IF I RULED THE WORLD

CAUTION PLEASE READ FIRST
This is a very very long post that requires thought and should maybe only looked upon by the more serious members of this site.


I have been unavailable for some time for personnel reasons but I wanted to add a new post (perhaps my last for a while) and would appreciate your thoughts, I have decided to write a new post surrounding the mystery and misconception around vampires in hiding and why (this question is asked frequently) they don’t rule the world in a present state (as opposed to behind the scenes). For this discussion I will use many different variations of vampire precipitation and different theory’s to promote a dynamic discussion encouraging others to give their varied opinions, this is not my opinion and I am not saying this is truth, as always just a theory that requires thought. First I want to talk about (A) vampire, this type of vampire is an evolutionary predator that hunts and feeds on humans, to give this predator an advance over its prey (humans) it has a number of increased biological advances including heightened senses including smell, hearing, taste and sight, dramatically increased immune system and digestion allowing it to consume and break down parts of its prey, essential skills to both hunt and consume its prey, humans. There would be a few important factors that would affect this predators ability to dominate the world these would include the ratio of predators to prey, the method in how this predators could be killed and the life span in relation to human years, to understand the behaviour of a predator of humans we need to look at the characteristics of animals and the evolution of hunting.

In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator (an organism that is hunting) feeds on its prey, the organism that is attacked. Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey, Selective pressures imposed on one another has led to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in various antipredator adaptations. evolutionary adaptations have developed over time, which assist prey organisms in their constant struggle against their predators. There are several ways antipredator adaptations can be classified, such as behavioural or non-behavioural or by taxonomic groups, this is very important because this clearly illustrates the natural struggle that occurs between species and some of the evolutionary lengths that prey and predators are prepared to go to. The act of a predator acquiring a food source can be divided into four stages: detection, attack, capture and consumption. At each stage adaptations that maximize the prey organism's chance of survival have evolved, which in turn drives responding adaptation in their predators. This interaction over long periods of time is known as co-evolution, and basically in laymen terms is suggesting that over time both humans and vampires would evolve and discover new ways to combat each other, I.e. like nations thoughtout history discovering new technology in warfare, when new attacking abilities are formed so are defensive technology to counter them. Predators are generally made up of opportunistic or specialist, many predators specialize in hunting only one species of prey, whereas others are opportunistic will kill and eat almost anything examples include humans, leopards and dogs. The specialists are usually particularly well suited to capturing their preferred prey. The prey in turn, are often equally suited to escape that predator. This is called an evolutionary arms race and tends to keep the populations of both species in equilibrium, this is also important as this would suggest that although vampires would be evolutionary suited to hunt humans, that humans would in turn be evolutionary suited to defend against them. Some predators specialize in certain classes of prey, not just single species. Almost all will switch to other prey (with varying degrees of success) when the preferred target is extremely scarce, and they may also resort to scavenging or a herbivorous diet if possible, so what if vampires were able to switch their hunting to an alternative food source in times of need?, This would help their species to sustain life in drastic times of need. Predators can also play an Ecological role and sometimes may increase the biodiversity of communities by preventing a single species from becoming dominant. Such predators are known as keystone species and may have a profound influence on the balance of organisms in a particular ecosystem. Introduction or removal of this predator, or changes in its population density, can have drastic cascading effects on the equilibrium of many other populations in the ecosystem. For example, grazers of a grassland may prevent a single dominant species from taking over. The elimination of wolves from Yellowstone National Park had profound impacts on the tropic pyramid. Without predation, herbivores began to over-graze many woody brow species, affecting the area's plant populations. Additionally, wolves often kept animals from grazing in riparian areas, which protected beavers from having their food sources encroached upon. The removal of wolves had a direct effect on beaver populations, as their habitat became territory for grazing. Furthermore, predation keeps hydrological features such as creeks and streams in normal working order. Increased browsing on willows lenr and conifers along Blacktail Creek due to a lack of predation resulted in channel incision because those species helped slow the water down and hold the soil in place.

