Re: [GZG] A number of scientists respond to Hawking's concerns about Aliens

On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 2:29 AM, John Tailby <john_tailby@xtra.co.nz>
wrote:
> My cats know how to kill prey all right and I didn't teach them. My
Britsh
> Blue knows to wrap his front paws round my wrist, rake my hands with
his
> back claws and sink his teeth into my arm. That's just like big cats
on the
> nature programs. I am very glad my cat knows how to play, because
when he is
> serious he can bite the heads off mice and birds. My other cat has
caught
> and eaten wild rabbits. I think cats and dogs have a different kill
> technique
>

Cats need to learn to kill and eat prey.  The mother cat first brings
dead mice to the kittens to teach them to eat it, and then brings
wounded mice to the kittens so that they learn how to kill.  This
allows cats to adapt to local conditions.  The mother brings what she
catches and what she catches is available for her kittens to hunt.  If
conditions change, the next generation of mothers teach the kittens to
hunt what replaced the previous prey species.

My cats (mother and kitten) would practice on my dirty socks, but the
mother had already learned how to hunt when we got them.  When we
moved into the farmhouse of a working dairy farm, they killed and ate
mice.  Some cats cannot eject hairballs on an empty stomach and
hairballs mixed with mouse are beyond gross (but they provide
incontrovertable evidence of mouse eating).

Cats who bring in stuff are either trying to teach you to eat prey (if
they were trying to teach you to kill, it would still be alive), or
are cats that never learned to eat and are hoping that you know what
to do with the body.
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