"John Savage" wrote in message
"Fran Higham" writes:
"John Savage" wrote in message
The first step to insulating agriculture against extended periods of
zero
rainfall is to get rid of all hoofed animals from unimproved grazing
land.

Sounds great in theory but unfortunately it is not necessarily true on
the
ground. At least with hoofed animals there is some hope of managing
stocking density: not so with the so-called soft footed natives which, in
current numbers, do a LOT of damage.

When land is carrying more mouths than it can support, regardless of
species, some damage is inevitable. But, just as was done with the pig
and the ox, selective breeding over generations could give us a heavy-set
less-athletic 'roo---more tractable and less flighty---and ultimately more
manageable.

But why would one want to? They taste like shite (unless you get an
extremely young one) and only small sections of them are worth eating IMHO.
They do make good dog food though.

One advantage about farming in a low-rainfall climate, if you
erect good fencing and yards around your few watering holes you could pen
the animals (by remote control, closing the gate via a webcam link?) when
the mob comes to drink. In drier times, anyway.

True, but then again I don't know why anyone would want to do so unless they
ran a dog/cat food factory.

Camels, as someone else suggested might be more useful but then I've never
eaten camel and don't fancy Camel milk either. At current rates it would
seem that the marketing has been successful in one person out of 20 million.
That is not encouraging.

They do tail-docking of lambs and some dogs, and I am wondering about
the result on its speed of tail-docking a roo as a joey. Anyone ever
seen a 'roo without a tail, perhaps as the result of an accident, and
can say how this affected its ability to leap?

They use their tail as a counterweight/balance mechanism in flight and they
use it to push back and rest on during grooming etc. They would have great
difficulties I imagine but could certainly shuffle around a bit - it
wouldn't be something I'd like to see even though they aren't my flavour of
the month at the moment.

Anyway, GM experimentation should soon be able to create the ideal farm
animal for any region!

I can see you've got those pigs fed, suited up and ready for take off.