Tags
Alberta, Calgary, Canada, death, Diana Schwenk, Hump Day Chronicles, life, Life's like that, magpies, nature, pigeons, predators, prey, road kill, squirrels, summer, Wild Kingdom
When I was a kid I used to watch Wild Kingdom every week in spite of the fact that I was mortified every time a predator caught and killed its prey.
As a child, I would yell out, “Why doesn’t the camera man do something??”
My parents would explain that nature was like that.
The lion ate the gazelle.
And when the lion died, his decaying body fed the vultures.
And what was left provided nutrients to the soil and the rich plant life that resulted, fed the gazelle.
“But it’s horrible,” I cried. “Why does it have to be like that?”
Many years have passed since I’ve watched Wild Kingdom…well on TV anyway.
It seems my street has become a Wild Kingdom kill zone.
Almost every morning when I open the drapes, magpies are brutally attacking squirrels. Coming at them from the air. Chasing them under cars, across the street and into trees.
But nothing could prepare me for what I would witness on Sunday
It was a lazy morning. I slept in until nine and spent the morning puttering around, cleaning this and that while listening to my favourite CDs.
It was a perfect day for that. It was raining outside with occasional lightning and thunder.
It was noon before I finally showered and got dressed. By this time, the sun made an appearance and the sky began to clear.
A perfect afternoon for a walk toward the Bow River, I thought.
I stepped out into the sunlight and walked the pathway to my street. Birds were happily chirping, as they seem to do after it rains.
Three pigeons congregated on the street to my right and I could hear a car approaching on my left.
I waited and stepped off the curb to cross the street as the car passed.
Halfway to the other side, I heard it.
A thud, a squirting, squashing sound.
A very disturbing sound.
Two pigeons took flight.
Feathers seemed to explode into the air.
One pigeon remained on the road.
Twisted. Broken. Dead. Killed by the passing car.
The driver didn’t seem to notice.
I stood in the middle of the road – traumatized – sick to my stomach and somewhat in shock while the magpies screamed their screeching delight, waiting for me to leave so they could feast.
I guess I still have a hard time with this aspect of nature.
~~~~~~~~~~~
On a lighter note, I walked to the river and captured these less disturbing photos to share with you.
~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~
Do you live in an urban setting? If so, do you also witness Wild Kingdom behavior on your street? And when you do, are you as squeamish about it as I am?
Wyrd Smythe said:
Ah, Lady Di — such a gentle soul and sensitive heart you have, my dear!
Me, I’m totally in touch with my carnivorous nature, so I see it as far more “cycle of life” sort of thing. My setting here is suburban verging into farmland and woods, so I see more wildlife and am closer to food sources than most city dwellers. There is something kinda cool about cooking and eating a fish you just caught. Can’t beat the freshness, for one thing!
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dianasschwenk said:
Yeah, I’m a big baby haha. Fresh food is indeed delicious. 😀
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Minuscule Moments said:
Diana I was the same as a child i would try to fix things in nature and my father use to say just let things be. When i see an animal or bird in pain I feel it intensely. Especially the road kill, it makes me sad. Nature has her cycle as cruel as it is, it works I guess.
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dianasschwenk said:
Or is there room for compassion is in nature? Like when one species cares for another, as I have witnessed at times ❤
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Minuscule Moments said:
Indeed, animals are evolving with us Diana.
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rachelcarrera said:
Yes, that bothers me greatly. I recently was out taking a walk when I saw a car hit and kill a duck… who was walking with his mate (ducks make partners for life), and the other duck was so upset! I kept trying to shoo her out of the middle of the road while my sister called the game people to come collect the body. It was so sad how upset the survivor was! It made me cry. 😦
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dianasschwenk said:
Aww that is sooooooo sad Rachel! HUGS* ❤
Diana xo
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Cecilia said:
What a touching post! Thanks for sharing.
