right, but Life After People's premise is that *all* humanity dies, not a single man or woman left ----- Original Message ----- From: "B Smith" <daikaij...@yahoo.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:19:19 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Survivors?
I think there would be a lot of that but with 3 million or so survivors in the U.S. they could head off some of the things seen in in Life After People. If a disaster of this magnitude happened I imagine the U.S. would recall the bulk its military forces from foreign theaters and mobilize all reserves. If they have a similar survival rate as the general population the remnants of the government would have about 30,000-35,000 armed forces personnel left and over 150,000 civilian government workers. If they effectively use them it could be a pretty good start on holding things together. I would imagine there would be a massive migration as survivors head back to the coasts and along the Mississippi River corridor. Those areas could be reclaimed with lots of hard work. I imagine some independent(and separatist and militia) types would want to stick to the Plains and Mountain West but without significant help it would be pretty desolate living out there for a while. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote: > > I love the History Channel show "Life After People", which deals with all of > this: what happens to power plants, what happens to domesticated pets, fish > in fish tanks, cattle, horses. In one show, they dealt with animals. It was > cool. They showed how in a hundred years or so, vast herds of elephants would > be thundering across the country, along with cattle and horses. They showed > how cutesy family cats and dogs would go feral pretty quickly (another reason > I hate how we anthropomorphize them--they're animals). They showed tigers and > leopards hunting vast overgrown grasslands that used to be highways and > freeways, chasing the abundant deer running throughout the cities. > > "Life After People" started a new season just last month. They've also > tackled things such as, what will happen to our great works of art, our major > buildings, our treasured symbols? One show was wild, as the dome of the > Capitol fell in upon itself. They showed the roof of the building where the > Constitution is housed collapsing in a century or so. Although the document > itself was still protected against rain and oxidation in its casing of thick > glass and inert gases, it was finally done in by the one thing it's not > protected against: sunlight. They showed how the sun would beam down on the > Constitution for several hours each day, in time simply obliterating the ink > molecules until they fade into oblivion. > > Fascinating stuff. > http://www.history.com/content/life_after_people/about-the-series > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "B Smith" <daikaij...@...> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 12:11:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Survivors? > > > > > > > Actually modern dairy cows are fed mixed rations as well. A lot of modern > dairies have very little grazing compared to the way it was done in the past. > > Dairy cows are so specialized there would be massive die offs in the first > few weeks from mastitis and other infections. With no calves to suck and no > human interference those full bags become bacterial soup pretty quickly. Some > would survive and dry off(go out of milking condition) but with so few bulls > on farms these days there would be a big drop off in numbers in a generation. > I imagine interbreeding with the more multiple breeds of beef bulls would > change the look of domestic cows a hell of a lot in a couple of generations. > > Beef cows are actually far more resilient than the dairy animals and cow-calf > pairs are kept on grass in most of the country before the calves are > processed and placed on feed. That's why I wouldn't be concerned about them > as much. They toughen up pretty quickly. > > I think the wild animals wouldn't be a major concern for a while for any > groups of people. There would be a buffet of domestic pets and livestock to > prey on for a long time. Some isolated problems from the ones that scavenge > human corpses but I imagine they would be dispatched pretty quickly. There > won't be a shortage of guns. LOL. > > The feral animal population would be the scarier proposition. With so many > bodies left by the plague I imagine lots of hungry animals would scavenge > corpses, equate humans with food and have to be destroyed. > > --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , "Mr. Worf" <HelloMahogany@> wrote: > > > > I think that the things would eventually go back to how they were before > > man > > interfered. Over produced, over bred animals will die off immediately, the > > ones that learn to adapt will thrive. If you want a variety of food you > > will > > need a barn, hen house, pigs, cows etc. We have wild turkeys here and I can > > tell you it took less than 10 years for them to repopulate here. We have > > them all over the place and I'm sure