Bill Smith wrote:

> At lunchtime today we witnessed a disquieting event -- A Varied Thrush,
> also having lunch on the ground under our feeders -- killed by one of our
> local crows who wanted to make lunch out of the thrush. We interrupted his
> feast and buried the poor thrush's still-warm body.

Uh huh. So the crow was still hungry, because you took its meal away
from it, and its only recourse was to kill another poor itty-bitty
songbird to satisfy its hunger.

I don't want to start a long argument that will undoubtedly be filled with
flames and vituperation and righteous indignation, but people have _no
damn business_ interfering with the local ecology. One of the most
fascinating events I ever witnessed was a crow on the Evergreen campus
stealing a nestling Robin, being chased by the adults, but finally laying
the still-warm, still living bird across a limb and start to peck out its
little insides for a meal. My stomach turned slightly as I watched this.
It wasn't a pleasant sight, but I realized I was privileged to see a scene
from the normal interactions that structure our local ecosystem. In the
year 2000, for cryin' out loud, people with some interest in natural
history should have learned to stop anthropomorphizing nature and stop
applying their personal, human ethical standards to situations in which
ethical standards are irrelevant and counterproductive.

Please direct all flames to President Clinton and my lawyer. :-)

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794

Reunite Gondwana!