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Cecilia and welcome to TALKTODIANA! When I originally pressed publish on this one, I almost wished I hadn’t because I usually write more positive posts. 🙂
❤
Diana xo
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Healing Grief said:
I am with you Diana, it’s hard to see. I always remember the movie ‘Avatar’ In one part of the movie the girl character goes over to a dead animal and thanks the animal and gently releases it’s spirit. It was so beautiful, because it showed me how connected we are to every living being. You have the gift of compassion and love Diana! 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
Just like our First Nations people Karen! I’ve never seen Avatar, wonder if it’ll ever be on TV as I don’t really buy movies or go to the theatre often… ❤
Diana xo
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Wendy L. Macdonald said:
Diana, thanks for making me feel normal. ❤ I wrote a haiku last night after noticing an injured robin hopping around our garden. It couldn't fly, but it was still hunting for worms. This morning I thought it had died since it was lying still as a statue on the grass. But an hour later it was hopping around eating bugs again. We have a lot of trees and shrubs it can hide under. I can't believe how attached our family can get to the wild things around here. We lost a couple of wild bunnies to an unknown predator. So sad. Nature is not tame. Maybe we should stick to Winnie the Pooh reruns and not look out our windows? 😉
Blessings & hugs ~ Wendy ❀
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dianasschwenk said:
I’m so glad the robin was ok Wendy. ❤
I've been looking out the window as far back as I can remember haha – hard habit to change.
Diana xo
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Jennifer's Journal said:
OMG, Diana. I totally understand your distress! That would have devastated me to say the least, I’m sure. Just today, Vivian caught a vole, which looks just like a hamster except its the colour of a mouse or a rat, but the little thing was quite alive when I saw it and sitting up in front of Viv, seemingly unharmed. Squeamish me got Paul to rescue it from the jaws of death. I think it was in shock. Both cats kill these voles often, (they are plentiful) but I still want to save them.
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dianasschwenk said:
Aww. Do your cats bring them to you as gifts Jennifer? ❤
Diana xo
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Jennifer's Journal said:
Afraid so. But we’ve seen crows collect the bodies!
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dianasschwenk said:
Oh my!
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Jennifer's Journal said:
By the way, I just read this to Paul and he, like me, was blown away by your writing style. Very entertaining, my dear! You have a gift. ❤
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dianasschwenk said:
Coming from you that means so much! Thank you Paul and Jennifer. 😀
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Jean said:
Urban home near a long linear park by river. I haven’t actually witnessed the actual death-hit of a wild animal. But I see wild jackrabbits jumping around.
And yea, just 2 wks. ago in the local cycling community, there was chatter about baby ducklings run down by a bike. A lot of them with parents, are congregating all across the paths.
A few months ago, the bus narrowly missed a huge dead wild deer on the highway when we were going to Lake Louise.
Nature runs its um..cycle of life and death. The horrible thing for us humans, is to read people killed by car drivers and the driver takes off. The hit-and-run.
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dianasschwenk said:
I can’t imagine how horrifying it would be to witness a hit and run Jean! ❤
Diana xo
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Chatter Master said:
I know these things happen, but I don’t want to see it……
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dianasschwenk said:
I’m with you on that Colleen! ❤
Diana xo
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vanbytheriver said:
Sorry, Diana. But all I could think of was a quote from Jurassic Park..”I bet you’ll never look at birds the same way again.” Alan Grant
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dianasschwenk said:
ha! But that movie they were super predators, right van? ❤
Diana xo
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vanbytheriver said:
Yep, pterodactyls, I think. ☺
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elizabeth2560 said:
I live on the outskirts of town and road-kill is a big problem. I need to block out the emotions every time I see that, in order to justify living in an area that previously was a safe place for these animals.
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dianasschwenk said:
Aww hugs to you Elizabeth. ❤
Diana xo
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Alan A. Malizia: Contagious Optimism! Co-Author said:
Diana,
I can appreciate your sentiments. Death comes in many forms. Those that occur by accident and disease can be sad and disturbing. Yet, death that comes by sinister design shakes us to the core. Those South Carolina church members who lost their lives at the hands of an unstable individual sadly is an example of our modern day “Wild Kingdom.”
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dianasschwenk said:
So very true Alan. ❤
Diana xo
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markbialczak said:
We have much nature here in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, Diana. Insects, frogs, rabbits, birds small and large, squirrels, gophers, skunk, raccoons. Of course domesticated cats and dogs who get out and roam. I try not to cue in an any feeding cycles, though. I am surprised that said pigeon didn’t fly away from your quite nasty driver on your block! I wonder if it were hurt beforehand and couldn’t flee. I do not consider a jerk behind the wheel of a car killing animals part of the wild kingdom, by the way. On the highway, when a deer runs in front of you and you can’t help it, forgiven. Otherwise, unwanted outside force! ❤
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dianasschwenk said:
I don’t think he knew he hit it and all three pigeons did not fly away. The two who flew away were missed by the wheels is all. They took off when the car went on. ❤
Diana xo
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billgncs said:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”
Sorry you had to witness that Diana.
