Herons
I often think about balance, especially the balance between acceptance of nature, including humankind, and dominance by humankind. We all see examples of what we consider the appropriate balance versus inappropriate dominance of humankind, which has the danger of destroying the beauty of nature. For example, our treatment of wolves has often seemed to me inappropriate and unnecessary.
On my most recent trip to Bermuda, I spent some time in a small garden area. The garden was filled with beautiful tropical flowers and a small pond filled with goldfish. The gardener was an amiable middle-aged woman who worked really hard to keep everything in order. She had a keen eye for every leaf out-of-place, every dying flower, every blot that might interfere with the beauty and peace of the garden. One day I was chatting with the gardener, when we saw a heron land and start feeding on the goldfish. Herons are large birds, often growing four feet long or more, and, as I learned later, devastating to fish in ponds wherever they are. I was curious to see the gardener's reaction. I imagined she would race to the defense of her goldfish, railing against the evil of the heron. Instead, she was completely calm, accepting that the heron was as much a part of nature (and the garden) as the goldfish. We watched and the heron flew away. I saw it return on several other occasions during my stay and no one ever became upset or took any action to drive the heron away.
As I watched, conflicting thoughts entered my mind. On the one hand, I love to watch birds. I love their freedom and grace and it's hard for me to criticize a bird for being a bird. That is, birds seek out and eat fish and that's all the heron was doing. On the other hand, I felt some regret at the unfairness of it all. The goldfish were out of their natural habitat, brought to an artificial environment and left defenseless against the predations of the heron. I once had a similar problem in a small pond of my own where I went to extraordinary lengths to protect my goldfish against predators. But the more I thought about it the more I agreed with the gardener's reaction.
If we're going to create an artificial environment, whether for fish, birds or mammals, we have to accept that nature may interfere. Birds will eat fish, fish will eat insects, mammals will behave naturally. It's clear to me that we have only two choices: We can make the environment entirely artificial and build walls separating the species, including us. Alternatively, we can keep the environment as natural as possible and enjoy it for what it is: a place where there are predators and prey. They may interact in ways that seem unpleasant to our eyes but are simply natural.
We can create artificial worlds but ultimately nature will prevail. Why not accept and enjoy it?
9-13-04
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