[HPforGrownups] OT--guinea pigs

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 6639

Snuffles MacGoo wrote:

> Hell no! it's only wealth and the availability of land that allows us to move
> up the food chain to bigger animals

Actually, where guinea pigs were domesticated, they *are* one of the bigger (manageable)
animals. The mountains of South America, I believe, where the beasts of burden are the
not-very-large llama family, too.

I remember an article about domestication, why it only happened to such a select handful
of species. It's not real easy--the species has to have a certain combination of
characteristics, the culture has to have certain parameters, etc., for it to work.
That's apparently why people "borrowed" already domesticated species rather than doing
it themselves with the animals at hand. Thus, the odd ones, like guinea pigs and llamas,
come from areas where the "usual" ones could not spread.

Sorry, what a lecture, and off-topic to boot. I've been up all night with my 18-month
old, with a fever over 103....he's the third to get it, we should be done now.

--Amanda