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Call of the Wild
Some time ago Chaos got us embrouled with a facebook rant by a shadow who was infuriated that an owl had snatched his pet squirrel and flew is away into oblivion.
Seems he had emotional connections with the beast after having rescued it from certain death as a baby and nurtured for many, many months.
Chaoh further exacerbated the situation…
We laughed, out loud… which is we believe, guy talk for “walk it off…”
This caused a cavalcade of mea culpas as we stumbled through explanations for our insensitive flippancy.
We agree to blame our gender dysphoria having identified with Father and boys, sandbox, tractors, hammers, nails as a child instead of Mothers and girls, dolls, makeup, nails…
Oh the irony. We have inserted our help failed horribly several times throughout our life in attempts to apply human qualities to preserve a baby wild life, the futility of the man’s anger was painfully obvious.
We remember the horror of watching three little ‘saved’ sparrows walked right up to the cat to say hello.
The cat was pleased.
The Thing About Predators
Predators have:
- Eyes in front to focus on prey
- Are dominant organisms
- Lower in population than prey
- Stronger than prey
- Consume prey as food
- Control population of prey
The Thing About Prey
Prey have:
- Eyes on the sides of the head to see predators
- Hunted by predators
- Have larger populations
- Are weaker than predators
- Consume plants
- Live in Herd Communities
If there are too many predators – the species dies.
Too little prey – the species dies
Predators Live Relatively Solitary Lives.
Reason #1 might be due to the proclivity of male animosity toward his own progeny and progeny of competing males.
In a nutshell… Animals may and often do, eat their own.
Humans Are Above All That.
We humans are protected by God(s) spirits, community, society, laws, rules, regulations and prohibitions.
We imprisoned those who overstep the big lines, such as getting caught eating our own.
Bad human. No no.
Humans have no Predators
Of course, if humankind wandered about as solitary beasts in the wilderness we might have a plethora of natural predators:
- Lions,
- Tigers
- Bears
…oh my…
but rare is the occasional human dragged off and consumed by a big cat
or the trampling of a village by elephant off in some distant land.
Human Expansion into the Wild
As pools of humanity, cities, towns, etc, push wildlife further into the peripherals, wildlife becomes isolated from view.
Out of Sight Out of Mind
As a result, humans have become so predatorily stupid we don’t understand the intentions of a parent animal who abandon their offspring while selfishly searching for food, or kick an occasional offspring out of the nest.
We anthropomorphize wild beasts into cuddly wuddlies and weep when a coyote snags a neighborhood cat but cheer when a neighborhood cat snags a mouse or rat.
Who Sheds a Tear for the Crocodile?
The Intellectual Chasm between Man and Beast
Humans have the capacity to plan and guide our existence, we can
- Envision and plan for our future existence,
- Learn to govern ourselves through lifelong learning
- Develop unique outlook on life events
We create collective stories, legends and myths that provide general cohesion to fold, spindle and mutilate ourselves through experimentation into a united peoples of sorts.
Animals develop behavior through imitation of parental intuition and instinct.
Animals need to learn only what is necessary to insure their immediate existence day-to-day.
In other words:
- Animals imitate
- Humans create
Cock Sure & Confident
We creative humans have become so cocksure of our superiority over nature, we protect our young by teaching about:
- Cross-walks, Traffic
- Mad Dogs
- Funny uncles
But rarely the wild beast.
But…humans are animals with eyes in front, small ears, canine teeth…and big brains.
What Breed of Predators Are We?
Because the human animal is a predator, our superior, evolved lizard brains continue to send instinctive signals of
- Imminent danger
- Impending doom
- Fight or Flight
We experience fears that
- Send chills down our spines,
- Cause butterflies in the stomach
- Give us sweaty palms
We Concern Ourselves With Esoteric Dangers
Like addicts craving the next fix, humans preoccupy over threats both real and imagined.
We entertain ourselves with horror movies, scary stories, and seek out news of horrible events.
We tickle our spidy sense to appease our evolutionary warning signals and suffer self-imposed fight or flight ailments of persecution.
We Experience uncomfortable sensations:
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We Obsess Over Fears Through Shared Media
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And worry endlessly about the Great Unknown and the “Other”
Statistics Say…
The 2021 population of humans about 7.8 Billion people
. (7,848,481,644)
The 2021 number of human deaths by all causes worldwide is about 70 Million. (69,090,119)
This all maths out at about 0.009 or .9% of the population needs worry about the potential of early demise.
As predators go… our chances of dying prematurely seem primarily related to our own lifestyles.
Cardiovascular disease tops the cake at 19 million annually.
Interestingly, the annual number of induced abortions worldwide is about 73 million 0.009 or .9%
Seems the odds of dying in the womb is slightly higher than living with calamity but does not exceed 0.009 or .9%.
On a Positive Note:
With a .9 premature death rate means we have little to fear and have a 99.1% chance of living perfectly healthy lives – all we have to do is use our creative brains and work at it.
Key words…Work At It.
Instead We Provoke Dependencies
Humans are so confident we do the stupidest things…
Such as forgetting the fact that predators study patterns.
We provoke dependencies upon wildlife to project critters from experiencing the horrors of food insecurity.
We provide bird feeders and pat ourselves on the back as we enjoy the worship of beautiful birds that entertain us with their antics and chirping songs.
We set out food to feed the starving 6-dinner Sids, the, domesticated cats that go door to door to beg for food.
We roll out garbage cans filled with enticing food throw-aways.
Predators Take Notice
This is where a good field camera might come in handy.
All predators watch prey to learn patterns for efficient hunting.
Predators of squirrels include:
- Snakes
- Cats, wild and domesticated
- Dogs, Coyotes, Wolves
- Birds, Eagles, Owls
- People, Neighbors, Farmers
- Rats, Mice, Raccoons, Opossums
- Bears
- Reptiles, Snakes
and they all make it a survival habit to watch squirrels.
Worth Repeating:
Predators study patterns.
The Data Point
Humans are our own predators.
We exploit our own kind for a plethora of reasons
Other than politicians and journalists…few humans are capable of thinking at the intellectual level of a backyard squirrel.
The Question
Is it possible for humans to truly grasp the concept of survival of a wild animal under 24/7 threat from predators who see them as nothing more than a tasty morsel?
Have your heartstrings been pulled by the plight of roadkill and abandoned wild life?
Have you ever pondered about the daily 24/7 life of a squirrel?
Have you ever pondered why media keeps us in constant fight or flight mode?
At what point should we interfere – resist the call of the wild and walk away.
