VN October 2021

Vetnuus | Oktober 2021 48 TA recent article on the direction the human population was taking was extremely interesting as were the results of an ongoing experiment on a population of mice in a controlled environment with adequate resources. The similarities were a little too close for comfort. Indications are that the human population has in many of the developed countries, stabilized and it is only in the poorer less developed lands that the population is growing at frightening proportions. The more developed countries are now talking of problems that will result from the dynamics of a population changing drastically to one where the number of elderly people exceeds that of the younger people with all the consequences that will result. No youngpeople to care for the aged in terms of physical and financial help. Schools would be empty, and housing no longer required. Hard to fathom The expanding populations need all the usual requirements and expect it fromthe governments that just cannot afford it for whatever reason. Ahuge downward spiral result. From biblical times it has been stated that the poor will always be with us! Now for the uncontrolled mouse population. The experiment came from John Calhoun who repeated it 25 times with similar results. He put 4 pairs of mice into an environment that had plentiful resources and watched their behaviour. After 315 days their reproductive rate dropped off drastically. When the population numbered 600 a hierarchy developed and so-called “wretches” appeared. The larger rodents attacked the group with the result that the males began to collapse psychologically. The females no longer protected themselves and in turn, became aggressive towards their young. The birthrate dropped and infant mortality increased. A new class of males developed, and these refused to mate with females or to fight for space. All they were concerned about was food and sleep. At one point thesemales and isolated females made upmost of the population. Homosexuality and cannibalism became common despite there being no shortage of food. Two years after the start of the experiment the last baby was born. The human population is today experiencing parallels to this work with weak feminized males with few or no protective skills and overly agitated females with nomaternal instincts. Another interesting article was on stress related to social media. Here the significant factor was the loss of personal skills by today’s children. One teacher stopped teachinghalf anhour before the endof school and told the children just to sit at their desks. All the children pulled out their cell phones and started doing whatever they did on cell phones. She immediately told them to put their phones away and to talk to the other children in the class. There was immediate silence and very few kids even attempted to talk to others. After ten days of this, there was a far more acceptable pattern and after two weeks the kids were looking forward to their half-hour chats. Yes, Tod, we are all feeling the effects of Nature Deficit Syndrome. The final thought is one of what we see today. At any restaurant, on a train or bus or in a park everyone is sitting looking at a little black screen. I wonder what one of our ancestorswouldhave thought theywere doing! And virtual CPD programs – no one ever gets to meet their colleagues in person. No, bring back the old days where the CPD evenings would go on late into the night andwe shared somuchmore. Not all change is for the good v Life plus 22 without parole Mike Lowry Mike Lowry has been in veterinary practice for "life plus 22" years. In this column, he shares his experiences and opinions . Regulars I Life plus 22