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From: Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: "The Trek: An Epic of Survival (The Darwin's World Series)" by Jack L Knapp
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2024 08:57:05 -0800
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On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:40 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:

>In article <prk0mjli6tskrrsssnpjva8l20hcacg2l2@4ax.com>,
>Paul S Person  <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>On Sun, 15 Dec 2024 11:16:01 -0800, Bobbie Sellers
>><bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> wrote:
>>
>>>On 12/15/24 09:32, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>>>> On 12/15/2024 9:10 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>>
>><snippo>
>>
>>>> Humans have evolved to become very good at getting other animals to =
do=20
>>>> our work for us.=A0 :)
>>>
>>>	Yes we have but it is common situation that the species
>>>involved benefit somehow with the relationship to man-kind/cruel=20
>>>including the perpetuation of their DNA from a species that
>>>spares them to be of future use.
>>>	The ecologically minded might point out that all the
>>>available species played a part in making ecological space
>>>for the biped with a larger brain. Thus it is to our own
>>>advantage in the future to maintain and extend populations
>>>of other predator and prey species. And to leave them alone
>>>to enjoy their lives in the territories left for them as
>>>much as possible.
>>
>>Nextdoor shows that several species (deer and, of course, bunnies and
>>rats but also coyotes and bobcats) have instead moved into the cities
>>and suburbs.=20
>>
>>This is thought to suppress the bunnies and rats, but it also makes
>>life outside dangerous for cats and at least small dogs.
>>
>>And possums and raccoons have been around for decades, if not longer.
>>
>>And then there are the flying dinosaur descendants, some of them cute,
>>others less cute.
>
>One of the odder details I encountered while digging through old=20
>newpaper files is that in 1900, Kitchener (then Berlin) parks did=20
>not have squirrels. They were deliberately introduced. Maintaining
>a breeding population was challenging, as kids kept killing the=20
>squirrels.=20
>
>In the last 40 years, Kitchener's downtown pigeon population seems
>to have plummeted due to local raptors suddenly discovering KW=20
>is basically one huge buffet. Seagulls also seem to be less=20
>common. =20

Ebb and flow.

I haven't seen a bunny for a long time now. But once they were, if not
common, then not rare sights. Some of them white, others brown.

In the last Very Cold Winter, Nextdoor reported some amazing behavior:
hummingbirds, which (it appears) generally insist (violently) on using
the feeder all by themselves, were contentedly sharing feeders.

These were, of course, feeders which were heated to the point that
their feet didn't actually freeze to the rails.
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"