Wednesday November 23, 2005
Underestimating animals
A flock of geese went overhead the other day, heading south – that classic V-shape of dark birds silhouetted against the sky, wings beating rhythmically…
But there was something strange about them. They weren\’t honking.
Apparently no one knows for sure why geese honk as they fly. It seems to serve no useful purpose. Indeed, it must consume energy that they could better use for flying. But still, geese honk.
I remember being in Hazelton, one March, in northern B.C. The trees were still bare. Late snow still littered last fall\’s leaves. Scarcely a sound broke the lingering grip of winter.
And then, distantly, we heard something. And over the looming hulk of the mountain they call Rocher de Boule came a massive flight of geese, several hundred of them, darkening the sky the way passenger pigeons used to, heading further north.
The sound stirred my heart, awakening primeval passions I hadn\’t known were there.
Animal wisdom
So when I see geese flying without any sound at all, I wonder what\’s wrong. Do they know something I don\’t?
Yes, I know, that\’s a silly question. Of course they know something I don\’t. They know how to fly. And how to navigate long distances without maps or GPS monitors.
We humans arrogantly picture ourselves as the pinnacle of creation, the only beings capable of communication, abstract thought, writing, technology… From that flimsy self-assessment (in which we clearly have a conflict of interest) we conclude that other creatures are not capable of rational thought, of emotions, and even of feeling pain.
Not that long ago, veterinarians performed surgery on animals without anesthetic, sublimely confident that they did not experience pain. Labs that test chemicals and cosmetics still routinely treat animals as if they didn\’t suffer.
Yet no human pilot could land on a swaying twig, in a gusty wind, and stay upright. No human technology can detect drugs or scents as well as a dog\’s nose. Humans have yet to develop a fibre proportionately as strong as a spider\’s silk.
In many ways, animals are superior to us.
Do animals worship To receive this column regularly via e-mail, send a request to [email protected]. E-mail subscribers also get excerpts from correspondence about these columns. Please forward a copy of this column to anyone who might be interested in subscribing.
If you want to order my books, you can call 1-800-663-2775 in Canada, 1-800-328-0200 in the U.S., or order them on-line at the Wood Lake Books website.
For a lighter look at ethics, faith, and life, I recommend Ralph Milton\’s weekly e-newsletter Rumors. You can subscribe to it at the Wood Lake Books home page in Ralph Milton\’s Site, or by sending a note directly to [email protected].
It\’s also worth pursuing Richard Fairchild\’s United Online site. Another site worth visiting is David Keating\’s \”SeemslikeGod\” page.
David Butler-Jones, the Public Health Officer for Canada (when I don\’t know many important people, I might as well name-drop when I can!) told me about visiting a remote lake.
“Usually,” he said, “you see loons alone, or in pairs. But one time, on a canoe trip, we saw at least a dozen loons, gathered in a circle, with their young ones in the middle. They were all facing each other. Every now and then, one of them would rise higher in the water, and call, and the others responded.
“I don\’t know what they were doing. But it was obviously important to them, whatever it was.”
David calls us “anthropocentric.” It means that we humans see ourselves as the center of the universe.
We have learned that the universe does not circle around our insignificant planet. We have yet to accept that life on this planet does not circle around us human beings.
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Copyright © 2002 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups permitted; all other rights reserved.
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