Did the Tribbles actually die out by the 24th Century?

[Robert Comsol]

Come to think of it: Would there not have been some kind of indigenous predator on the Tribbles' homeworld?

Of course there would have been. Unless a wild animal would be affected by the tribbles' trilling sounds, the tribble wouldn't stand a chance against becoming lunch. That's why they bred so prolifically - evolution at work.

Of course? Then there would have been no need for that line / premise from the TAS Episode "More Tribbles, More Troubles":

KOLOTH: Kirk, Cyrano Jones took a Klingon genetic construct, an artificial creature [the glommer] from one of our planets. We must have it back. It was designed to be a tribble predator. We are prepared to go to war if we have to.

In the context of the bigger TOS universe (including TAS) the Tribbles had no natural enemies (or did they ate their indigenous predators, too).
Unless the indigenous predators equally made that purring sound (to attract Tribbles) and therefore the Klingons just never could get close enough to capture one of these...

Bob

 

[Lance]

We know the replicators have restrictions on what they can and can't actually produce, but perhaps sterile replicated Tribbles are considered safe.

So replicators can replicate living creatures?

That would be one of the restrictions I was talking about.

I know this has been covered by Sternbach/Okuda etc as being impossible, but if you can indulge me in floating off on a thought bubble for just a minute.....
..... maybe the creation of living creatures isn't actually technically impossible for the replicator.....?

Perhaps those 'restrictions' I mention are merely moral ones. The 'commercial level' version of the technology (the ones that we see bundled with Starships) are hard-wired to deny the creation of sentient life because of those moral questions, but maybe the earlier, prototype replicators that were developed during R&D were much more powerful than that.....

I mean, the replicator is shown to be a very sophisticated piece of tech...... but we know little more than a bare minimum about what it can or can't practically do. I can't help but wonder if it is, in actual fact, theoretically more powerful than is ever actually shown on screen.

 

[Whoa Nellie]

Cyrano Jones was selling them across the galaxy...

Which is odd, because you'd assume that something that was so easily reproduced would hold little or no value.

The tribbles could be similar to the Budgerigar (what most people call a Parakeet). Budgerigars (aka Budgies, parakeets) are a small parrot native to the grasslands of Australia. When conditions are good they reproduce quickly and in vast numbers. They are very social animals and the vast numbers protects the flock from predators. When conditions are bad the stop reproducing. This quick reproduction cycle makes them an easy animal for domestic breeding (where conditions are controlled).

Actually, the Budgerigar may be commonly known as a parakeet, but it is only one type of parakeet. There are many different types and they are all parrots. I did the research on them before purchasing the lovely blue one currently chirping away happily on my shoulder.

Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie

 

[Timewalker]

Come to think of it: Would there not have been some kind of indigenous predator on the Tribbles' homeworld?

Of course there would have been. Unless a wild animal would be affected by the tribbles' trilling sounds, the tribble wouldn't stand a chance against becoming lunch. That's why they bred so prolifically - evolution at work.

Of course? Then there would have been no need for that line / premise from the TAS Episode "More Tribbles, More Troubles":

KOLOTH: Kirk, Cyrano Jones took a Klingon genetic construct, an artificial creature [the glommer] from one of our planets. We must have it back. It was designed to be a tribble predator. We are prepared to go to war if we have to.

In the context of the bigger TOS universe (including TAS) the Tribbles had no natural enemies (or did they ate their indigenous predators, too).
Unless the indigenous predators equally made that purring sound (to attract Tribbles) and therefore the Klingons just never could get close enough to capture one of these...

Bob

Okay, I will concede the possibility that the tribbles' natural predators may have been killed off by other predators or a virus or some other natural disaster that caused extinction, leaving the tribbles to breed. But in that case, the tribbles would have literally eaten themselves out of the proverbial house and home and starvation would have set in. Nature regulates these things, and Nature doesn't actually care which species lives and dies. But once you add humans/humanoids into the equation, anything can happen.

 

[FormerLurker]

I thought that line was "Add dinosaurs into the mix, there's no telling what could happen."

 

[Timewalker]

Huh?

 

[Avro Arrow]

Didn't they cover the whole predator issue in the episode itself? From chakoteya.net:

JONES: Captain Kirk, I'm mystified at your tone of voice. I've done nothing to warrant such severe treatment.
KIRK: Oh, really?
SPOCK: Surely you must have realised what would happen if you removed the tribbles from their predator-filled environment into an environment where their natural multiplicative proclivities would have no restraining factors.
JONES: Of course. What did you say?
SPOCK: By removing the tribbles from their natural habitat, you have, so to speak, removed the cork from the bottle and allowed the genie to escape.
JONES: If by that, you mean do they breed quickly? Of course, that's how I maintain my stock. Breeding animals is not against regulations, only breeding dangerous ones. And tribbles are not dangerous.
KIRK: Just incredibly prolific.
JONES: Precisely, and at six credits a head, well, that is, a body, it mounts up. Now if you'll excuse me.

Just because the Klingons genetically engineered a tribble predator, doesn't mean there were no naturally-occurring tribble predators.

 

[FormerLurker]

Huh?

Just a little levity, based on the last line in your quote directly above mine.

 

[Timewalker]

I just didn't get the dinosaur reference.

 

[FormerLurker]

Jurassic Park.

 

[Timewalker]

Okay, that explains it. I never saw those movies.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The first movie was pretty thrilling at the time, when you see the dinosaurs for the first time.. also Sam Neill is TOTALLY HOT and you should watch the movie for that.

 

[R. Star]

I liked Sam Neill in that tv movie Merlin back in the 90's.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Never saw that

Sam Neill was kind of my first non-Trek male actor obsession. He was in my favorite ever movie The Piano.

I just remembered his Eat Red Meat commercials in Aus which pissed off the anti-evolutionary Christians and pissed of the Vegetarians and made my mind do bad things.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9SuABGeeb8[/yt]