Quote:
1911 previously said:
Why would anyone grab a "suvey stake"? Even if it were a legitimate survey stake, it would be vandalism to move or remove it. I guess I'm sorry for the guy, but a little courtesy and common sense goes a long way...
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I could easily see how someone might grab ahold of such a device for the purposes of removing trail debris, litter, hazards, etc. That said, the M-44 doesn't "explode" as per the sensationalized "news" article - it's spring loaded. This is absolutely a relevant issue for offroaders using public land because of the obvious hazard and so I looked up some of the facts.
Here are some pictures of the devise...
First of all, you would think that there would be at least some warning on this device - it looks fairly harmless. However, a warning would not prevent it from indiscriminately killing pets, hunting dogs (man! I would be ass-kickingly pissed if I were hunting on public land and one of these kill my dog!!!), or even a curious young child.
I agree with the opinion that there are other effective means of predator control. Why not allow more hunting? I would much rather watch out for hunters than go through and area where these were spiked. There are also non-lethal means of trapping as well - at least then you could identify the animal before it was killed.
I wonder if non-government individuals can purchase and use these? They look like a booby-trap to me and I bet not - I'm going to try to find the answer to this question...
Finally, this is being done on public land using public $$$ to supposedly protect privately owned livestock. A report I read said that nationwide, there is a bit over $15 million in livestock loss associated with predators. On the whole, isn't that the cost of doing business? Why in the hell do taxpayers have to subsidize ranchers. I would rather give them permission to remove problem predators by other safer means.
