Nature can be cruel

Don M.

SF VIP
Location
central Missouri
We've had a mother rabbit and 3 baby rabbits living in our flower bed for the past couple of weeks. It's been kind of fun watching them. This morning, I was having my morning coffee on the deck, and the mother and one of the babies were walking around. Suddenly, the baby took off and ran into the yard, and almost immediately, an owl swooped down out of the trees, grabbed the baby, and flew away with its "breakfast" in its beak, Kind of sad to watch,
 

We used to have some rabbits in our yard.
One had a litter in our raised flower bed one year.
Now we don’t see many rabbits but there are a lot of stray cats around.
 
This is not directed at the OP or anyone else, but just a quick thought that I had.
Replay the original story in your head, only replace the rabbits with rats. How many of us would be mentally high fiving the owl right now?
Coincidence. I have seen hawks in various NYC parks swoop down & get what appears to be rats or mice. In those circumstances I have concentrated on the beauty and stealth of the hawk. If it were a little kitty or bunny, it would feel bad, but with the rats I can concentrate on the magnificence of the hawk. It really is breath taking!
 
The same with cats. Our cat sometimes brought us a mouse, fortunately on rare occasions. I felt sorry for the mouse, but this is nature. I remember that on one occasion she brought us a still living mouse and let it run in our living room. We had to shift the couch that the cat could get the mouse again.
 
We've had a mother rabbit and 3 baby rabbits living in our flower bed for the past couple of weeks. It's been kind of fun watching them. This morning, I was having my morning coffee on the deck, and the mother and one of the babies were walking around. Suddenly, the baby took off and ran into the yard, and almost immediately, an owl swooped down out of the trees, grabbed the baby, and flew away with its "breakfast" in its beak, Kind of sad to watch,
Yes, nature can be cruel, and it is sad to see something like that. We have many, many rabbits, squirrels, etc. in our area. We have hawks, coyotes, foxes, etc. also. Only the lucky little critters reach old age without interruption, many also get hit by cars in the street.
 
As we're concerned over a baby rabbit, thousands of cattle are being slaughtered for our dinner. It's the same if you were a plant, and a hungry sheep walked by. It's the food chain, and every living thing is part of it. As Don M said, "Nature can be cruel."
That said, I can't watch National Geos wildlife programs. There's always a cute little animal, who we watch all through its life. Then something comes along and rips its head off. That's way too gruesome for me.
 


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