Peace. That is an honorable goal in life. We should really work on just getting along. The lion laying down beside the lamb. It is a nice notion. Reality is a whole different thing! I looked out my window this morning just in time to witness a hawk landing on top of a pole at the end of my driveway. I scurried first to find the binoculars, then the camera. Lots of people like to see hawks. What is not to love about them? They are big and powerful, they can soar for hours. They have vision that beats our by a mile, literally. As I was watching this miracle of nature, I realized it was eating. So that meant one of those defenseless little birds or cute fluffy bunnies in my yard was no more. It gave me pause. Nature is not so peaceful. Most of the young of any species do not make it to adulthood to reproduce. That is the way it is supposed to work. Everything has to eat, lots of them include meat in their diet.

People generally don't think about that part too often, unless lunch consists of part of what they consider their livestock or family. Nature doesn't really care if their next meal comes from the field or your yard. Your chicken is just as filling as a wild pheasant, and probably easier to catch. Eagles, in particular, are known to prey upon cats and small dogs. They also do their fair share of cleaning up roadside kills. So man and beast reside side by side, sometimes benefiting each other, sometimes not.

So where am I going with this? I guess I just am thinking that nothing is as black and white as a Disney movie would like us to think. If every bird that was hatched survived, that would be great...for a short time. Math will tell you that soon we would be overrun. Lack of food, illness, a lot of suffering would happen, It is not how nature is meant to work. Some people think cats should not be outside. Ever. Because they do kill and not always eat, birds. I can only think that these same people must not live on a farm, where the rodent population thrives. There is a balance, and left to it's own devices nature works things out. Except in the case of man. Man could really use some work on the balance part. As for that hawk at the end of my driveway, eat well my friend. And don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't be a hawk.