This is also very important as predators will hunt for a number of reasons and not always for a source of food, but this recognition of importance to stability in predators could be a defining reason (along with more obvious reason like available food source) why keystone species (humans) populations have been allowed to flourish at a reasonable rate without blatant hindrance from a dominate predator. The relationship between predator and prey is one which is typically beneficial to the predator, and detrimental to the prey species. Sometimes, however, predation has indirect benefits to the prey species, though the individuals preyed upon themselves do not benefit. This means that, at each applicable stage, predator and prey species are in an evolutionary arms race to maximize their respective abilities to obtain food or avoid being eaten. This interaction has resulted in a vast array of adaptations in both groups. Since man began our natural make-up has evolved constantly to reflect our ever changing environment and we are told this is evolution due to our hunting exploits but what if these changes were a natural defensive against an even greater threat?. While successful predation results in a gain of energy, hunting invariably involves energetic costs as well. When hunger is not an issue, most predators will generally not seek to attack prey since the costs outweigh the benefits. For instance, a large predatory fish like a shark that is well fed in an aquarium will typically ignore the smaller fish swimming around it (while the prey fish take advantage of the fact that the apex predator is apparently uninterested). Surplus killing represents a deviation from this type of behaviour. The treatment of consumption in terms of cost-benefit analysis is known as optimal foraging theory, and has been quite successful in the study of animal behaviour. Costs and benefits are generally considered in energy gain per unit time, though other factors are also important, such as essential nutrients that have no caloric value but are necessary for survival and health, what I never see written or asked is the costs either mentally or physically put upon a vampire that feeds, this surprises me as almost any predator that hunts will use some kind of energy in the pursuit of its prey, in some cases even the task of consuming their prey can be an arduous duty, I think (just a theory) this would be a massive factor affecting the hunting frequenticy and activates of vampires depending on the physical strain while feeding.

Prey can use many number of ways to defend against predators, one which I think applies to the humans vs. vampire discussion is Mobbing behaviour, Mobbing behaviour occurs when a species turns the tables on their predator by cooperatively attacking or harassing it. This is most frequently seen in birds, though it is also known to occur in other social animals. For example, nesting gull colonies are widely seen to attack intruders, including humans. Costs of mobbing behaviour include the risk of engaging with predators, as well as energy expended in the process, but it can aid the survival of members of a species. Mockingbirds can effectively force a cat or dog to seek something less troublesome through mobbing behaviour. One mockingbird might fly in front of the cat or dog, enticing a common predator upon birds to lunge, while another pecks at the cat or dog from behind to inflict a sharp pain that forces the predator to hesitate when it encounters mockingbirds. While mobbing has evolved independently in many species, it only tends to be present in those whose young are frequently preyed on, especially birds. It may complement cryptic behaviour in the offspring themselves, such as camouflage and hiding. Mobbing calls may be made prior to or during engagement in harassment. Mobbing behaviour has functions beyond driving the predator away. Mobbing draws attention to the predator, making stealth attacks impossible. Mobbing also plays a critical role in the identification of predators and inter-generational learning about predator identification. Reintroduction of species is often unsuccessful because the established population lacks this cultural knowledge of how to identify local predators, now I think one thing is clear there are more humans then there are vampires and although vampires would have some kind of advantage over their prey one on one, tens, hundreds or even thousands of humans would perhaps be to much for a vampire alone, but this in turn rises new questions, some would be how many humans believe in vampires or another recognized predator of humans? Humans cannot mob vampires as a defensive mechanises if only a handful of humans believe in them!, and who said vampires hunt alone, what tactics would they use?. Since time immortal stealth warfare and deception has been used to lure, trap, hunt and kill, why wouldn’t vampires?, humans are a very inquisitive species and its very easy to get their attention, so it would seem a vampire under the right circumstances would find it very easy to lure, trap and even kill a human. The "terrain fear factor" is an idea which assesses the risks associated with predator/prey encounters. This idea suggests that prey will change their usual habits to adjust to the terrain and its effect on the species' predation. For example, a species may forage in a terrain with a lower predation risk as opposed to one with high predation risk, I especially like this theory as it perhaps adds a little weight to my ‘so you wanna meet a vampire’ discussion, you humans don’t like the sea and perhaps now you know why. It is fairly clear that predators tend to lower the survival and fecundity of their prey, but on a higher level of organization, populations of predator and prey species also interact. It is obvious that predators depend on prey for survival, and this is reflected in predator populations being affected by changes in prey populations. It is not so obvious, however, that predators affect prey populations. Eating a prey organism may simply make room for another if the prey population is approaching its carrying capacity. The population dynamics of predator-prey interactions can be modelled using the Lotka–Volterra equations. These provide a mathematical model for the cycling of predator and prey populations.

