One Man's Music is another Man's Noise

Many years ago my eldest son brought home a pair of Coqui Tree Frogs. I didn't even know about them until one day I heard a barking type noise in the house and tracked it down to an aquarium my son had set up in the porch area. Why these made a barking sound rather than the usual two-tone call I'm not sure. Apparently he had bought them in a local pet shop called Alive and Kicking on Maui.

The Coqui frogs were cute little things, but sounded like a small dog. When I would go near the cage they quieted down and hid away in their cage.

Over the next month they managed to get out of their cage and be found again a number of times. Eventually one disappeared and we lost it. Maybe our cats found it.

The last Coqui frog did manage to escape once to the outside and after following the sound of the Coqui frog's bark and climbing up a ladder to the top of about a 15 foot banana tree in our yard, I finally found it.

Of course the Coqui frog quieted down when I got up close, but I did spot it nestled down in the crotch of the banana leaf and managed to recapture the elusive amphibian. The next escape was that Coqui Frog's last. Whether the cats got it or it managed to cover some ground during it's escape, I'm not sure, but in either case we never heard it again.

That was about fifteen years ago and since that time Maui and especially the big island of Hawaii have been over run with Coqui Frogs. While the big island of Hawaii has a nearly impossible task of eradicating the Coqui Frogs, Maui does still stand a chance.

Today's lead story in the Sunday Maui News is about a Maui Invasive Species Committee, MISC for short, project that is getting ready to attack the problem. The MISC project will involve pipes, tanks and pumps that are similar to those used in farming operations to deliver a 550 foot wide spray to deliver a biodegradable non-toxic citric acid at a rate of about 1000 gallons a week. Their plan is to add these systems to 10 different sites throughout the Maliko Gulch area to try and eradicate what is presently the largest concentration of the Coqui Frogs. Presently, there are about 14 sites identified throughout Maui with smaller populations of Coqui Frogs. Many sites will be hand eradicated through capturing them.

While eliminating these pests is very important to protecting the environment of an island community that should not be the home to these Coqui Frogs, we need to be careful of our methods we use. I realize that citric acid has been a much better alternative to the pesticides that they could be using and that the citric acid is biodegradable and in itself non-toxic, but what happens when we now take 10,000 gallons a week, 40,000 gallons a month and spray this solution in a limited area like Maliko Gulch?

Maliko is a valley that runs from Olinda/Makawao down to the ocean. The outfall of Maliko's stream runs into the sea and with the normal currents, this fresh water flow makes it's way across the beginning of our reef area, past our World Famous Hookipa and all along our outside reef which ends by Kahului and Kanaha Beach Park.

On days like today when we have heavy rains and large north shore ocean swells, the surf action mixes with the fresh water coming out of the many streams and particularly Maliko and the water literally runs brown from Maliko towards Kahului. This is a visual reminder of the interaction between freshwater run-off and our ocean.

I would question what the possible consequences are when large amounts of citric acid can wash into the stream with the rains and find it's way into our ocean and along our already faltering reef system. Maybe there is nothing to worry about? Maybe there is! I just wonder if this is being questioned or studied at all prior to moving ahead on a project like this?

I wouldn't want to stir up controversy where there is no reason. After all, with the SuperFerry coming to Maui next week and concerns over water conservation, the last thing Maui needs is another controversy.

In Puerto Rico they love the sound of the Coqui Frogs. It's music to their ears, but then again, Maui is not Puerto Rico and by all rights should be known for it's peace and quiet.

I guess what is one man's music is another man's noise.

That's one of my ConcernedVoices.