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Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

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Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#71

Post by svachalek »

cantrevealname wrote: post #54
hunson_abadeer wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. There's plenty of rodents in urban and suburban areas, but above all, cats have an inborn instinct to murder small critters for fun, and don't need to be taught that. Rodents are their strong preference, but if bored, they will go after bugs, small birds, lizards... or engage in relentless "murder practice" using pieces of paper or cloth. This is very different than with dogs, which often have to be trained for…

> cats have an inborn instinct to murder small critters for fun, and don't need to be taught that If a cat has never seen mice before and no one has taught it to chase mice (and if it's not even hungry), then I simply can't imagine how this instinct is passed on through genetics. Is there a DNA encoding for "chase and kill small moving objects, preferably mouse-like objects"? Does anyone know how DNA would carry info…

Not a biologist, but it looks like it's an urge toward certain behaviors that just get reinforced. A mouse tail running away from them is very exciting and they want to chase it. But a piece of string can trigger the same thing. They run towards it, they jump on it, they bite it, if they're hungry they might eat it and eventually the whole thing becomes a trained behavior in wild cats. A well fed domestic cat might get stuck on "let's be play friends forever" though.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#72

Post by svachalek »

dylan604 wrote: post #15
arethuza wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I find fascinating is the ability our cat has to mimic a crying baby - this really upsets my wife. As I am the main cat servant in our household when our cat wants services (food, cuddle etc.) it complains to my wife who then issues the relevant orders to me.

I've heard this for years with the concept that the cat's vocal range developed to be like this. But not once had I ever heard a cat sound anything unlike a cat. Until...my recent adopted fur baby. He freaks me out how much like a kid he sounds. Just the other day, he let out a sound that even my coworkers on a meeting call thought I had a kid. It's a little unsettling at times

It's not even necessarily aimed at us. Mountain lions and bobcats can sound remarkably human and I'd be shocked if they ever had enough human prey for that to be intentional.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#73

Post by bch »

kbutler wrote: post #35
MisterBastahrd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of the neighbors across the street who were too lazy to get rid of an old half-barrel planter on their porch that was full of dirt and nothing else. It had hundreds of holes in the soil. Bumblebee nests. Every day, they'd take the chance of getting bopped by one of them as they entered or exited their home.

That sounds awesome, actually. I'd love to attract bumblebees. I like to watch them, and love the sound they make, plus all the benefits of native pollinators... Bumblebees are usually not aggressive, though they can sting multiple times (like wasps and unlike honeybees).

It’s been so long since I’ve been stung I don’t know which hurts more, but it must be noted the reason honey bees sting only once is that the stinger is barbed and hooks into the skin of its victim. The bee might leave, but will not live to fight another day - the bee is essentially disemboweled, as the stinger-attached organ producing/pumping venom is pulled from its guts to leave behind with the embedded stinger, continuing to pump venom into the unfortunate recipient.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#74

Post by toss1 »

Key bits:

>>Relationships so complex as to connect everything to everything in a single network of the living.

>>Playing with something whose working mechanisms are not well known is clearly dangerous. The consequences can be completely unpredictable. The strength of ecological communities is one of the engines of life on Earth. At every level, from the microscopic to the macroscopic, it is these communities, understood as relationships among the living, that allow life to persist.

While climate change rightfully gets huge headlines, it is easier to understand than the ecosystem and food web, which is also being rapidly broken (in no small part by climate change).

While some effects of climate change can be mitigated, a sufficiently broken food web is unlikely to be recoverable on a humanity-helpful time scale.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#75

Post by euroderf »

agloe_dreams wrote: post #38
dillydogg wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you specifically asked about rats but domestic cats are killing machines. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23360987/ We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4-3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

This. Domestic cats are some of the most specialized killing machines in nature. Everything is raw murder machine. Massive muscle to weight ratio, optimized for extreme agility. 30mph top speed blows the doors off nearly anything it may encounter in nature. Tail allows for balance while running. Able to jump multiple times its own height. Able to fall a multiple of it's jump height. 20 built-in claws also act as tool…

They also evolved in the wild as prey. This helps explain why they like bunkers like cardboard boxes.

But think about it. If you were constantly on the alert as both predator and prey, you'd be pretty nutso too.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#76

Post by euroderf »

dillydogg wrote: post #11
jack_pp wrote: post #2

Are modern cats even that good at killing rats anymore? Haven't we mostly bred cats that have very rarely even seen a rat their entire life?

I know you specifically asked about rats but domestic cats are killing machines. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23360987/ We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4-3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

In most urban environs I'd assume they're mostly killing off vermin (big win) and urban birds like pigeons and seagulls, so it's like: What, Me Worry?

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#77

Post by euroderf »

jsiepkes wrote: post #6
jack_pp wrote: post #2

Are modern cats even that good at killing rats anymore? Haven't we mostly bred cats that have very rarely even seen a rat their entire life?

I wouldn't say my cats are smart but you can definitely see they are natural born killers. Everything they set their eyes on dies. Flies, spiders, you name it. Nothing is too quick for them. I keep my cats indoors (we take them in to the garden from time to time under supervision) for a variety of reasons one of them being fluffy cute little murders who kill birds and such just for sport... There are also birds which…

A cat that can kill houseflies is a gem.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#78

Post by toss1 »

angiosperm wrote: post #66
yomlica8 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bumblebees always seemed pretty docile in my experience. Come to think of it, I can't recall ever being stung by an actual bee. Asshole wasps are another story.

The best thing to do about wasps involves a vacuum cleaner.

The yellow jacket wasps in the ground can be dealt with using a clear bowl and some dirt. In the evening (when they are dormant), place the clear bowl over the entrance, and seal the edges with the dirt. Be sure that there is still plenty of clear glass/plastic. With the clear 'window' area, they will keep trying to get out, but if it is fully covered, they will be motivated to dig a new entrance/exit hole. After about 3 days, there will be no activity.

The vacuum method is useful when they are in a building. Use a strong shop-vac. Mount the hose a few inches from the outlet, and turn it on for an hour each day. If you turn it on more than that, they'll learn to avoid it. This took about a week to terminate the hive.

I've done both, but only reluctantly when they are a real hazard (minimize cruelty; these aren't quick deaths). The nest will die out anyway in the autumn, except for the queen and then it will move for the next year.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#79

Post by jboy55 »

twic wrote: post #57
dillydogg wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you specifically asked about rats but domestic cats are killing machines. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23360987/ We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4-3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

You missed a crucial bit of the abstract (my emphasis): > We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4-3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually. Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality. From the text of the paper, "majority" means 69% for birds and 89% for mammals. Feral cats kill a lot of animals, because that's what they eat. Pet cats do not. "Domestic ca…

The last cat I had that was allowed to go outside was a fearsome mouser, delighted in toying with them and was quite the biology teacher, showing off their inner anatomy to us kids.

However, birds mercilessly teased him as he had no clue how to catch one, surrounding him while he lay on the grass, chirping, then flying just far enough away when he'd move towards them.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#80

Post by 8note »

whynotminot wrote: post #21
dylan604 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sort of laughing at the concept that we feel it strange that cats don't want to kill rats because of the size of the rats rather than the conversation leaning towards what are we doing that have caused rats to become so large.

In middle eastern cities I rarely see rats. But I see a lot of free roaming cats. In western cities I see rats but no cats. I suppose we’ve made our choice.

I see plenty of cats and rats around western cities.

The cats tear through the local bird population, rather than the rats

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