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Well let’s get into this with two general statements. In response to a question from a class I said a Universal Rule #1 of Mother Nature is that There Shall Be No Slaughter in nature.May I suggest Universal Rule #2? How about, “There Shall Be No Waste.
In my first piece on “Winter in Yellowstone,” I got a little dramatic (a writer can do that) and said, Winter is a Time of Dying.” I can give facts to support that statement, but the trick with science is not getting what is right from what is wrong, but distinguishing what is right from what is more right. A better science (fact based) statement would have been “a time of dying and a time for living.” Did I confuse you?
Now you can get this. The number one problem in winter for animals is getting food and water. Snow covers the ground (can be over 10 feet in parts of Yellowstone), ground freezes (like cement) and water freezes. So does this mean all animals have hardship? Do all animals eat grasses and roots under the soil? Sure this is a bad break for the Artiodactyla, Lagomorpha, and Rodentia, but picnic time for the Canidae. Wolves love the cold, the freezing, and the snow. What better news for our friend the wolf than hearing on local news, 24 inches of snow is coming?
Winter brings slow starvation for the elk, moose, bison, and deer. Starvation makes them weak, slow, and tired. For a wolf, this is a gift from heaven. And, it is not just the wolf that gets this gift but all carnivores and scavengers. The benefit is there for the crow and eagle, fox and coyote, vulture and hawk, and even our friends the Ursidae (well before they go into hibernation). In a place like Yellowstone, winter for predators is like Thanksgiving but going on for nearly five whole months.
As a harsh winter takes existence from the elk and his close family members, their death gives and sustains life for others. So a condition that brings grief and hardship to some species in nature will bring joy and good fortune to others. In Yellowstone and the northern climates, its winter; in Africa, and similar climate zones, it’s the dry season. Very different environments, but nature follows the same script. What can kill some, gives existence to others, from death comes life. Nothing goes to waste, ever. Nothing is really lost.
Now, reflect back on the animal survey. If we can call the wolf an “agent of death” for some animals (again dramatic language, but I explained that earlier) besides the wolf which animals benefit (the wolf can rarely eat all of a single kill) so who keeps their eyes on the wolf, where she goes, what she kills? Who is sleeking in the background? Think they were none-to-happy to see the wolf back in Yellowstone?
OK, this was all general stuff; next piece will get into survival tactics: (perhaps avoiding dramatic language). You may like that better than this piece, but I think you needed to have this idea.
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