When Hunger Strikes — Tales from the Riverbank
Nature’s snacks can be shocking.
Sailing past cute ducklings, I spun my head as I spotted a seagull ambling in their direction, a casual don’t mind me look in his eye, but with a lethal mission. He only needed one. One cute little duckling, perfect for breakfast.
The mother duck flapped a little, caught off guard. Too late. The seagull snapped up one of the little ducklings with his sharp beak. I cringed watching it wriggle.
As the gull took flight, a woman flew from her own nest, a riverside holiday home, her dog straining at its lead, shouting at the gull, “You B*****d Seagull!”
As if the gull cared. He didn’t.
The seagull plopped down into the dark river water to finish his breakfast. Naturally, he couldn’t care less about the woman shouting from the bank or the mother duck grieving her lost one. Because to him, what he did was natural.
Nature is tough; it’s a dog-eat-dog world or a seagull-eat-ducklings world. It can be shocking to see, but it’s something we have to accept.
I once saved an injured pigeon from a seagull attack by hooting my car horn. Who did I think I was, interfering with nature? It is our natural instinct to help others, but I didn’t help the seagull, and the pigeon probably wouldn’t have survived anyway.
As humans, we need to stop messing with nature and imposing what we think is best in such situations. Nature isn’t always pretty or kind. I’m not saying we should always turn the other cheek. I am sure that if I could save a duckling or a pigeon, or any creature I probably would. They have a right to live. But so do the seagulls, herons, cormorants, otters and all creatures of the river.
Whatever humans think, chips and breadcrumbs aren’t the healthiest snacks.
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