Comments on: And God saw that it was … good ??? http://punctum-saliens.org/2008/07/18/and-god-saw-that-it-was-good/ Leaping Point: Take a flying leap and see where you land Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:00:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Ken http://punctum-saliens.org/2008/07/18/and-god-saw-that-it-was-good/comment-page-1/#comment-2830 Ken Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:07:28 +0000 http://punctum-saliens.org/?p=264#comment-2830 Drew, you mention predators. I started thinking after I posted this about the difference between parasites and predators. Parasites that kill their host are not all that different from predators. Just caught a thing on National Geographic channel about these moose who are being infected with thousands and thousands of ticks and end up slowly dying. Would I put lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) on my list? I don't think so. So why are ticks on the list? Only thing I can think of is that a predator (usually) quickly kills its prey whereas a parasite slowly and, oftentimes, painfully kills its host. But is that a valid distinction for saying parasites are not good? What do you think? Drew, you mention predators. I started thinking after I posted this about the difference between parasites and predators. Parasites that kill their host are not all that different from predators. Just caught a thing on National Geographic channel about these moose who are being infected with thousands and thousands of ticks and end up slowly dying. Would I put lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) on my list? I don’t think so. So why are ticks on the list?

Only thing I can think of is that a predator (usually) quickly kills its prey whereas a parasite slowly and, oftentimes, painfully kills its host. But is that a valid distinction for saying parasites are not good?

What do you think?

]]> By: Drew http://punctum-saliens.org/2008/07/18/and-god-saw-that-it-was-good/comment-page-1/#comment-2828 Drew Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:35:24 +0000 http://punctum-saliens.org/?p=264#comment-2828 And Japanese beetles. They have eaten two wonderful birch trees in my front yard...this week alone! They are all dying deaths that any predator would applaud right now. And Japanese beetles. They have eaten two wonderful birch trees in my front yard…this week alone! They are all dying deaths that any predator would applaud right now.

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