We went to my parents house for the traditional Sunday Lunch today, and Mum was telling about the SparrowHawk they had seen on the lawn yesterday.
Now Mum, and Dad put loads of 'Fat Ball', 'Bird Feeders', fruit etc out on their garden to encourage the birds to visit. So the clever old 'SparrowHawk' realises that this is probably a good feeding ground for him also, as there's plenty of his type of food all in one place to feed on. Anyway, apparently, yesterday Mum had seen the 'SparrowHawk' on the lawn with a 'Sparrow' under its talons, frantically flapping in a vain effort to escape. I commented on what a privilege it must have been to see nature at its cruelest first hand in your back garden - to which Mum retorted in disgust, at the 'poor little sparrow' flapping around, and how the bloody 'SparrowHawk' had killed it.
I attempted to explain that the 'Sparrowhawk' was only doing what it needed to eat, and that it's not something it would have done just for pleasure. To which Mum instantly replied,
"Well I wish I'd had a gun, as I'd have shot that bloody Hawk myself !"
..... So Mother's logic works that it's not alright for a Bird to kill one of its own in an effort to survive, but that it's alright for her to kill one for no other reason than she doesn't agree with the laws of nature !!
1 comment:
Ahh - one of my favourite topics. Nature is cruel - no doubt about it. This morning I took a dead blue tit off the feral cat that lives in our garden. It pisses me off but then I realise that's the cat's job. No malice - just survival. She also tops all the mice - not seen any for ages - so swings and roundabouts. But you are right - a medium sized raptor will kill around 2000 small animals each year. Unfortunately most of us get it wrong when we feed birds. Usually we feed in exposed areas, or close to cover - perfect for cats. A cat will catch his target easily, launching from up to 12 feet or so into a group of birds feeding on the ground. And don't forget window strikes which take millions of birds in this country alone - from time to time, after they have a feed they fly straight into your window ffs (I put up garden mesh to catch them before they kill themselves - don't know if it works yet).
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