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From: Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com>
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 11:23:33 -0500
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On 12/16/2024 11:47 AM, 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
>>>> our work for us.  :)
>>>
>>> 	Yes we have but it is common situation that the species
>>> involved benefit somehow with the relationship to man-kind/cruel
>>> 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.
>>
>> 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
> newpaper files is that in 1900, Kitchener (then Berlin) parks did
> not have squirrels. They were deliberately introduced. Maintaining
> a breeding population was challenging, as kids kept killing the
> squirrels.
> 
> In the last 40 years, Kitchener's downtown pigeon population seems
> to have plummeted due to local raptors suddenly discovering KW
> is basically one huge buffet. Seagulls also seem to be less
> common.
> 

The excellent 99% Invisible podcast did a segment about this:
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/uptown-squirrel/

I was very surprised to learn that prior to the late 1800s,
squirrels were a deep forest species that city dwellers almost
never saw.

Fun site: https://cybersquirrel1.com/

pt