'Pungent rats will serve as bait for endangered beetles along pipeline route'

The Journal-Star in Nebraska wins headline of the day for the above punchy summation of the dilemma facing the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. To wit:

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service this month said Keystone's proposed route across Nebraska put the endangered American burying beetle at risk. The agency said the black and orange-spotted insect could be spared, and the project move forward, if proper procedure is followed.

That means pipeline builder TransCanada Corp. will have to trap and relocate the one-inch beetles, using frozen rats that have thawed for at least three days for maximum pungency, according to detailed protocols U.S. authorities have drawn up to protect the burrowing bug.

Setting to one side the issue of stinky rats, carnivorous beetles and environmentally disastrous tar sands pipelines, if the name, "Maximum Pungency" isn't a moniker for a punk band waiting to happen, I'll eat my hat.  "Burrowing Bug"  radiates promise, as well.

Just a rat. Not an important rat. Maybe not even a pungent rat.