OK cool, yea, I got that point, just was a bit confused about the context of homo erectus. I agree, though. It seems biologically, primates just generally aren't super-breeders.

IIRC, earlier homonids probably came to breeding age quicker than we do (under depending on nutrition, etc)., so a Homo erectus female of 10 years may have already been in prime mothering age. A child every 2-3 years or so would mean that by age 30, she'd possibly be a grandmother and done with most child rearing.

I do agree as well that mortality rates are on average overblown... once they pass the first two or so tough years, their odds are much improved

I don't think it's clear that homo sapiens and homo erectus overlapped, and if so, we certainly do not know about all locations.

H. Erectus did stick around for a long time, even as new homo species branched off, but my understanding was the evidence for overlap is slim outside of Africa. Maybe Indonesia, but I've seen conflicting evidence.

In any case, they were mostly already on their way out by the time we started showing up in numbers.

Neanderthals and Denisovans of course did overlap with us in some regions.

Man, just reading that gave me the shivers.

I mean, asbestos is pretty nasty as we now understand, but it's more of a long-term exposure danger and really only if it turns into little dusty fibre particles (don't break the insulation!). It's right to be weary, and wear a filter mask if it's exposed, but merely being in its presence inside another item won't harm you.

Can you replace the knobs/spouts for one with a square key? Then you can keep the key itself on a hook up high or something.