In much of the world, humans are the largest, best-organized, most cunning, and most powerful predators. The closest rival to humans in those characteristics in most of the world, the dog, is far more likely a collaborator than a competitor or a menace. Humans are clever exploiters of tools from snares, clubs, spears, fishing gear, firearms to boats and motor vehicles in hunting other animals. Humans even use other animals (dogs, cormorants, and falcons) in hunting or fishing and such non-predatory animals as horses, camels, and elephants in getting approaches to prey. Humans have reshaped huge expanses of the world as ranges and farms for the raising of livestock, poultry, and fish to be eaten as meat. Using this evolutionary predator (vampire) another big factor would be the predator to prey ratio, all physical living things die, the length of time (measured in human years) varies from species to species so any EPOH (evolutionary predator of humans) would over time also die, this predators ability to reproduce (increase numbers by whatever means) over time would also have an affect on the number of prey available. As I have stated in another post it is a documented fact that hundreds of thousands of people go missing (just missing!) ever year and majority are never found, no bodies, nothing found and this is just reported missing cases around the world, so before anyone starts saying ‘if vampires were killing people I think someone would notice’ just do a little research into how many people die every year, and how many are either never found or die with no medically accepted reason. Now lets use maybe two recognizable ways of a vampire to reproduce (increase the number of their species), one theory would be though bite, so every time a vampire bites a human while hunting venom/toxin or some other fluid is transferred and a human bitten if left untouched will transform into a vampire after a certain amount of time. With this first theory there are a number of reasons why this might not be, generally a vampire would hunt for food/energy and while hunting would use up an amount of energy in the pursuit or feeding of its prey, so why would a vampire use its own energy on biting and then turning a human if it had no beneficial gain from the event? What predator expels its own worth for the benefit of its prey?! also as I have stated in my post ‘so you want a vampires bite’ there is currently and never has been any species born of this planet that though bite or blood transfer can alter or change the DNA make-up of a co-existing species, so the theory that a vampire could though bite alone change its prey (humans) into one of their kin I think is fickly at best, but that’s my opinion so yours would be appreciated. A second and perhaps more plausible theory would be though birth, new vampires would be created and born like many other species, perhaps there is more then two sexes? If male perhaps they could give birth to? however they were born the growing population of vampires unless seriously controlled would spiral out of control! Why? Because although vampires could be humans predators, who would be vampires? Who would keep their population to a stable amount, without a dominant predator? just as the human population has grown so to would the vampires unless there was a natural biological reason I.e. vampires could only give birth once in their lifetime, so unless controlled there would be as many if not more vampires then humans all fighting for that food source (humans) something I think humans would have noticed by now (even with them hundreds of thousands going missing). So if the bite theory is flawed and birth seems to be controlled or unbelievable there would need to be a very good reason for why vampires have not increased their number to a dominate population where even their clever prey (humans) could not touch them (defeat or defend) due to their hugh numbers?. So lets just say its not an easy process and because of this reason although vampires are humans predators due to their limited number they haven’t declared open warfare on humans for worry of counter attack or increased defensive methods making hunting more differcult? This would perhaps answer the question why vampires don’t rule the world but doesn’t rule out the possibility of vampires using stealth and deception, playing humans at their own game to get into positions of power.

