Living in Western Australia, I can state with some confidence that a great many swans are black. Indeed, a swan that ISN’T black just looks downright weird to me.
And can break your arm wing their wings. The only thing us humans need them for are making good photographs (which should be taken from at least 2 meters away).
My mother was attacked by a swan…. she had to throttle it for about 20 metres while she backed away from it’s nest. Even though she had it by the neck, it kept trying to KILL…. Who says herbivores aren’t viscious?
Personally I’ve never had a problem with geese, but then again I took that whole “they’re more afraid of you . . . ” thing very seriously as a kid, I was chasing geese up and down the riverbank most of the summer.
Among the reasons that I have always been convinced that the Senior Hunting Cat of the household was at least a little bit supernatural, is the day I watched him stalk and kill a goose. Without sustaining major injuries. With one of his eyes having already been removed by a roving tomcat.
… he was, it is entirely possibly, the demigod of cats.
Extrapolation = racism. Black swans (as mentioned) are really pretty common. Ethics are a treacherous subject. And I would not be at all suppressed if Diggers world did contain a talking deer or three. What is a good demon to do?
Tackle it with five hyenas, yell “CAN YOU TALK OR THINK? YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS, YES OR NO! Well, not no, of course. Your time starts now!” and slit its throat if it desn’t answer, or at least gesticulate wildly. If it can’t talk but seems to understand, sort things out further. If they only go after deer, and never fauns, does, or one of a pair of fighting bucks, they should be only slightly less safe and slightly more thin than they were before Shadowchild started asking for them. If they have fast-acting tranquilizers or general anaesthetics, they can start using tranq-laced darts and request to tag any deer or other prey (with the same tags as the hyenas would wear) that can communicate intelligence to the hyenas while sorting things out at a liesurely pace. I know tranquilizers aren’t instantaneous, but the right anaesthetic can cause the prey to flail around helplessly for a while. It’s far from perfect, and quite cruel to anything that can’t communicate well enough to be tagged after one round, but it’s more of a good-faith effort than Shadowchild’s method, and doesn’t result in a pack of starving hyenas.
Sorry for the double-post, but yes, the hyenas would have to voluntarily tag themselves with the exact same marker or it would be Godwin’s Lawwed out of practicality.
Extrapolation is a statistical tool, allowing one to use inductive logic to apply observed attributes or behaviors of a sample group to a population as a whole, with a degree of accuracy depending on sample size (and other factors). Like any other tool, it can be used both for nefarious purposes, such as hatred and racism, and for legitimate purposes, such as scientific research.
“But what if only one swan is black? Then what?”
Ohh, the pitfalls of practical philosophy.
Living in Western Australia, I can state with some confidence that a great many swans are black. Indeed, a swan that ISN’T black just looks downright weird to me.
Aww, Digger’s so cute when she’s trying to play mother. ♥
Lol, double facepalm.
To hell with your swans- they;re as vicious as the Hyenas.
And can break your arm wing their wings. The only thing us humans need them for are making good photographs (which should be taken from at least 2 meters away).
Actually, I believe some people eat swans… they probably taste a lot like geese, who are also vicious and dangerous.
lol, what if only one talks?
must…
not…
…spoil!
oops.
My mother was attacked by a swan…. she had to throttle it for about 20 metres while she backed away from it’s nest. Even though she had it by the neck, it kept trying to KILL…. Who says herbivores aren’t viscious?
Personally I’ve never had a problem with geese, but then again I took that whole “they’re more afraid of you . . . ” thing very seriously as a kid, I was chasing geese up and down the riverbank most of the summer.
Among the reasons that I have always been convinced that the Senior Hunting Cat of the household was at least a little bit supernatural, is the day I watched him stalk and kill a goose. Without sustaining major injuries. With one of his eyes having already been removed by a roving tomcat.
… he was, it is entirely possibly, the demigod of cats.
Extrapolation = racism. Black swans (as mentioned) are really pretty common. Ethics are a treacherous subject. And I would not be at all suppressed if Diggers world did contain a talking deer or three. What is a good demon to do?
Tackle it with five hyenas, yell “CAN YOU TALK OR THINK? YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS, YES OR NO! Well, not no, of course. Your time starts now!” and slit its throat if it desn’t answer, or at least gesticulate wildly. If it can’t talk but seems to understand, sort things out further. If they only go after deer, and never fauns, does, or one of a pair of fighting bucks, they should be only slightly less safe and slightly more thin than they were before Shadowchild started asking for them. If they have fast-acting tranquilizers or general anaesthetics, they can start using tranq-laced darts and request to tag any deer or other prey (with the same tags as the hyenas would wear) that can communicate intelligence to the hyenas while sorting things out at a liesurely pace. I know tranquilizers aren’t instantaneous, but the right anaesthetic can cause the prey to flail around helplessly for a while. It’s far from perfect, and quite cruel to anything that can’t communicate well enough to be tagged after one round, but it’s more of a good-faith effort than Shadowchild’s method, and doesn’t result in a pack of starving hyenas.
Sorry for the double-post, but yes, the hyenas would have to voluntarily tag themselves with the exact same marker or it would be Godwin’s Lawwed out of practicality.
Swans: God found a way to make ducks MORE evil.
Extrapolation DOES NOT = Racism, pseudo.
Extrapolation is a statistical tool, allowing one to use inductive logic to apply observed attributes or behaviors of a sample group to a population as a whole, with a degree of accuracy depending on sample size (and other factors). Like any other tool, it can be used both for nefarious purposes, such as hatred and racism, and for legitimate purposes, such as scientific research.