Are Tribbles are alien pets?

[steveda19]

I wonder. But they're so cute. I wish i could have one alive.
http://www.piranhatoys.com/sites/de...with-tribbles-t-shirt-art_3.jpg?itok=M3dzBOCg

 

[The Wormhole]

Yes.

 

[Lance]

Apart from their original appearances, we also see Tribbles in Star Trek III, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: Enterprise and of course the two new movies. On most of the post "Trouble With Tribbles" appearances the implication seems to be that they were neutered/domesticated somehow (which the animated series kind of confirmed anyway). The alternative view is that the Klingons hunted them to extinction, and the couple we do see (such as the one in Generations) are either replicated or are endangered.

Oh, and Keiko's school chart in DS9 had a cutaway of what a Tribble looks like on the inside.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Oh, and Keiko's school chart in DS9 had a cutaway of what a Tribble looks like on the inside.

Random trivia: That's from the Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual way back in 1977. Another version of it appears in 1989's Worlds of the Federation book.

 

[Melakon]

They might be pets, but they're useless as a watchtribble unless a Klingon enters the room.

 

[Timo]

How so? Some 56.2 % of burglars get caught in the morning when they are still petting the little purring beasts, while 32.4% stuff their pockets with watchtribbles at the very start of the burglary and either have their pants torn or grow too bulky to fit through doors by the end of it. And of the remainder, most are Klingons anyway.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[bbjeg]

I wouldn't keep one as a pet. They're ecological menaces. If I saw one, I'd kill it, or eat it (I bet they taste like chicken).

 

[Melakon]

I think Dr. Phlox had the right idea, using them as live food for his laboratory critters.

 

[bbjeg]

Better yet, I'd open a restaurant. The tribble supply would never run out.

 

[Lance]

So many threads on here talking about turning Tribbles into cuisine lately!

Was thinking about this at work today.

(Not about "Tribble cuisine", sillies! About Tribble survival in a post-"Trouble" world.)

If we follow the hypothesis that the Tribbles were hunted to extinction by the Klingons, or at least near extinction.....

..... and that the few we see in post-"Trouble" adventures (for example, the one seen being cradled by a child in Generations) are results of the remaining Tribbles either being neutered, replicated, or genetically modified to have controllable breeding patterns.....

..... and we further hypothesise that these few remaining Tribbles are being kept either as pets or in controlled zoological conditions for preservation and study purposes.....

..... then the events of the DS9 Tribble episode would seem to have, at the very least, reintroduced the 'original' unmodified Tribbles to the universe again.

Would Starfleet re-engineer them to be neutered Tribbles? Or would they try and find another solution that preserves this extinct species? Find an unpopulated planet somewhere in space and just drop them all there to live a happy existence on their own?

I know it's just a punch-line to a comedy episode, but it is interesting to consider the possibilities.

 

[bbailey861]

Better yet, I'd open a restaurant. The tribble supply would never run out.

Indeed. A little kibble and 'POP' more critters to sauté, boil, deep fry, bake, stew, braise, BBQ, sous-vide, broil, roast, steam, and whatever else you can think of.

 

[Melakon]

Better yet, I'd open a restaurant. The tribble supply would never run out.

Tribble burgers, tribble steaks, Kentucky fried tribble with gravy, tribble jerky, barbecued tribble, rotisserie roasted tribble... You could call it McTribble, though you'd need Sam Cogley as your lawyer.

 

[Shat Happens]

You guys are confusing tribbles with popplers.

Popplers are tasty.

Tribbles are good for unethical animal experiments.

 

[Green Shirt]

If I saw one, I'd kill it, or eat it

If you don't mind getting hair in your teeth.

 

[Misfit Toy]

I wonder. But they're so cute. I wish i could have one alive.
http://www.piranhatoys.com/sites/de...with-tribbles-t-shirt-art_3.jpg?itok=M3dzBOCg

steveda19 - Hotlinked images are not permitted per the BBS rules:

you should only include an inline images from web space that you own, or with the permission from the webmaster on which the image is located to avoid what results in costly bandwidth theft to the originating site owner.

You can get your own image storing space at Photobucket or Imgur, etc.

 

[f14peter]

I used to have one, made out of a rabbit pelt I brought home from a trip to Alaska.

Gerrold described how to make one in his book on the episode and my mom had it made up in about half an hour.

 

[bbjeg]

If I saw one, I'd kill it, or eat it

If you don't mind getting hair in your teeth.

I'd shave it first. It eats grain and meat (Kirk's chicken sandwich), It probably taste more like pork.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

Find an unpopulated planet somewhere in space and just drop them all there to live a happy existence on their own?

It may lead to the first time in cosmic history that a planet is knocked completely out of orbit by the weight of its own inhabitants.

 

[bbjeg]

^Or worse, you come back a year later and not only do you find the planet barren, but all the tribbles dead from starvation.

 

[Ithekro]

Well you could can them as a biological weapon against renewed Klingon aggression post-Dominion War.