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Dandelion eating rabbits

Genetically-altered rabbits that love dandelions.
 
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By altering the rabbits natural tendencies to eat desired palnts from our yards and gardens, they would instead feast on weeds. Since they multiply like... RABBITS, we'll soon be rid of pesky weeds from our yards.

Gotta go bait the trap again, Darkstar

Darkstar, Jun 12 2000

Dandelion Wine http://www.culinary...Dandelion_Wine.html
[jutta, Jun 12 2000]

Dandelion Salad http://www.seedsofk....com/dandelion.html
[jutta, Jun 12 2000, last modified Jun 28 2008]

Dandelion tea and tonics http://www.motherna.../herb/dandelion.asp
[Skinny Rob, Jun 12 2000, last modified Oct 21 2004]

[link]






       Before attempting this, someone should figure out *why* dandelions are weeds in the first place. My guess is that they spread fast and either don't taste that great (that white stuff inside them is sure nasty) or aren't that nutritious. Also, we need know what (if any) important role the "weeds" might play for other organisms. What if they were all that were protecting us from a massive invasion force of chitinous, slavering yet highly allergic sea beasts?   

       Besides, if we got rid of all the dandelions, what would children wish on in the springtime? Then again, there would be more rabbits' feet to go around, so maybe things would balance out.   

       We could just try modifying the dandelions into an edible form, but then it probably wouldn't proliferate and replace the inedible species.   

       Or (thanks to jutta), we could just fix dishes with them as they are.
centauri, Jun 13 2000
  

       Euell Gibbons has a whole chapter on how to eat them in "Stalking The Wild Asparigus". When you discover something taste good, it dissapears.
KindlyRat, Jun 26 2000
  

       What happens when we have a lot of hungry rabbits? Ever seen "night of the lepus'? http://us.imdb.com/Title?0069005
idiotgenious, Jun 26 2000
  

       Yeah, scarey film. All them big cuddly bunnies hopping about in a completely non-menacing way. Hey, how about rabbit-eating dandelions then?
DrBob, Jun 30 2000
  

       As long as we're suddenly capable of this kind of genetic tinkering, why not re-engineer the dandelions so they taste good, or spend more time as flowers and less as ugly bony grey-green stalks, or come in many colors, or grow, propagate, and die off in a week, like daisies?
wordmama, Jul 05 2000
  

       I think dandelions are pretty just as they are. I'm not sure why everyone's so eager to get rid of them.
egnor, Jul 05 2000
  

       Actually, cooked dandelion greens are very nutritious, and very tasty... you just have to boil 'em for 45 min. to an hour... they're great with lemon and olive oil.
ember, Jul 05 2000
  

       Guinea pigs love eating dandelions. Perhaps they should be released into the wild to wreck the ecosystem instead of rabbits? They're much cuter, too.
Lemon, Jul 06 2000
  

       To add to ember's statement, dandelion leaves aren't the only edible part of the flower. The dried and ground roots make an excellent coffee substitute- and there's enough Vitamin C in them to put 10 oranges to shame.   

       Dandelion wine's great too....(hic)   

       Nice thing about the rabbit idea: if they multiply too fast you can always have rabbit stew. Haasenpfeffer, anyone?   

       Besides- guinea pigs don't have enough meat!
BigThor, Aug 29 2000
  

       "And I don't know why she swallowed the fly.. perhaps she'll die!"   

       Dandelions were introduced into the New World by the Hudson Bay Co., because they grow so well and have enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy. (I assume they were also desirably familiar to Europeans; one can buy dandelion seed, bred for various garden traits.) Before releasing something else into the environment, I'd worry about the ultimate fate of the old lady of the song.   

       I would be curious to know whether there are more dandelion-eating wild animals in their native clime, or more dandelion-eating humans there, or what. Personally, I pick lots of them early in the year when they're least bitter and most tasty, and that keeps them under control for the year. Inedible native plants, like tansies and liverworts, are more a problem.
hello_c, Sep 05 2000
  

       Dandelions have been cultivated into a food, by the French. Just like they did with snails. And rabbits seem to like dandelions very much, at least my big black bunny does. He lives in our bathroom, and we bring him all kinds of wildstuffs harvested from the city parkways. Dandelion is sometimes called "The witch's weed" Because; it's everywhere; The roots go so very deep that it's nearly impossible to dig them out; It's a healing herb, It's much maligned by the ingorant, (dig dig); It grows and prospers in spite of everything.
DragonMother, Dec 20 2000
  

       i like rabbits but i couldn't eat a whole one
po, Aug 25 2001
  

       OK until the rabbits evolve. Stop evolution now!
Ford, Mar 26 2008
  

       'Night of the Lepus'? Greatest movie ever made!
Noexit, Mar 26 2008
  
      
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