Vancouversailor
Member
The whole debate about creation vs evolution was a bit vague to me for many years. I did notice that some people were quite fanatic about taking the bible literally and rejecting the idea of evolution, usually the same crowd that to this day denies there is any manmade global climate change occurring, or who insist that the world is 7000 years old and any scientist who says that they have human made artifacts older than that is a liar who will burn in hell..
The whole issue became a lot clearer to me some years ago. I had taken in a new cat, or should I say kitten, a beautiful long haired black and white one. Before the time came to take her to the vet for vaccinations and a checkup I had noticed that oddly enough this cat, in contrast to other cats I had owned, had five toes rather than four on each paw.
I might mention that this occurred while I was living in Norway where I grew up.
So at the veterinarian, I pointed out the extra toes this cat had and asked if that was something to worry about.
The vet smiled and said 'absolutely not, you are the proud owner of a genuine descendant of the Norwegian ship's cat'. She went on to explain that during sailing ship days Norway had one of the largest sailing ship fleets in the world, with captains and their crew often spending years at a time criss crossing the globe and hauling cargo between different ports. An essential component on the vessels were the ship's cat or cats. They were used to chase down and contain rodents that otherwise could dig into the ship's food supplies. They would also provide companionship for those sailors who happened to like cats.
She went on: 'As you know, cats are not very fond of water, in fact they will go to great lengths to not get soaked. And up on the decks of these sailing vessels it was understandably easy to get soaked. Often the cat's only escape was to climb up the rigging or masts to seek high ground. Over time some cats in adopting to these challenging conditions found themselves with litters of kittens that were born with five instead of the standard four toes, giving them an edge when clawing their way towards the top of the masts.
And over time, which cats do you think had the best survival rate when high winds and huge waves swept across the deck of these ships? You guessed it, the five toed ones.
Eventually modern times arrived, the sailing ships were decommissioned, and crews went ashore, often bringing their favorite cat with them home. These mixed with the general cat population, and every now and then somebody brings me a cat with five toes and asks if they should be worried! No I tell them, your cat has inherited the Norwegian ship's cat gene!'
Well to me, that made the process of evolution perfectly clear.
The whole issue became a lot clearer to me some years ago. I had taken in a new cat, or should I say kitten, a beautiful long haired black and white one. Before the time came to take her to the vet for vaccinations and a checkup I had noticed that oddly enough this cat, in contrast to other cats I had owned, had five toes rather than four on each paw.
I might mention that this occurred while I was living in Norway where I grew up.
So at the veterinarian, I pointed out the extra toes this cat had and asked if that was something to worry about.
The vet smiled and said 'absolutely not, you are the proud owner of a genuine descendant of the Norwegian ship's cat'. She went on to explain that during sailing ship days Norway had one of the largest sailing ship fleets in the world, with captains and their crew often spending years at a time criss crossing the globe and hauling cargo between different ports. An essential component on the vessels were the ship's cat or cats. They were used to chase down and contain rodents that otherwise could dig into the ship's food supplies. They would also provide companionship for those sailors who happened to like cats.
She went on: 'As you know, cats are not very fond of water, in fact they will go to great lengths to not get soaked. And up on the decks of these sailing vessels it was understandably easy to get soaked. Often the cat's only escape was to climb up the rigging or masts to seek high ground. Over time some cats in adopting to these challenging conditions found themselves with litters of kittens that were born with five instead of the standard four toes, giving them an edge when clawing their way towards the top of the masts.
And over time, which cats do you think had the best survival rate when high winds and huge waves swept across the deck of these ships? You guessed it, the five toed ones.
Eventually modern times arrived, the sailing ships were decommissioned, and crews went ashore, often bringing their favorite cat with them home. These mixed with the general cat population, and every now and then somebody brings me a cat with five toes and asks if they should be worried! No I tell them, your cat has inherited the Norwegian ship's cat gene!'
Well to me, that made the process of evolution perfectly clear.
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