Back on 26 June I posted this blog. I wanted to include a picture of the predator, and I just got that picture from Andrew, pro Photographer.
This morning we got to see something that might make a few of you queasy. From the safety of our auto we saw an African predator, devour his kill.
Well, that is a bit misleading. To be honest, and folks with a weak stomach might want to look away, he ate it while it was still living.
When I first saw it, I said approximately, "It's got something in its mouth!"
As we got closer, we could tell it was a small rodent. The tail was still moving, so there was no doubt it was still alive. The thought of rescue never entered our minds. Even predators have to eat. Who are we to interfere with, "Nature, red in tooth and claw" as Tennyson said it so well.
Nature can be cruel from our perspective. But that is not nearly the problem. Man's cruelty makes anything done by animals to pale in comparison. Humans are amazingly cruel. I guess I should not be surprised. Man is broken, man is fallen, man is a sinner. As I have noted before, anyone who denies the sinful nature of man, just ain't paying attention.
Because we are sinners, we need saving from our own nature. Fortunately, the good news again, is that Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
For the less squeamish, the predator was a Brownheaded kingfisher.
Andrew took some good pictures of that Brown-headed kingfisher and its kill, a vole, mole, mouse or other small rodent, but those won't be available for a while.
I have been fortunate to live in, or at least near, nature for most of my life. Every fall season, I spend hours and hours out in the woods. Often I hear people romanticize nature. They talk as if kingfishers never ate little mice. They suppose wolves never kill elk calves and foxes never eat little rabbits.
Bad news, friends, nature is fallen along with us. Nature red in tooth and claw is a lot more realistic than the Bambi story.
Nature needs to be redeemed, just like us. Just ask that baby mouse.
This morning we got to see something that might make a few of you queasy. From the safety of our auto we saw an African predator, devour his kill.
Well, that is a bit misleading. To be honest, and folks with a weak stomach might want to look away, he ate it while it was still living.
When I first saw it, I said approximately, "It's got something in its mouth!"
As we got closer, we could tell it was a small rodent. The tail was still moving, so there was no doubt it was still alive. The thought of rescue never entered our minds. Even predators have to eat. Who are we to interfere with, "Nature, red in tooth and claw" as Tennyson said it so well.
Nature can be cruel from our perspective. But that is not nearly the problem. Man's cruelty makes anything done by animals to pale in comparison. Humans are amazingly cruel. I guess I should not be surprised. Man is broken, man is fallen, man is a sinner. As I have noted before, anyone who denies the sinful nature of man, just ain't paying attention.
Because we are sinners, we need saving from our own nature. Fortunately, the good news again, is that Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
For the less squeamish, the predator was a Brownheaded kingfisher.
Andrew took some good pictures of that Brown-headed kingfisher and its kill, a vole, mole, mouse or other small rodent, but those won't be available for a while.
I have been fortunate to live in, or at least near, nature for most of my life. Every fall season, I spend hours and hours out in the woods. Often I hear people romanticize nature. They talk as if kingfishers never ate little mice. They suppose wolves never kill elk calves and foxes never eat little rabbits.
Bad news, friends, nature is fallen along with us. Nature red in tooth and claw is a lot more realistic than the Bambi story.
Nature needs to be redeemed, just like us. Just ask that baby mouse.
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