The eggs come from various species, but the most ‘domesticated’ is a ground-dwelling lizard that favors river banks, and over-lays like mad. So long as the lizards are well-fed, they produce eggs. Lots of eggs, the over-do strategy of some species that would have you hip-deep in lizards (or geese) if they were always successful. Overlaying is the strategy they practice (biologically speaking) rather than development of brain power. And the atevi have long had a supply of eggs. So have parid’ji. In the gradually loosening requirements of seasonality (since the egglaying in moderate climes goes on almost non-stop so long as the lizards get a good diet) enterprising people both feed the lizards to be sure they keep laying, the lizards hang around where there’s food, and the parid’ji can be bribed to trade eggs for sweets, so the entrepreneurs can parlay that arrangement into the parid’ji locating the egg stashes, the humans digging up the nest and taking most, the parid’ji getting their rewards, and the whole operation going on and on and on. Atevi protect and feed both the lizards and the parid’ji, so the system works with minimal effort and all species thrive.
Ah, the egg industry.
by CJ | Jun 4, 2019 | Journal | 18 comments
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Greed is not kabiu. (Hope I spelled that right.)
I can’t decide whether the story of the goose that laid the golden egg would be appreciated, or an off color joke.
Very punny!
Seems to me I recall gosiniin and the golden eggs being embraced by Atevi culture
I can see that working. A friend’s family got a duckling at Easter one year, and it grew up and began laying eggs. There were 20 or so in that nest. (The duck was transferred to a farm.)
Think also of the dozen or so ducklings you see following mama in parks. There were more eggs than that, probably.
OK, but where is the navigator juggling geese and playing with dinosaurs? — Oh yeah, that’s another story-universe. 😀 (Yes, I miss Wash.)
One is tempted to ask nand’ Bren if there is a translation for, “Baji-naji, Boji – Noji.” One fervently hopes that would not cause undue distress among atevi. Though they might wince at the bad pun too.
Today was exceedingly ordinary and non-eventful, but perhaps that’s a good thing. Here’s hoping everyone has a better tomorrow.
So approximately as I speculated — organized nest-robbing of an overlaying species. And win-win for everyone. (Tho I fail to recall what parid’ji are.)
Someone once pointed out that when it comes to natural selection, our own domesticated species have humans very well-trained, and have thereby become far more numerous than they would have otherwise.
Review “Intruder”. (Something like the Atevi version of a squirrel monkey.)
Boji is a parid’ja. I’ve always envisioned them as more lemur-like, because of the black/purple tongue, but squirrel monkey analog works too.
“Domestication” is a brilliant strategy. It not only benefits us by providing us with food, it plays right into the domesticated species’ own reproductive strategy. Because we depend on the species for our food, we go to great lengths to ensure there is a next generation of that species (which benefits the species in question). We even jump start evolution by selecting for specific environments or characteristics.
Using parid’ja to find eggs is the same idea as using cormorants to fish, using hawks to hunt birds, and using dogs to hunt everything from birds to wild boar. The whole idea of animal domesitcation is to see some wild creature doing something, and preempting that behavior to benefit you. Dogs hunt; train them to hunt for you. Parid’ja raid lizards’ nests; train them to raid them for you. The great thing is, it’s usually a win/win situation for not only you, but the animal species you’re training.
“Necessity” is the mother of invention; the father of invention is, “there’s got to be an easier way to do this.”
Using pigs to find truffles, also. Though that’s a bit different in that pigs may not want to eat them.
No, actually pigs DO want to eat truffles. They are better at truffle-hunting than dogs but the farmer doesn’t have to fight a truffle dog for possession of the prize like he does with a pig.
It’s perhaps worth noting that domestication doesn’t just happen, it’s an invention (or discovery if you prefer). Or a series of them, one for each kind of utility: meat, eggs, riding, and so forth. Or in the vegetable kingdom, fruit, branches, roots; for food, cloth, building material, boat building….
Horses were native to North America, but they were hunted to extinction. No one–or not enough people–got the idea that they could be tamed and ridden. But once you get the idea, execution is pretty easy. Some Russians took wild wolves and bred them into dog-like behavior in just a few generations (though it’s possible the wolves had been contaminated with feral dog genes, I suppose).
At least in my part of the US, chicken and beef dominate, with a little ham/pork and seasonal turkey. Venison/deer, rabbit, elk, and other kinds of meat are pretty hard to find. Horse riding is pretty rare and expensive.
The Russians bred foxes, so no feral dog genes.
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160912-a-soviet-scientist-created-the-only-tame-foxes-in-the-world
The cover and synopsis are posted on DAW’s e books page
for Resurgence, also on Amazon
Love the cover art !
A link to a neat video on 18th century egg preservation techniques, suitable for use on the Atevi world as well as on Earth, with success rates from 30% to 100% after 8 months, depending on the technique: https://youtu.be/yUYgguMz1qI
Townsends is a really great YouTube channel for 18th century (1700’s) historical Americana, the Colonial period. They often cover food-related topics, but they have other things of interest for historical reenactors, tools and techniques of the era, and so on. So they offer British and occasionally Continental as well as American Colonial resources. John Townsend, the host, often invites guest experts, and sometimes his young daughter is on. They have a shop that makes and sells period costumes and implements, and from their website, you can order a catalog and a calendar. I really enjoy seeing their videos. — I hadn’t seen that one yet; I’m interested to see the one on egg pickling. I believe they also have one on Sauerkraut. (Besides UK and Irish colonists, there were a large percentage of German-speaking colonists and a somewhat large percentage of Dutch and French colonists.)