From: The Lotus Jukebox (SYS_RSH%PV0A@hobbes.cca.rockwell.com)
Date: Tue 07 Jun 1994 - 06:14:10 EEST
>Surely domestic dogs act as they do due to the fact they have been
>bred by humans. Wouldn't this stand for cats?
Probably not. It's much more difficult to breed traits into cats than it is for dogs. Dog chromosomes are a lot more...hmm, pliable than cat (or just about any other animal) chromosomes. Also, dogs aren't as far removed from wolves as we like to think (although breeding has changed them greatly). They still exhibit strong pack behavior, for example. Most cats exhibit solitary behavior (lions are a classic exception). In fact, cougars are so anti-social that they'll go out of their way to avoid other cougars outside of mating season. This wouldn't make for good cooperation in a group/herd/pride/whatever. It *is* possible to train a cat, if you have a lot of patience and an agreeable kitty (I've done it), so I wouoldn't rule out all training of cats.
All of the above is based on the assumption that Gloranthan cats would be much like Earthly cats (since G. dogs seem to be transplanted E. dogs). Personally, I think it would be *great* for people to have trained hunting cats. Glorantha ain't Earth, have fun with it!
--Scott
PS Love the Heler theory. ;)
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