they will be good eating! :) You could > > also allow them to eat grass. (wow what a concept! :) ) Dairy cows eat > > grass, the ones for beef eat corn concoctions. > > > > The problem will be large cats and bears. There have been coyote sightings > > in San Francisco and foxes near Stanford University. > > > > > > > > On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 2:42 PM, B Smith <daikaiju66@> wrote: > > > > > I'm on the hunting and fishing team too. Although with the huge numbers > > > of > > > domesticated animals in the U.S. eating wouldn't be a problem for a long > > > time. The bigger problem would be feeding them on a long term basis and > > > preserving meat if the power grid is shot. > > > > > > The cattle and sheep problem would take care itself in the spring through > > > fall because taking them off grain and feeding them strictly grass and > > > forage would take off some of the pressure but even then huge numbers of > > > them would have to be slaughtered or culled. Hay and winter pasture > > > cultivation would be a hell of a lot easier than growing corn and > > > soybeans > > > for animal food. But 85 million cattle and 6 million sheep could cause > > > huge > > > environmental problems in the long term. > > > > > > Hogs on the other hand would be a menace of epic proportions. We'd have > > > to > > > cull huge numbers of them to keep them from becoming a horde of mammalian > > > locusts. They are smart resilient and return to the wild very quickly. In > > > the U.S. alone there are about 66 million hogs and it's no way in hell > > > that > > > a population of 3 million of so people post-virus could keep them in > > > check. > > > Look at South Texas or Australia to see how unchecked numbers of hogs can > > > impact an area. > > > > > > Chickens...let's jsut say we'd have huge amounts organic compost to use > > > for > > > a long time. Numbers would drop after the current genration of broilers > > > were > > > dealt with but there still would be a huge number of birds that would > > > starve > > > to death if they aren't euthanised. There are nearly 9 billion chickens > > > slughtered every year in the U.S.!!! Throw in turkeys, ducks and other > > > commercially raised poultry and you see the enormity of the problem. > > > > > > We'd have to make sure we'd have enough self pollinating non-genetically > > > modified varieties of plants to make 2nd generation agriculture > > > effective. > > > All these wonderful GMO crops don't breed true and yields plummet by > > > design. > > > If you didn't have heirloom seed lines it could be a huge problem in the > > > future. > > > > > > I'll stop now. LOL > > > > > > --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , "Tracey de Morsella" <tdlists@> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > Well you took Buckingham Palace first thing and you love books, so you > > > know you are on team Scifi! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com ] > > > > On > > > Behalf Of Mr. Worf > > > > Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 1:21 AM > > > > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > > > > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Survivors? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I can also shoot a gun, and fish too. :) > > > > > > > > On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 1:13 AM, Tracey de Morsella <tdlists@> wrote: > > > > > > > > I want you on my team!!! :-) > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com ] > > > > On > > > > Behalf Of B Smith > > > > > > > > Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 2:53 PM > > > > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > > > > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Survivors? > > > > > > > > we have a pretty good cross section of folks that post. I think we > > > > might > > > be > > > > lacking a few skillsets but with books and hard work we could make a > > > > go. > > > > > > > > I'm pretty well versed in agriculture and could handle the basics of > > > growing > > > > food, animal based agriculture and have even milked a cow or three. > > > > I've > > > > slaughtered and procesed my own meat so that wouldn't scare me. I know > > > which > > > > end of the hammer to swing and could be semi-handy if pressed into > > > service. > > > > I also know my way around a lab setting pretty darn well so > > > > manufacturing > > > > biodiesel and the like would be up my alley as well. > > > > > > > > Unfortunately I've gotten lazy and haven't used my more physical > > > skillsets > > > > for a while. I guess i'd have to come out of retirement. > > > > > > > > Any pilots on the list? How about some mechanically inclined people? > > > Medical > > > > professionals? Anyone know how to set up an off the grid solar or wind > > > power > > > > system? > > > > > > > > --- In scifinoir2@ <mailto: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > , "Tracey de > > > Morsella" <tdlists@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > I hate "reality" tv, but maybe this would be good. How do you think > > > > > we > > > > > >
