I think Cthia's concern might be more with people wearing breath masks but not changing and rinsing off before contact with treecats, so the residue on their clothes might be toxic enough for to cause some unrecognized problems for the treecats, although I expect a bunch of of nanobots could be injected to collect and eliminate the heavy metals, just as on Hades to deal with the 'false potato' poisons.
L
SWM wrote:cthia wrote:That would be my take on it as well. Where I'm headed is this; not much is known of treecat physiology, and a hazardous environment, unlike their native Sphinx, could have unforeseen side effects. Perhaps even render them mind blind, or completely sterile or any other measure of unforeseen problems.
Ah, yes, I see. It is a reasonable concern.
I'm not too worried about it. Unlike humans, treecats almost never leave protected areas. But it's certainly possible that some might be exposed unexpectedly and suffer harm. They face the same dangers as the other residents of Grayson. Accidents are rare, but they happen.
On the other hand, I would say that the civilized areas of Grayson where the treecats spend all their time are far less dangerous than their native forests on Sphinx. They don't have to worry about forest fires, peak bears, hexapumas, famines, or simply falling out of trees. Even Nimitz, in a similarly controlled environment but exposed to the perils of war, is in far greater danger of poisons and radiation than the resident treecats of Grayson.