Culling is easy, and they are delicious! Kung Pao Meow! On Thu, Aug 26, 2021 at 10:23 AM Marcus Daniels <mar...@snoutfarm.com> wrote:
> I have seen what happens when ferals proliferate. Out in the country it > is common to have a few non-domesticated cats around, but they can > proliferate amongst households. Look out the window, there is some hunt > that is on. Culling is easy though. > > > On Aug 26, 2021, at 7:08 AM, uǝlƃ ☤>$ <geprope...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > So, a wildlife ecologist friend of mine (who meatspace introduced me to > Looney (WSDA employee who discovered murder hornets here (who also hangs at > the local pub) [‡])) argues that domestic cats, as an invasive species, are > more horrifying than murder hornets, or english ivy, or the new zealand > mudsnail, etc. He focuses on how they're merely killing machines, with > which I agree. And goes with the usual "keep them inside" rhetoric. > > > > But I think I landed on an argument that he couldn't respond to. The > typical evolutionary argument against domestic cats is that we neuter/spay > the ones with the qualities we like, leaving the ferals to reproduce and > evolve. And there's plenty of evidence that a clowder of ferals wreaks more > havoc on a local ecosystem than a disorganized collection of house cats > ever does. (Distributions of house cats territory drop off at more than > ~100 m from their home. So unless the cat lives on the border of a wild > area, it's impact on wild life is quite small. In contrast, feral clowders > end up in wilder areas.) > > > > To boot, I have an anecdote. When we moved into this house, which is > buttressed by a fairly wild ravine with owls and wild rabbits and such, > there was a feral clowder living in a dilapidated house at the crook of the > ravine (which leads down toward capitol lake). Our alpha, Scooter, kept > fighting with at least one of these ferals. He lost quite badly one time, > but due to our policy of universal healthcare, Scooter lives to fight > again. Now the feral clowder is gone, thereby saving the lives of who knows > how many little critters in the ravine. Scooter sporadically brings home a > mouse, mole, or "little brown bird". But it's pretty rare now that he's > pushing 12 or 13. So, we could say he's an ecologically ethical hunter, > even if it's unintentional. > > > > In the end, though, my wildlife eco friend just loves dogs and hates > cats. 8^D My guess is his cognitive structure is more dog-like and mine is > more cat-like, after decades of being programmed by our pets. > > > > > > [‡] > https://www.sciencenews.org/article/asian-giant-murder-hornets-new-map-habitat-united-states > > > >> On 8/24/21 4:39 PM, Steve Smith wrote: > >> My first reaction to the subject line is one of my favorite parody > >> attributions to redneck culture: "it's Diffr'nt, kill it!" but then I > >> read the content and realized it was more apropos than I expected. > >> > >> I believe that something like "xenophobia" is an adaptive response in > >> many contexts... we have some pretty deep instincts it seems that let > >> us know to be "askeered" of "spiders and snakes" even if we'd never seen > >> another ape respond that way. My dog has always been very (properly) > >> fearful of snakes... otherwise her natural curious aggression would > >> have had her dead-by-snakebite long ago... she went crazy everytime > >> she saw a rattlesnake but always barked crazily from a good 6-10 feet > >> away. She never alerted to a non-rattler that I knew of. And in the > >> arms race of survival, it is natural that some "skeery" things will > >> camoflauge as benign or friendly or cute. > >> > >> I am always a little nervous when large movements (especially gubbm'nt > >> supported ) try to tap those instincts. It seems like a bad precedent > >> to encourage formalized xenophobia even against helpless insects. The > >> Charlottesville (and too many other) white-nationalists chanting "jews > >> will not replace us" and all of Trump's fear-mongering are obvious (and > >> ugly), but aspects of the B(lack) L(ives) M(atter) movement that perhaps > >> overstated police culpability (in general not in specific cases), and > >> Hillary's unfortunate election-forfieting statement calling Trump > >> supporters "deplorables" (plenty of them were, but the brush was too > >> broad and there was probably at least some backlash turnout over that > >> one). Her "superpredator" comments, etc. in the 90's are another > >> example. > >> > >> As for me, I have a nicely expanding set of stands of what is know > >> locally as "Guaco" (critical to the black on black pottery process) in > >> the pueblo nearby but more commonly known as "beeweed" among anglos... > >> it turns out to be a particularly attractive nectar source for the > >> Tarantula Hawk (or Tarantula Wasp), a big ole blue-black beast that > >> looks like it could stun you with a sting and drag you to it's > >> underground lair where it would insert it's fertilized eggs into your > >> abdomen to hatch and thrive until the larva are ready to emerge and > >> pupate ultimately into more giant scary wasps. The thing is, this is > >> exactly what they do, but only with Tarantulae (and perhaps other large > >> spiders?) but can hardly be induced to sting anything else (I think > >> there is a YouTube Steve-Irwin wannabe who succeeded in getting one to > >> sting him on camera, but while painful it was not acutely life or limb > >> threatening). There are as many as a dozen or more of these wasps (and > >> occasionally a few other pollinating insects) hanging around them. I > >> approach them relatively casually but even when I drive up within a few > >> feet on my way into the driveway or run my weedwhip into the ragweed > >> surrounding the stand, they take no interest in me. I suppose if I > >> were to violently attack them, they *might* respond in some offensive > >> way, but most indications are, they reserve their sting for immobilizing > >> their Tarantula baby-incubators. My immediate neighbors have lots of > >> loud yard-grooming equipment and a whole shed full of pesticides and > >> herbicides they run around spraying on everything in their yard, and > >> while "beeweed" would never survive a week in their yard, I think they > >> would be out machine-gunning these elegant (though menacing looking) > >> wasps if they saw one. FWIW I have not seen a Tarantula at this > >> location in the 2 decades I've lived her, I guess the wasps feed in my > >> yard and reproduce elsewhere. > >> > >> My bottom line is that xenophobia is first-order adaptive, but humans > >> need not be first-order (only) creatures. We *can* think past our > >> initial reactions or herd-hysteria if we choose to. Or not. > > > > > > -- > > ☤>$ uǝlƃ > > > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ >
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