How many guinea pigs would it take to win against one tiger in a fight, assuming the guinea pigs had the appropriate bloodlust?
They never saw Guinea Pigs multiply uncontrolably… they have advantages…
Humans: “What if they started with none, and then became the most dangerous animal on the planet as they grew?”
Together, as a herd, Guinea Pigs have camouflage from an aerial view. On a farm they will graze together and listen for any alerts from other animals like hens and run for cover. They can survive when given shelter overnight in a barn. (https://youtu.be/ZvAjGHbJ7TI)
Idk one them fuckers put a good hole in my finger when I was a kid who hadn’t been taught proper boundaries yet. Taught me some fundamental boundary concepts right there on the spot lemme tell ya. “Do shit get bit” is actually a pretty solid developmental milestone IMO.
Guinea pigs are manmade creatures, they’re bred from South American cavies. I saw someone once frame this exact thought as “Lions aren’t brave, they’re giant predators with powerful muscles, sharp claws and fierce teeth. Guinea pigs are brave, a guinea pig is a 2 pound meat potato with no offensive capabilities that will scream at a human if his lettuce is too wilty.”
And a “meat potato” is almost precisely what they are, they’re initially raised for food.
There are more guinea pigs than tigers in the world.
This is where I can share what I learned in my ecology classes! There’s a concept called the ecological pyramid. The base comprises the primary producers, that is, plants which produce biomass with solar energy through photosynthesis. The next trophic level is the primary consumers, that is, herbivores that eat plant biomass. It’s a pyramid shape because the rule of thumb is that only about 10% of the original solar energy makes it up to the next trophic level.
Guinea pigs are primary consumers. Tigers are secondary or tertiary consumers, eating animals which eat plants, or even animals which eat other organisms which eat plants. Only about 1% of the original solar energy in the plants eaten by the animals the tigers ate goes into making new tiger biomass, compared to 10% of the energy from the plants going into making new guinea pig. And since tigers are much, much bigger, there have to be a lot fewer of them.
A tiger’s size gives it a big enough hunting advantage that, well, the world has tigers in it, but necessarily limits the numbers of the tiger population.
The next step is asking what the natural environmental limits on the human population are, but don’t worry, we’ll find out.
Nah, we won’t. The world can support far more than 8 billion humans.
It’s just that the world can’t support 8 billion white humans driving cars everywhere, eating meat, and buying a ton of plastic crap. It probably can’t even support 1 billion of those assholes.
If guinea pigs had no advantages, they wouldn’t have survived.
Humans are so OP that appealing to us is a massive advantage. That’s why pandas are still around, and smilodons aren’t
Domesticated ones only survive because of humans, so they’re advantage is being a good meat sack?
Fear isn’t an advantage
It is if it keeps you hidden from predators and keeps your species alive
From an existence pov, sure. But man that does suck
Good senses and quick scuttly feet and little wormy bodies that fit in tiny holes though.
In Peru they are a food staple… So not totally useless.
Being delicious food is a competitive advantage; just ask fruit. Domesticated farm animals in general are really nice. I grew up in a time and place of family farms, where animals were given a good life from people who cared, before becoming delicious food.
And Ecuador.
Tastes like fish, it’s weird.
Time to start raising guinea pigs.
Fish? Thats wild, I wouldn’t have expected that!
I tried it once in Ecuador. It reminded of dark meat from a rotisserie chicken. Maybe it’s how you prepare it? My father can take the best cut of meat and make it the consistency of shoe leather.
HAHA reminds me of my mom, I swear she can burn boiling water :)
But I bet is all in the prep and the diet of the GP. Ever eaten grass fed beef from calf to slaughter vs grass “finished”. Its night and day, I can see why grass fed is so expensive.
And I love dark meat on chicken, hope to be able to try it someday!
Tigers are real fucking scary and still humans went into the forest with pointy sticks to hunt them down. Humans doesn’t afraid of anything.
Half the humans on this site are scared of everything.
Hi, I’m half the humans.
They can’t even synthesize their own Vitamin C.
Girl, we can’t either 😭😭😭
I know the feeling. salts and peppers a raw lemon
Guinea pigs were God’s guinea pigs.
Don’t underestimate cuteness as an advantage.
