rodex 4000 is inhumane, its boosters say
it's
better than pesticides that can take longer to kill an animal. There's
also
minimal risk that farmers will blow up dogs, coyotes or birds, which all

could be harmed by eating pests that have been poisoned.

At about $1,400, the Rodex 4000 is a serious product that doesn't come
in a
big cartoon box stamped Acme on the side.

And in an era of increasingly complex environmental regulations and
mounting pressure from suburbanites to limit pesticide use near homes
and
schools, farmers are constantly on the lookout for alternative pest
control
methods, said Darren Schmall, who uses the product in his agricultural
pest
management business.

"It sounds like just such a big boy's toy until you go out and see how
the
thing works," Schmall said.

The Rodex 4000 doesn't blow gophers from their burrows or set them on
fire.
Its primary gas is oxygen, which is ignited by the propane and expands
rapidly into 30 feet to 50 feet of tunnel.

The critters inside are subjected to a massive concussive pressure that
produces a deadly hemorrhage at the base of their brains. The gases also

get into the creatures' lungs and when the oxygen expands, the lungs
essentially explode, said Ed Meyer, vice president of sales for Midvale,

Idaho-based Rodex Industries Inc.

Still, researchers at the University of California and the Montana
Department of Agriculture give the device mixed reviews.

Montana officials found the device killed only about 30 percent to 40
percent of targeted ground squirrels and about 30 percent of the prairie

dogs, said Monty Sullins, a vertebrate pest specialist.

"They're very reproductive," Sullins said of the animals. "Unless you're

getting 85 percent to 90 percent ... you're looking at repeat use. We
just
didn't have the numbers there to really recommend it as a major control
tool."

But farmers who are happy with it don't seem to mind going over the same

ground a few times. Schmall said he gets a 95 percent kill ratio by
making
a second visit to the same place within a week.

Farmers are eager to use anything that gives them an edge in the
perennial
battle against burrowing rodents, which destroy berms and irrigation
systems and eat the roots of young plants.

Desley Whisson, a vertebrate pests specialist with the University of
California at Davis, studied a device similar to the Rodex several years

ago. She worries about the fire risk when the Rodex 4000 is used in dry
fields or orchards.

Company officials concede the fire risk, but said if farmers use common
sense and take precautions, wildfires won't be a problem.

As for the risk to life and limb, Schmall said, "We've blasted easily
10,000 holes and I have yet to hand out even a Band-Aid to any of my
guys."