I’m in love with nature. I’m not talking about bluebird days and beautiful sunsets, though I surely do love those. I’m talking about real nature — when those bluebirds and all other critters grapple in life and death struggles to survive.
Life in the food chain is far rougher than anything people can come up with on Los Angeles or New York City streets. In nature, there is only one law, and death is the only enforcer. It is the law of survival. I celebrate that we made it to the top of the food chain, and I find it satisfying to study the ongoing battles around us — especially in the air.
Here’s a strange but true story that I had to be really focused to observe fully, and afterward it left me wondering what all I had missed.
I heard a momentary buzzing sound and turned my head to watch a small bird in hot aerial pursuit of a nice juicy-sized flying insect. Those two acrobats pulled off some maneuvers in midair that would have astounded a Top Gun combat pilot. That bird was literally an inch behind the bug, so the insect flitted into a low bush to evade the bird between branches. That maneuver slowed them both down and a cat jumped, quick as a flash, and got a claw into the bird, dragging it down. One foot later, the bug slammed into a large spider’s nest, ending its chances for any escape. I was awestruck by the interdependencies of all of those critters.
While I’m recalling and recounting such stories, here’s another. One day during a walk through my local creek bed, I stopped to observe a fresh hatch of small insects. There were hundreds of them, all flying together in a loose cloud-shaped formation. After watching them for about a minute, one side of that formation seemed to freeze in midair and struggle in place while the rest flew on. The still ones had flown too close to a spider’s web and several dozens of them became stuck. I could danged near hear that spider holler, “Score! I’ve got the rest of the week off!”
Some of the battles are long-standing and have to do with interactions between species, such as the bad blood between owls and several species of smaller and more maneuverable species such as scrub jays. Those owls will eat the young of the smaller birds, and that’s the reason for the feud. Or maybe the owl’s hooting all night disturbs the rest of the other birds and they exact their sleep-depraved revenge during the day when the owl is trying to get some rest.
One thing I’ve learned is that in some ways, critters aren’t all that different from us. Well, except that we’ve got lots of laws and enforcers. Critters have just the one law.
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.