Good Evening Friends, One of the things that I love about living with the animals that we do is watching the inter-species relationships that go on. Animals that would be “natural enemies” in the wild, become snuggle buddies once the fear of going hungry is taken away. It is funny to see the looks on people’s faces when they see a raccoon and a fox, or a cat and a skunk napping together. “Aren’t they enemies?” As humans, we tend to think of things in terms of how our society works, not how things are in nature. We call things certain words because we understand those words, but sometimes the meaning for us is very different than the meaning in nature. Take the term “natural enemy” for instance. As humans, the only part of that which we really hear is the “enemy” part. In human terms, the definition of “enemy” is “a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.” So there is some hostility between enemies, right? Well, in the wild world, an enemy is typically just one that competes for the same food source that you do. They don’t real feel one way or the other about their “enemies” unless that enemy is after their food source. Otherwise, they are perfectly happy to live and let live and just ignore each other. For most animals, once you take away the competition for food, there really is no other reason to be enemies. Maybe better way to think of it , in more human terms, might be “natural competitor”, they are simply competing for the same foods. I think this would explain what is going on in a way that we can more understand more clearly. Saying “enemy” implies wanting ill for the other and really, that isn’t what animals want, they just want the food to be theirs. It’s survival, plain and simple. Have a beautiful night all, and remember to bring your furry friends inside!
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 02:02:01 +0000
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