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Bill, so true! ❤
Diana xo
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Val Boyko said:
It hurts so, because you care.
That photo looks like bull baiting rather than mother nature…. I feel sick to my stomach.
I care too. It hurts so.
Hugs to us both (hands on heart and deep breaths)
xo
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Val. ❤
Diana xo
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Ian Munro @ leadingessentially.com said:
What came to me is that nature does this out of necessity, but sometimes humans do it, even to each other, for sport or sometimes unintelligible reasons. Sigh……..
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dianasschwenk said:
True Ian. But when a new male lion takes over a pride, for example, he will kill all the previous offspring. It is to perpetuate his lineage though. Makes me think of all the stories of overthrown kings and how their families were wiped out when the new king stepped in. We would call that power hungry, right? But perhaps it also has its roots in nature… ❤
Diana xo
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Don said:
I with you Diana. Have always found it hard to come to terms with.
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dianasschwenk said:
It’s crazy, right? And it’s only a bird, but it’s so brutal! ❤
Diana xo
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Deb Weyrich-Cody said:
(Just so you know, I had a fairly visceral reaction to your post and I tacked this sentence on after shooting from the lip): My apologies in advance…
Wow Diana, do you not eat? I’m fairly certain I’ve heard you mention having barbecue.
Birth, life, death: they’re all part of a natural cycle of things and everything that lives, eats something else to stay alive. Can you stop and imagine, just for a second, what would happen if nothing were eaten after it died? We’d be up to our earlobes in carcasses in no time flat. Or what would happen if nothing ever died and all life went on forever? The planet would be overrun; disease and mass starvation would result…
You are correct, Death is not pleasant; but it is necessary, just as much as the cleanup crew.
I’m sorry every time I find a bird or bunny who’s been hit on the road and I will lay them gently in the ditch, if at all possible; but life is finite, and does end, one way or another.
Meanwhile, many hugs to you my equally Sensitive friend… Chin up and carpe deum!; )
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dianasschwenk said:
I know Deb. I know this in my head. But my heart hurts none the less. I was mortified. ❤
Diana xo
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earthriderjudyberman said:
Diana … We have Sandhill Cranes and Ibis walking our streets. In our back yard, on our pond, we’ve had Great Blue Heron and, not recently – thank heavens – we’ve had bobcat (or some huge wild cat) and alligators. (One of those wild cats was dead in the median not far from our home. Development has pushed them out of their habitat and they move to the suburbs. At one mobile home park, the wild cat was treating the duck pond like its personal buffet.)
But our Wild Kingdom encounter was at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Several years ago, we saw a Mama duck quacking furiously at her little ones and trying to get them out of harm’s way (a predator bird). I clapped my hands and shouted at the predator at it dived toward the ducklings. That scared it off. But I couldn’t stick around because I knew it would be back and I didn’t want to witness the carnage.
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dianasschwenk said:
It’s so hard to watch Judy! ❤
Diana xo
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earthriderjudyberman said:
❤
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Louise Gallagher said:
Me too — I love you, Diana!
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dianasschwenk said:
I love you too, Louise! ❤
Diana xo
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Don Royster said:
I would say that it is time to give up watching “Wild Kingdom”.
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dianasschwenk said:
I did. Years ago. Should I stop looking out my window? 😉
Diana xo
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Don Royster said:
That might help. 🙂
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cyclingrandma said:
We’re in the suburbs but sometimes deer families appear, walking down the street as if on their way to church or somewhere. We’ve had a bear roaming about. Lots of squirrels, etc. When biking, I try to avoid the road kill– the smells can be overwhelming. Our favorite thing is to watch how the geese and ducks interact with each other on our little lake– not urban wild, but fascinating nature.
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dianasschwenk said:
Lisa, that sounds serene and lovely. ❤
Diana xo
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Ann Koplow said:
I love you, Diana!
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dianasschwenk said:
Love you too Ann! M<3
Diana xo
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