Nature's Sytem: The Eater and The Eatee

This morning on the treadmill I watched the mountain segment of “Planet Earth”, which I taped earlier. It was narrated by Sigourney Weaver.

Did you know that the mountains are losing height? Yep! All the mountains are losing height which includes the Rocky Mountains, the Appalachians, and all of them. They are slowly losing their height my natural elements such as wind, erosion, landslides, and what ever… maybe a little human blasting to make way for a new shopping center also.

If a person wants to climb a certain mountain but feels it is too physically demanding to climb it, if he is patient enough, he will wait around, maybe 5 millions years the mountain top will come to him.

The segment also featured the wildlife of the mountains. With modern wizardly photography they watched a lioness and her cub that lived on the side of a very steep rocky mountain. It was the rare Snow Lion they said. The cub was one year old and still too young to hunt for himself. The mother had to go out everyday to hunt for food and kill it and drag it back.

The cameras followed her following a mother antelope looking thing that was adapted to the dangerous sharp rocky slopes. The mother antelope was leading two baby antelopes that were in their learning stage, cut but clumsy. A perfect meal.

The lioness followed them quietly waiting for the right opportunity to pounce. She would sneak over them and look down on them and sneak under their trail waiting for the right moment. This wasn’t the same as a clash between two mothers at the frozen foods section over the last frozen spinach package. It was much deeper and personal than that. The wise antelope-like mother sensed the lioness and galloped away with her and her babes and the lioness fell or something and they got away.

Hoorah! I was rooting for the antelope. I hate senseless killing.

But – would it have been a senseless killing?

The next scene the mama lion returned to the den on the side of mountain empty pawed. She had to explain to the cub that he would have to go without food that day.

It is just as sad to see an innocent flesh eater to starve to death. He didn’t ask to be carnivorous. He has to eat meat, that is the way nature made him. So, the meat will have to come from some live creature, that is the cruel way nature (and business) is set up.

Also, it showed a mother bear coming out of her den after hibernating for 6 months with her 2 cubs. The cubs were thrilled to be able to play in the snow and tumble and grab each other. The mother was busy looking for something to eat, and also looking out for animals of prey who could grab one of her cubs and eat it.

Sigourney Weaver said that the cubs biggest predators are (get this): Male Bears!

A male bear could possibly eat his own child, grandchild, niece, or nephew for breakfast. Life is full of ironies.