Big Bugs

[Steve Walker]

"Fittest" did not have the same meaning or was not used in the sense as we might by Spencer and Darwin. By "fittest" they meant "better designed for an immediate, local environment". Survival of the fittest is not survival of the strongest it is survival of the species that is the best fit for the environmental niche it finds itself in.

 

Altering an environment, though, is likely to change what "fit" is - and if we then stop altering it, the population, having evolved, may find itself no longer so fit. In the case of the peppered moth, we just got an increase in the dark morph when we sooted up the trees and a return to the light morph when we stopped. There have been similar concerns raised about the stocking of semi-domesticated salmonids which have become adapted to hatchery breeding and don't breed very successfully in nature.

[corydoras]

Altering an environment, though, is likely to change what "fit" is - and if we then stop altering it, the population, having evolved, may find itself no longer so fit. In the case of the peppered moth, we just got an increase in the dark morph when we sooted up the trees and a return to the light morph when we stopped. There have been similar concerns raised about the stocking of semi-domesticated salmonids which have become adapted to hatchery breeding and don't breed very successfully in nature.

How long do you think our domesticated cattle, especially dairy cattle with their big swinging udders would last without our stewardship?

 

Something has changed back home in Balloch. 40 years ago one never saw magpies in and around Balloch, or Alexandria now they are ubiquitous. I remember when I moved to Southampton being up at the window every five minutes to watch the magpies because up until then I had never gotten to see one close up..

[Steve Walker]

Yes, I was thinking about how feral domesticated animals would do without us. Pigs, dogs, cats, sheep, goats, horses, I reckon would be sub-optimal to varying extents according to breed, but would live long enough to get back onto the adaptation bandwagon. Dairy cattle, maybe not. Chickens?

[corydoras]

Yes, I was thinking about how feral domesticated animals would do without us. Pigs, dogs, cats, sheep, goats, horses, I reckon would be sub-optimal to varying extents according to breed, but would live long enough to get back onto the adaptation bandwagon. Dairy cattle, maybe not. Chickens?

Some dogs maybe. I would not fancy the chances of Pekingese, Pugs. Chickens? the foxes, badgers and dogs would have them. Have you ever read a book called "The World Without Us". It's a real good read.

[chesters1]

Yes, I was thinking about how feral domesticated animals would do without us. Pigs, dogs, cats, sheep, goats, horses, I reckon would be sub-optimal to varying extents according to breed, but would live long enough to get back onto the adaptation bandwagon. Dairy cattle, maybe not. Chickens?

Dogs quickly revert to their ancestors.

I remember a documentory in spain about wolves killing sheep and the locals exterminating every wolf they could find.

On further investigation without the superstions camera footage was gained of the local village dogs forming a pack and deliberately hunting a sheep ,the end bit of the film was rather sad as the dogs didnt kill the sheep but proceeded to eat it alive .

They had formed the pack ,hunted the quarry as their forebears did but had lost the knack of finishing off the prey

quickly and quietly

 

Cats have no problems except with dogs ,badgers rarely bother other than a fake charge (if they see a cat) and foxes evade cats and cats are not bothered with foxes ,i have footage of a cat sitting 10 feet from a fox in plain sight on my cctv

 

Chickens are stupid and most anything can catch them as they cannot get it into their head theyre tasty treats

 

Ps the dog pack contained all sorts of dogs great and small ,a pack will survive where individuals do not

 

Cattle will no doubt have problems but people know to their cost even cows will react to threat ,horses the same but i guess without restriction ,a herd of cows in a field would probably starve without humans to open gates

 

Within every species theres a survival thing ,take diseases theres always some with immunity to a small extent ,in even trees some have immunity to bugs etc ,i doubt if anything would exist had they not

Edited January 20, 2016 by chesters1

[chesters1]

You have raptors in your garden? Which ones?

Not in the garden but exploiting it ,kestrels and hawks mainly and a young buzzard sat on the washing pole often in the spring ,night time the owls (not technically bird eaters) have been spotted @and i have footage of one sitting on the dustbin .

Dont mention the magpies they exploit any avenue out there

Generally the first glimpse is a puff of feathers and a hawk dragging a bird under the trailer to pluck it LOL

Birds in our garden are rare because of it and bird feeders stay untouched unless their hung in cover ,the little old lady next door had her hedge cut down so our feeders can remain full for months in their old spot by the window

Edited January 20, 2016 by chesters1

[corydoras]

Dairy cattle would be fooked without us. Their udders are far too big. Even if their calves could get to a teat to suckle, they would not be able to empty their dam's vessels. Mastitis would set in very quickly and they would die, that's if they survived the hypocalcaemia when they were in calf. Dairy cattle take a power of fettling to keep them kicking, especially Holstein-Frisians.

[chesters1]

Yes the modern breeds would suffer but the dexters out the back wouldnt notice much difference ,they would die only because theres fences stopping interaction with other hardy breeds ,in say the new forest they would probably thrive ,once man and his cars disapeared

[corydoras]

Kestrels don't eat many smaller birds, voles and beetles are more their thing.

[corydoras]

Dexters would probably cope as would Highland Cattle. Your looking at this too parochially Chesters. In places like the Americas and Australia it would be a totally different ball game.