New welder !

If you want to go down a rabbit hole do some research on pthalates. One theory is that they fundamentally changed society today on a biological level. I am not making an argument here. Just pointing out the rabbit hole.

I could be mistaken of course, and since I don't live there its all hearsay to me. I had been lead to believe that the UK had a feral or semi feral domestic cat breed population that was the dominant predator due to the eradication historically of most if not all larger predators. That it was this not naturally checked population that had nearly eradicated song birds in the UK.

I could be mistaken of course, and since I don't live there its all hearsay to me. I had been lead to believe that the UK had a feral or semi feral domestic cat breed population that was the dominant predator due to the eradication historically of most if not all larger predators. That it was this not naturally checked population that had nearly eradicated song birds in the UK.

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I was curious.

I rather liked that first picture.

Having trapped fox (grey and kit) I suspect it may also be a matter of breed and opportunity. A healthy adult male kit fox would be sadly under powered against a healthy adult male tom cat, but a grey fox is larger and smarter. The thing is grey foxes are more wary and less populous, so unless you have a country kitty surrounded by fox treats the chance of an encounter is slim. I really know little or nothing of other fox breeds. That was a fun read Jim. Thanks.

I think this varies with location, I'm not aware of a feral cat population here in the south west of the UK but a friend lives near Huntingdon and there are quite a lot of feral cats around there which is apparently largely attributed to US service personnel in the area  abandoning their cats when they go home. Near me many years ago animal protestors broke into a local mink farm and let them free and that did decimate the local bird and small animal population for a while.

Mink (and other weasels) are certain very efficient killing machines. We had pet ferrets for a while back in the 90s, and when a much larger cat squared off with one that cat usually went crying for momma. There was a truce in our house between the ferrets and the cats. I watched them hunt. One ferret named McDuff had a passion for stuff animals. Teddy bears. We would periodically place a teddy bear in a difficult location to see how long it would take him to make the kill. I've seen McDuff make leaps that would astound a full grown cat. Ferrets are not known for their ability to jump. Why I do not know. Their bodies are like little springs. They bend in half and let go like a bow with a broken string.

No as I know of. The wild ancestor of the domestic cat still exists in far-out wilds in Scotland, apparently.

David - I am far down the West Country now. Anywhere near?

Near Bath, where are you.

Wow. I am very misinformed. I'd been lead to believe the oldest known direct ancestors of the modern domestic cat breeds were from Egypt. That seems to make sense to me since a native African Wildcat looks a lot like a domestic grey tabby.

Wow. I am very misinformed. I'd been lead to believe the oldest known direct ancestors of the modern domestic cat breeds were from Egypt. That seems to make sense to me since a native African Wildcat looks a lot like a domestic grey tabby. Bob La Londe

-------------------------- Apparently it's hard to be sure, because modern wild populations have interbred with domestic cats. Egypt has the advantage of very ancient records preserved on stone, while Scotland's written history doesn't go back far at all, for instance we don't know what the Picts (Latin for Painted, with woad and tattoos) called themselves, or what happened to them.

Pictish raiding caused the Britons to call on the Saxons of Germany for military aid after Rome declined, and the Saxons soon took over much of the island. King Arthur may have opposed them.

Near Truro, Camborne / Redruth

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The 240V HF spot welder is a copy of the Miller LMSW-52. Partial disassembly hasn't revealed anything disturbingly wrong with it yet, just minor things like the 14 AWG power cord. HiPot gives 500 MegOhms at 500V between the primary and the case. The moving tong is grounded.

I always liked the theory that Arthur was an expatriated Roman. Probably utter hogwash, but amusing nonetheless.

I always liked the theory that Arthur was an expatriated Roman. Probably utter hogwash, but amusing nonetheless.

--------------------------- He wasn't expatriated, Rome had conquered Britannia without much resistance a few decades after the time of Jesus. Constantine the Great was first acclaimed Roman Emperor in York, and fought his way to the top of the rest of the Empire.

The same Flavius Aetius to whom The Groans of the Britons was addressed was responsible for the disruption among Germans that inspired the legendary Ring Cycle. King Etzel in that story is Attila the Hun.

Most ancient text exists as handwritten copies (manuscripts) from 1000 -

I'd recommend Mary Stewart's _The Crystal Cave_ and _The Hollow Hills_ for an historically fictional account of Arthur and Merlin. The first covers the time from Merlin as a child (bastard son of Ambrosius, who became King of Britian) through to the conception of Arthur (by Ambrosius' brother Uther and Ygraine of Cornwall). The second covers Arthur from a babe in arms to becoming King of Britian. The third, The Last Enchantment, covers Arthur's reign and death. All are written from Merlin's viewpoint; and give an interesting depiction of life in the 6th century.

In the story, Ambrosius and Uther had been exiled to Brittany (France) when Vortigern took the throne. They returned, killed Vortigern and chased the Saxons (Germans bribed with land by Vortigern) out of Britian.

Ambrosius and Uther were the sons of Constantine, who was the son of Maximus (a Roman general, usurper and emperor) who settled in Britain after being deposed in the 4th century, which in the story anyway, makes Arthur a descendent of Maximus.

Stewart doesn't follow history exactly, but it is pretty close. And far better than T.H. White (The Once and Future King) or MZB (_The Mists of Avalon_).

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