FAR To silly to put in Current Events and Political Debate forum

I sware sometimes i think the guys at BBC world news smoke crack.

Giant gerbils infest China

An explosion of gerbils is decimating vast areas of grasslands in China\'s north-western Xinjiang region, with some of the prairies completely destroyed by hundreds of rodent burrows, according to authorities in the region.

The gerbils running riot in China\'s arid far north-west may sound like the fluffy pets loved by so many children but they are in a different league.

The Great Gerbil found in many parts of Central Asia can be up to 400 millimetres (16 inches) long from head to tail.
With its short fur, it is the member of the family most resembling the rat.

Officials say the gerbils have damaged more than 4m hectares (11m acres) of grassland about the size of Switzerland.
This is reported to be the worst rodent disaster to hit this region of Xinjiang in 10 years.

Authorities are trying to combat the gerbils, not only by using poison, but also by breeding eagles to devour them.
Unless they succeed, the damage the rodents are doing could add to the steady encroachment of the desert, already occupying a vast part of the region.

I can see the next command and conquer generals pack now...

the RED army

Vs

[GmanJoe]

Richard Gere will not be happy to hear this. (if you don\'t know about Richard Gere, there\'s an interent Urban Myth about him having a gerbil shot up his butt).

The Great Gerbil

Scientific name: Rhombomys opimus

Size: Up to 400mm long from head to tail

Lives: In Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, southern Mongolia, north-west China and Afghanistan

Highly social animals, usually living in large burrows
Communicate with quick, rapid foot thumping and high pitched whistling

is it just me or do they have the measurment in mm in purpose,  so that the thing at first glance sounds so f\'ing HUGE.

when i read it at first i thought it was grows to 400m :eek:

[Kurt Angle]

That pic looks more like a chinchilla than a gerbil.

http://www.joecartoon.com/pages/microgerbil/

this oughta do it!

[GmanJoe]

Beware the General Tso\'s Chicken you ordered. It might be Giant Gerbil meat if your not careful.

[Titan]

I find this article amusing. I\'d like to hear more of this article.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

400mm = 40cm for those Imperial knobs that don\'t know metric it\'s 15.7 inches or 1.3feet. That\'s a pretty large rodent.