Another reason could be the ability of humans to kill vampires and the method required, all living things can be killed in many different ways so how can a human kill a vampire?? One theory that seems to pop up all the time is sunlight for a long time the sun as light has been considered good, sun/light equals good as opposites to night/dark equals evil, so perhaps this is a result made from perception from the goodie two shoes (manly religious) people who require that safety net, or perhaps there is a more explainable reason for this belief. Many predators hunt at varies times depending on their behaviour, now instead of the light killing vampires, perhaps vampires only hunt at night for beneficial reasons, perhaps the sunlight hinder their senses making it more differcult to hunt also generally at night humans are asleep, so it would seem that in general in would be easier for a vampire to hunt at night when humans are either asleep or isolated as opposes to the daytime when humans are awake, in greater numbers and are more aware of there surroundings. As the human species has evolved so to has your technology increased your ability to not only kill each other more effectively but also defend yourselves better against the world and all it can throw at you. So can a vampire dodge a bullet? can a vampire sustain multiple bullet wounds? Probably not but why fight fire with fire? vampires as predators would be clever, cunning any technology humans can use against vampires, vampires could use against humans! How many people do you think have died in all the wars of this planet? It is estimated that between 40,000,000 - 72,000,000 humans were killed during world war two from 1939 to 1945, how many bodies do you think were never found? how many were so unrecognizable that any research or follow-up was never made investigating their death? How many solders do you think went MIA (missing in action) Just a theory here, but even 5 percent of that number would be more then enough to feed vampires worldwide, and this is just recently between 756 to 763 it is estimated that between 33,000,000 - 36,000,000 Chinese were killed in the An Shi Rebellion when total world population at the time is estimated at 207-224 million, earlier between 184 to 205 its estimated 3,000,000 to 7,000,000 Chinese were killed in the Yellow Turban rebellion. And the list continues Mongol conquests 60,000,000 conquest of the Ming Dynasty 25,000,000 Taping Rebellion 30,000,000 world war one 25,000,000 Conquests of Timur 20,000,000 and all in the space of the last just over 800 hundred years (except the An Shi Rebellion), now for me I think this would be a vampires buffet and depending on how frequently vampires feed and what condition their food had to be in to be consumed they would have all the food they needed for the time being.

So why don’t vampires rule the world? Or don’t they all ready, as already stated if vampires are outnumbered and are not invincible then perhaps the ability to control the mob (humans population) is their ace card? As we are all aware the world and its politics are corrupt were money talks every language and were force and knowledge is the only recognizable power, if vampires were able to infiltrate human society, especially in key positions of power were their influence could affect world events then perhaps this apparent easy food source (wars of this world) would be a little easier to understand? The last characteristic I haven’t mentioned so far regarding predators and their behaviour when hunting is prey drive. Prey drive is the instinctive behaviour of a carnivore to pursue and capture prey. In dog training, prey drive can be used as an advantage because dogs with strong prey drive are also willing to pursue moving objects such as toys, which can then be used to encourage certain kinds of behaviour, such as that of greyhound racing or the speed required in dog agility. The prey drive can be an important component of pet dog training, obedience training and schutzhund as well. In all predators the prey drive follows an inevitable sequence: the search, the eye-stalk, the chase, the grab bite, and the kill bite. In wolves the prey drive is complete and balanced. In different breeds of dog certain of these five steps have been amplified or reduced by human-controlled selective breeding, for various purposes. Certain aspects of the prey drive can be a disadvantage in some dogs. In retrievers for example, the dog is expected to chase prey and bring it back to the human hunter, but not bite or damage it. Herding dogs must exhibit the stalking and chasing aspects of prey drive, but should have strongly inhibited grab bite and kill bite stages to prevent them wounding stock. Now what if (and this is only a theory) key members of the human society (vampires) were able to make decisions affecting world events like, lets say wars, then they would be (without open warfare) driving humans against each other making it easier to hunt and feed upon their prey, divide et impera or also known as divide and conquer!