Creepy Evolution
Feb. 6th, 2008 07:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hafoc
My reference for this is http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080201.html , on The Straight Dope website. You should read stuff on this site. Seriously, you should.
Anyway.
Mice and rats are terrified of the scent of cats. This is instinctive; most strains of lab rats or mice, creatures whose ancestors haven't encountered a cat in dozens of generations, will go crazy with panic when exposed to the scent of a cat.
There is, however, one notable exception to this. Rats infested with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii find the scent of a cat interesting, attractive, even compelling.
Toxoplasma gondii happens to be, not coincidentally, a parasite which can only reproduce once it has infested the body of a cat.
If there are any dragons or other large carnivores out there, and if any of your prey seems less than terrified at the prospect of being eaten (and I'm sure you know exactly what I mean), perhaps you should ponder upon this.
Anyway.
Mice and rats are terrified of the scent of cats. This is instinctive; most strains of lab rats or mice, creatures whose ancestors haven't encountered a cat in dozens of generations, will go crazy with panic when exposed to the scent of a cat.
There is, however, one notable exception to this. Rats infested with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii find the scent of a cat interesting, attractive, even compelling.
Toxoplasma gondii happens to be, not coincidentally, a parasite which can only reproduce once it has infested the body of a cat.
If there are any dragons or other large carnivores out there, and if any of your prey seems less than terrified at the prospect of being eaten (and I'm sure you know exactly what I mean), perhaps you should ponder upon this.
