We are doing our best to enjoying every last minute before heading back to the main land. Today we spent the afternoon sitting outside and talking story with Darren (a dear friend and co-worker from Ryan's first trip to Hawaii). There is still so much history to be heard and despite so many facts and tid bits that we have learned there is always more to be heard and today was no exception. Fact #1) There are no rabies on the island of Maui! This is the truth. The quarantine laws have become much less severe overtime, however so much precaution is (still) taken to ensure and preserve what is sacred here. To say this was music to my ears would be some what of an understatment. I have come far too close for comfort to the larger than life rats that reside outside our home. It brings me an odd sense of peace to know that although they may take a bite out of my ankle at least they will not be filled with RABIES!!! The abundance of rats is no surprise with all the sugar cane fields and the fact that there are no natural predators for these varmints. Which brings us to Fact #2) There are no snakes on Maui. It seems odd to think that so many of the "normal" things that are so different or even missing here. But no snakes is just fine by me! I knew I liked Maui. Fact #3) There are however, mongoose present and lots of them! Most of the mammals on Maui, and Hawaii in general, are not native. They were introduced for a variety of reasons (that is a whole other topic). The appearance of a mongoose running across the road here, is just as normal as the common squirrels back home. As in Kipling's Jungle Book character Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the devil-eyed cunning critter is famous for taking on venomous snakes like king cobras. But that's not why the ferret-like mongooses are sometimes referred to as the most dangerous animal in the world. That illustrious title was earned when it became clear that the mongoose is unparalleled when it comes destroying native species. A fact that Hawaiians learned the hard way. So why, you might ask, would the mongoose be purposefully introduced to the Hawaiian Islands, the endangered species capital of the world? (Hawaii has more endangered species per square mile than anywhere else on the planet!) The answer is simple. The story of how the Mongoose got to Hawaii is a familiar one of greed. Greed and rats. Way back in 1872, some Jamaican sugar planter named W.B. Espeut, got the idea to introduce the mongoose in order to keep his rat problem under control. So he sailed across the ocean to Calcutta, captured four male and five female mongooses (one pregnant) and brought them back across the ocean to Jamaica. Twenty years later, in a journal article, Espeut gave the mongooses rave reviews. Besides killing rats, he wrote, "snakes, lizards, crabs, toads and the grubs of many beetles and caterpillars have been destroyed." Espeut was so successful, he created a new Jamaican export: more mongooses! When the article reached the sugar cane plantations of Hawaii, the farmers saw an answer to all their rat problems. So despite some dissent, the Hawaiian farmers ordered 72 mongooses from the Jamaicans in 1883. The mongooses were raised on the Big Island and spread amongst the islands. Little did they know what it would do the the future of there island. Lana'i and Kaua'i (other Hawaiian islands) have remained mongoose-free, but on the other islands, the introduction of the Indian Mongoose has been a disaster of epic proportions. Mongooses do kill rats, but not the numbers needed to justify their use. Unlike the nocturnal rats, the mongoose is active during the day. So instead of ridding the islands of rats, the mongooses have found many other things to eat instead. So, the next time you travel and are required to fill out the declaration of goods form before landing in a "foreign" land remember not all places are filled with the same diseases we carry from home. Something as simple as the soil stuck on the bottom of our boots can be filled with bacteria and disease (ex. mad cow disease etc). Quick fixes are not always the best solution and at times are detrimental not only ourselves but our communities. Beware of the Maui Menace!
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