[nafex] Re: Bugs for breakfast

[jhecksel@voyager.net]

Hello all:

One of my favorite authors is Marvin Harris.  He is a sociologist.  He
edited an anthology of academic papers.  One of the papers discussed
the eating patterns of baboons.  The troop (or whatever a mess of
baboons is called) followed a fairly rigid heirarchy in their food
search.  The first place they went was down to the tall-grass marsh
for grasshoppers.  The author of the paper explained that the 'hoppers
did not hop very fast in the cool of the morning.  The baboons could
collect the maximum number of calories with the minimum expenditure.

Dr. Harris's point was that many behaviors become understandable when
perceived through the lens of thermodynamic efficiency.

I still have not figured out how to use this information....although I
anticipate a post from Dan H. regarding the desirability of running
chickens in one's orchard.  I tried that once.  Not a bad deal, but
stick with the heavy breeds (Rhode Island Red and larger) as the light
breeds *will* fly into the trees and peck every piece of fruit that
starts to show red.  Ducks are more fun to watch waddle around and
won't fly up into the trees.

> Considering the amount of time and energy required, it's easier to
snag a
> bag of bugs than to bag a rabbit, at least in my garden.
>
>