this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Persistence predation is the only way I can manage to take my cats to the vet.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Did you try just picking them up and having a towel or blanket underneath in case they want to dig their claws into something, and hand in their shoulders in case they try to escape? That's what Ive done for years and it is so much less stressful on everyone involved.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The problem is getting a hold of them in the first place. They just bolt from one hiding place to another, and I say "hiding place" but they're not as much "hidden" as "hard to reach when you are a human-sized human". The only reason I eventually manage to catch them is that ambush predators get tired quicker than persistence predators.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

How do they know youre taking them to the vet?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago

The hate being picked up in general, even if there is no threat of vet, so they'll struggle to get out of my arms and if they succeed - I've lost the element of surprise.

Also - I have two cats, and if I need to take both to vet then even if I manage to place one in a carrier he'll alert the other that something is wrong.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (8 children)

Mine know that it's vet time the second i get the transport boxes out of storage. I have to be pretty silent while they sleep so they don't notice that, or else i have to use persistance predation too.

e: a possible workaround is to store the transport boxes in different places everytime, but my options are limited.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hey I don't have cats so it might be a bit different, but I've had a few dogs over the years and I figure it would be similar. Your cats probably associate the carriers with going to the vet which it sounds like they're not a fan of. Their thought process is probably carrier = vet = no thank you.

Have you tried to put them into the carrier without actually taking them to the vet? Drop some treats in there, let them explore it at their own pace, close it for a minute or two, and then either reward or praise them after release? Keep progressing to the point that treats are no longer required to lure them and they enter on their own, but still reward them on release. Rinse and repeat (and repeat and repeat and repeat). Over time they may change their attitude towards the carrier their mindset may turn into carrier = treats and praise.

If they're not food motivated you may have to use alternate bait such as toys or nip.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Take them nice places in the box.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 21 hours ago

I'm gonna wine and dine them next time :-)

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 1 day ago

I was playing tag with my kid yesterday. He's 3, almost 4. He's very fast for his age, but not as fast as me. He asked to play tag because he just learned it in school. I could dodge to the side as he was getting close and change direction. I could fake him out. I could sprint to the other side of our 1 acre meadow to creat space. But he just kept coming. Smiling and laughing the whole time. I'm starting to get winded. Hands on my knees for a second after a sprint, but only for a second as he's closed the gap already. His undeterred motivation and pace was scary. He was going to get me eventually, and he seemed to know it.

I now know how the victims of Chucky must have felt.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fun fact: the guy who first proposed this "running man" hypothesis about persistence hunting in the late 1960s (Grover Krantz) was better known as a staunch advocate for the existence of Bigfoot. Personally, I can't believe that anybody could still believe in Bigfoot - it's so obviously just a Yeti in a gorilla suit.

For some weird reason, Krantz's skeleton and that of his favorite dog are on display at the Smithsonian.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The father of modern day physics changed course and started studying alchemy, chronology, biblical interpretation, losing himself to mysticism. He'd probably research big foot if he was alive as well. That doesn't mean I'm going to dismiss his real magnum opus

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Contrary to modern-day physics, the "persistence hunting" thing is very much not a scientific consensus. It's more of a fringe idea supported by hardly any science that somehow made it into popular science.

There's about as much credible evidence to that theory as there is to the theory that eating chocolate helps with losing weight.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Wikipedia politely labels persistence hunting as "conjecture". It's interesting that pretty much everything important from our ancestral past (e.g. fire-making, flint-napping tools, spears, skins and furs etc.) can be and regularly is reproduced by modern people. But somehow you never see modern people jogging down deer and killing them - even with the benefits of modern footwear, portable water containers, a carbohydrate-rich diet for energy, and GPS trackers.

somehow made it into popular science

The "somehow" as far as I can tell is the David Attenborough documentary bit that supposedly shows a Khoi-San hunter doing it. Richard Lee and a team of Harvard anthropologists extensively studied the !Kung (a Khoi-San people) during the '60s and '70s and there was never a mention in any of the literature this produced about these people engaging in persistence hunting. What they did describe was the practice of hunting with poisoned spears and arrows and then tracking the wounded, poisoned animal for days until it dropped and could be butchered. Needless to say, this is not persistence hunting.

