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May. 8th, 2002 07:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
senoritafishAs I was leaving the office a couple of hours ago, I noticed the flock of starlings in the sycamores surrounding the building were making ruckus and a crow picking at something on the grass. I stopped to watch for a moment. A resident great blue heron, who stops on our lawn to catch gophers, sauntered over and imtimidated the crow away from his object of interest. The heron struck at the object, tossed it into the air, and caught it in his beak. It turned out to be another starling, already wounded by the crow, but loudly protesting nevertheless. The heron tossed it around a few times, seeming a bit puzzled as to how to swallow it. The crow began diving at the heron, upset by the loss of its dinner. The heron finally flew off with the starling in its beak, with several other crows on hot pursuit.
I'm always conflicted by scenes like this. I always want to rush to the poor helpless birdie's aid, and yet I know I would not be performing a good deed. Predators need to eat too, and starlings are a non-native pest that, along with English sparrows and eucalyptus trees, are displacing native species. Not that much of anything is native in the city where I live; I chose to let native bird keep its meal.
This led to some thoughts on the human species in general. I have the urge to protect my family and friends from harm, and yet, as a biologist, I know that humans as a population are subject to all of the cycles that natural wild animals are. Aids, Ebola and war are the methods nature is using to keep us under control. Childhood accidents and third world starvation are a means of thinning the excess of the new generation, despite any doctor proclaiming both are preventable. So I type as I use only one hand, because I'm holding my 8 month-old daughter with my other arm. Sometimes being a biologist and mom don't mix well.
I'm always conflicted by scenes like this. I always want to rush to the poor helpless birdie's aid, and yet I know I would not be performing a good deed. Predators need to eat too, and starlings are a non-native pest that, along with English sparrows and eucalyptus trees, are displacing native species. Not that much of anything is native in the city where I live; I chose to let native bird keep its meal.
This led to some thoughts on the human species in general. I have the urge to protect my family and friends from harm, and yet, as a biologist, I know that humans as a population are subject to all of the cycles that natural wild animals are. Aids, Ebola and war are the methods nature is using to keep us under control. Childhood accidents and third world starvation are a means of thinning the excess of the new generation, despite any doctor proclaiming both are preventable. So I type as I use only one hand, because I'm holding my 8 month-old daughter with my other arm. Sometimes being a biologist and mom don't mix well.
