Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw

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(~4 minutes to read)

Here at the Hatchery (an appropriate name, given the topic), we’ve been watching a pair of American robins attend to their young the last couple of weeks. The eggs hatched about a week ago, and the four nestlings have been waited on wing and claw ever since. I set up a video camera at a respectable distance and left it running for an hour or so to capture the fun.

For a first effort at nature video, it was quite acceptable. Branches and leaves prevented an unimpeded view, but I still got good footage of four scrawny necks straining to get the owners’ beaks close enough to mum (or dad) to get first dibs on the worm or bug.

This has been going on in thirty degree heat, wind, and this morning, lightning and rain. Poor birds—no Gore-Tex or sou’westers; they don’t even have a tarp to pull over the nest. Mrs. H. remarked that thunder and lightning might frighten birds: my totally uninformed response was that it’s nature, and that they deal with it.

That’s when Mrs. H. hit me with the phrase, “Nature, red in tooth and claw”. Actually, she hit me with a book of quotations, and then showed me the page containing that gem. Ignoramus that I am, I’d never heard the phrase, but when I found out that it comes from a poem, I stopped beating myself up… I just don’t “get” poetry.

How totally detached from “nature” our lives are, by comparison. It rains; we go indoors or use a brolly or don rainwear (unless we’re teenagers). The wind blows; we fold up our brolly—maybe we put on a sweater. Thunder and lightning will likely send us diving under the bed for cover.

Far too few of us stay outside and enjoy the weather. There’s something magical about just “being” in windy and/or rainy weather. And I confess to being a fatalist when it comes to lightning—I’m not prepared to take all the precautions recommended by the experts. (Additional link)

One of the things I learned from my bird-watching was that the nestlings eliminate their waste in fecal sacs that mama or dada either eat or carry away from the nest. At just a few days old, the baby knows to present its rear end and drop its load into mama’s beak. Apparently, it’s a way to keep the nest in a sanitary condition. The footage of this is fascinating, and absolutely gross when played backwards.

Meanwhile, Over at Bored Panda…

In my quest for material for these articles I visit a number of different kinds of sites. A couple of days ago I spotted a post headed “10+ Hilarious Pics That Show What Happens When You Leave Your Kids Alone”

There followed page after page of photos of various domestic armageddons. Bathrooms wrecked by bubbles and marker pens; pets decorated with marker pens; little brothers’ faces decorated with marker pens; furniture, TVs, computer screens, floors and walls decorated with paint, food, and in one memorable picture, poo.

As an uninvolved observer, I have to confess that many of the pictures were funny. The coloured dalmations, for example, were hilarious, as advertised.

I didn’t check to see if their teeth and claws had been coloured red though.

But…

That kids would get it in their heads to even think of doing these things surprises me. That the parents would have the presence of mind to take a picture of the crime scene shocks me. That the parents would then share their little hooligans’ work with the world just blows me away.

And some of the parents actually admit to their kids being repeat offenders—really?!?

If a three day-old bird can do its part to keep the house tidy, why can’t parents train their kids to do the same?

Parenting criticism is right up there with politics and religion when it comes to touchy subjects, but there are some parenting rules that are, or should be, universal. Here are a few.

  1. You, the parent, are in charge (for the time being—the state is seeking to usurp you). Your child learns right and wrong from you, and they can learn it from a surprisingly early age. I speak not as a professionally-trained expert, but as an experienced parent of offspring who have never covered a big screen TV in latex paint or smeared poop over the kitchen cupboards.
  2. Your job is to teach your kid how to be a useful human being. He/she is not your personal entertainer. Laugh at something they shouldn’t have done and they’ll do it again. And again.
  3. Children prefer consistent mentoring and boundary lines that aren’t blurred or grey. If your two year-old is throwing a hissy fit because you won’t let them do or have something, then medical conditions aside, it’s possible you didn’t set clear boundaries much earlier in life.
  4. See rule number 1.

I wasn’t and am not a perfect parent. But Mrs. H. and I learned the above rules from our parents and by osmosis and careful thinking, and we applied them to our own parenting. We were able to manage our kids’ behaviour before their first birthday. They weren’t abused, repressed, oppressed, or even merely pressed. They grew up to be useful, respectful, compassionate, well-educated, successful humans. It was tough in the early months, but we would do it the same way again.

But there’s no way I would have put their poo in my beak to dispose of it.

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