The popular anthropologist Marvin Harris also featured Krantz' work is his final book Our Kind (which is where I first heard of it), but I don't think enough people read that book for it to have been the source of the idea's current popularity.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 22 hours ago

Thank you chicken lady. That makes much more sense.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

Inside you there are two snails...

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 day ago

We are the snail

[–] [email protected] 137 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

Pursuit predation/persistence hunting has to be one of the most metal characteristics about humans.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago (6 children)

What I never got about this theory is, fine, you run after the Ptadgedrwgydon for 87kms, when it gives up due to exhaustion and you kill it with a stone. What now? You're 87kms away with a carcass that weighs 500kg, how do you get back the food to the tribe?

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago

This is how we learned to be nomads. Kill big thing, bring camp to big thing, hang out until big thing is all eaten.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago

The tribe can walk.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

That's probably part of the reason why the evidence of persistence hunting being used as an actual hunting technique, compared to ambush hunting or trapping is incredibly slim. And that's the reason why there's really no scientific consensus that persistence hunting was a major thing at all.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Group hunting for mega-fauna. Partial field-processing of remains, beyond a dressing.

idk, moose hunters might still. Is there a moose hunter at the forum today..?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

This is how Komodo Dragons hunt, too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I figured they chased them in a big circle. Or did laps. Or anything other than a completely straight line.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I can imagine... "You, c*nt! Would you mind turning left a bit? Thanks!"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 17 hours ago

Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic but yeah. Head them off in the direction you want them to go, just like sheepdogs do.

[–] [email protected] 77 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (8 children)

https://ourworldindata.org/quaternary-megafauna-extinction

The timing of megafauna extinctions was not consistent across the world; instead, the timing of their demise coincided closely with the arrival of humans on each continent.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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[–] leftzero 36 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Also our accuracy and reach when throwing stuff.

Especially when combined with our ability to make stuff sharp by banging it against other stuff and breaking it just the right way.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago (6 children)

And THEN add to that that once you got hit with the spear and are running slower, a wolf just appears and starts hunting you too.

Imagine being hunted by 2 different apex predators working together

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[–] [email protected] 179 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Imagine being hunted and killed by a team of power walkers.

[–] [email protected] 182 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 156 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (14 children)

You know, this is actually the type of fear that the zombie horror genre really reverses back on us. Classic zombies are not fast. They're not smart. They can't run, climb, or plan elaborate traps. They have no sharp claws or terrifyingly large teeth. You can outrun them at a brisk walk.

But what makes them so dangerous is that they're relentless. If they get your scent, they'll follow you and keep following you. Blow their legs off and they'll crawl towards you. Remove all their limbs and they'll slither like a snake towards you. Only destroying their brain can stop them.

If you're on foot, it is virtually impossible to escape them, as they'll just keep on coming. And while you need to sleep, they don't. They can just keep right on shuffling towards you 24/7. If on foot being chased by a zombie, your best bet is probably to find a river you can swim across that will sweep them away. Oh, and of course, they are rarely alone.

Zombies are predators that turn our species's natural hunting strategy back upon us.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 day ago

Similarly the Terminator is ceaseless but does run, jump, climb etc. Our own hunting strategy, but perfected by machines. Even more tireless and persistent.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

I thought it was the swarm that was what is so dangerous rather than being relentless. A single zombie is usually shown as weak and pretty easy to kill.

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[–] [email protected] 96 points 2 days ago (10 children)

Humans' ability to sweat is something outstanding.

[–] [email protected] 62 points 2 days ago (4 children)

That what I keep saying, but people still seem thoroughly unimpressed by my ability to sweat profusely the moment I get a little hot!

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 day ago

Interviewer: What would you say is your biggest strength?

Me:

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 day ago (7 children)

isnt this a diprotodon, which is the largest marsupial in australia, in the vombatiforms.

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