Driving through a residential neighborhood not far from Hollister and Patterson, while taking my granddaughter home after a Starbucks treat, a high-speed, life-and-death critter encounter situation unfolded right in front of us. The best part was, we had a chance to influence the outcome.
I slowed down when a young tree squirrel ran across the road about 20 yards ahead. It was a fast dash across the street, and then the little critter hopped up on the curb next to a bush and paused to take a look around.
A crow blasted out of a tree nearby and made a dive on that squirrel, looking to grab it with its long hard beak. The squirrel took three quick jumps to avoid that scary beak, while the crow strategically positioned itself between the squirrel and the bush to block the obvious escape route.
After scanning for other traffic and finding none, I made a quick maneuver to rush the scene with my vehicle. It had the desired effect of spooking the crow which flew back up into the tree. The squirrel raced to the relative security of the bush, where it hopefully stayed until it couldn’t hear any crows cawing nearby.
And so, the life-and-death reality of the animal world was altered by mankind yet again. When I do something like this to save one critter from another, my first reaction is to jab a celebratory fist into the air and cheer.
Is that really the right attitude to have? A small percentage of young critters survive to reach the reproductive age. We have no real shortage of either tree squirrels or crows, so it’s not like an act to protect an endangered species.
Logically, I’m just as much on the side of a predator as I am on the side of the prey. I understand nature well enough to know I should have stayed out of that encounter and let the chips fall where they may.
We humans are not always good about leaving nature to remain a constant life-and-death struggle, perhaps because we have a kindness in our nature. I should have known better, and my regular readers know me well enough to know that by relating this story, I am both sharing a cute critter story and kicking myself in the butt for influencing the outcome.
In my defense, I quote my cartoon hero of old by saying, “Aye am what aye am, and that’s all that aye am!” [Popeye the Sailor Man, of course]
— 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.
