Alan Weisman has written a book titled, "The World Without Us." It is a theoretical exploration (based on what is already known about plant life, animal life, and the breakdown of man-made chemicals) of what the planet would be like if we humans just vanished one day. I listened to him being interviewed on the Diane Rehm show by Susan Page (of USA Today) and was totally fascinated by what he said. Link to the audio program.
When asked which animal species would benefit the most from our absence and which would do poorly, he said it was very complicated. Mosquitoes would, for example, do very well since we are not here to try to erradicate them and more wetlands would be available for them for breeding. Birds would do very well for several reasons. As domesticated species cattle would be killed off by predators, and dogs would have to compete with other similar species such as wolves and hyenas. Perhaps some dogs would breed with them but they'd be out-competed and they'd lose out in fights.
Cats, he said, have never been domesticated!!! (Boy have we experienced that in our house.) The "domesticated" cat is genetically the same as a species of wild cat that lives near the mediterranean on three different continents and came here during colonial times as a pet. All it has done is take advantage of the opportunities in its environment, specifically a two legged creature that brings it food and water on a daily basis. He said, if you put your cat outside it doesn't revert to its wild status, it's still in it. They immediately begin hunting even if you've just fed them a big meal. They do it for pleasure; it's their instinct.
Well I can't say that I'm happy about the reign of the mosquitoes or the decline of the dog, but I'm happy to hear that the superiority of cats is confirmed. Just take a look at the following pictures and it's easy to see that a cat, is a cat, is a cat.
A lion in the jungle.....When asked which animal species would benefit the most from our absence and which would do poorly, he said it was very complicated. Mosquitoes would, for example, do very well since we are not here to try to erradicate them and more wetlands would be available for them for breeding. Birds would do very well for several reasons. As domesticated species cattle would be killed off by predators, and dogs would have to compete with other similar species such as wolves and hyenas. Perhaps some dogs would breed with them but they'd be out-competed and they'd lose out in fights.
Cats, he said, have never been domesticated!!! (Boy have we experienced that in our house.) The "domesticated" cat is genetically the same as a species of wild cat that lives near the mediterranean on three different continents and came here during colonial times as a pet. All it has done is take advantage of the opportunities in its environment, specifically a two legged creature that brings it food and water on a daily basis. He said, if you put your cat outside it doesn't revert to its wild status, it's still in it. They immediately begin hunting even if you've just fed them a big meal. They do it for pleasure; it's their instinct.
Well I can't say that I'm happy about the reign of the mosquitoes or the decline of the dog, but I'm happy to hear that the superiority of cats is confirmed. Just take a look at the following pictures and it's easy to see that a cat, is a cat, is a cat.
....our lion (Chappu) in the livingroom.
----------------------------------------------------------------The lion in the tree.....
......Banu in a tree.
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And so on:
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(Frosty)
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credits for the above photos of wild cats in order:
Copyright: Edwin Owo 2005-12-18
Copyright: Jeremy Ho 2006-06-05
Copyright: Jeremy Ho 2006-06-05
Copyright: All Images 2002 Mary Ferguson
Photographer: Mike Farrell From: Jo-burg
2 comments:
Oh, please make those pictures work! I love seeing the lions and our kitties looking so similar and regal!
-Shirin
I saw a program on Animal Planet last weekend about Big Cats. It was the Most Extreme. Guess what wound up as #1 hunter--the domestic cat!! The program said because the house cat doesn't kill for food but for entertainment, he kills many times over more than the follow up wild cat--leopard I think--that kills only what it needs to eat. Makes you think about that little fuzz ball doesn't it!
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