Nature and Human Nature

We have two dogs, a West Highland Terrier and a Cairn Terrier. They look the same and act somewhat the same. That is, they’re terriers and they’ll bark at anything, a dog, a person, a deer, a bear (that can be helpful), and a black garbage bag waiting for pickup which can be of particular concern because it can’t be identified, like a creak in the night. They’ll chase anything and, upon threat of death, will not return. Squirrels and rabbits are favourites, other dogs, even large scary dogs. They especially like to put the run on a dog. It’s like the killer instinct has taken over their beings and I’m left yelling like a banshee while simultaneously apologizing to the other dog owner. They’ve chased deer which really isn’t a good idea because a buck will toss a dog with its antlers.

Pippa and Baby Finian

They’re the same but also different. Pippa, the Cairn Terrier likes to cuddle and lie on the backs of the couch and chairs. Finian, the Westie, doesn’t cuddle and only sits beside you if he wants you to pet him and he won’t stop pawing you to continue petting him until you just have to tell him to stop. They both like to retrieve the ball but Pippa wants you to chase her and Finian wants you to throw it again but he won’t bring it right to you. You have to go get it from him even if it’s only a few feet away. Finian barks like crazy when we’re about to go for a walk. Pippa makes a weird whining noise like nothing like you’ve ever heard and I can’t really describe it. They’re different but they’re still pals. 

Pippa on the back of a chair

In Greece, we saw a lot of cats. I mean a lot. They all looked healthy, not the scrawny things like you see in Egypt or Malaysia or the wild animal market in China. We watched the waiter in one of the restaurants we ate at take a plate of leftovers around the corner of the patio followed by five cats of various colours and sizes. Another time, we spotted six cats all feeding on kibble someone had dumped on the street. What went through my mind is why individual groups haven’t sponsored a mass castration campaign. It would be much cheaper than spaying the females and it might bring cat numbers under control. 

The proliferation of cats brought up an obviously ongoing controversy between my daughter and her husband with whom we were travelling. My daughter doesn’t get cats while her husband’s parents own both a cat and a dog. He would pet the cats on the street and she would have nothing to do with them. Then, at one of our last Airbnb stays, a small black cat started hanging around the patio with us looking for pets and maybe food but mainly pets. When he appeared on the balcony outside our room my daughter invited him onto her lap. Her husband then accused her of liking cats to which she responded, I like this cat. If all cats were like this cat, then I’d like cats. 

The cat my daughter liked. 

We then discussed the advantages of cats over dogs. My wife said that cats are very different and, the best cats, can be as companionable as the worst dogs. Her cousin and her husband has five cats, one that must remain in the bathroom much of the day because it doesn’t get along with the other four. Some of their cats stay upstairs, some down. 

That’s the thing with animals. Like people, they’re not all the same. Sometimes we forget that. In our new house, we have a momma bear and her two cubs regularly walk through our property, eat berries off the bushes in front of the house, test packages dropped by UPS on our front porch and get on our balcony in the middle of the night to eat bird seed my wife shouldn’t have left there. Our dogs can bark at the bears and the bears will ignore them as well as us having cocktails and appetizers on our back deck as they walk by through our unfenced yard. The bears have their place and we have ours. Crazy bears that attack people for no particular reason can’t be tolerated but the rest, seem nice and almost cuddly. 

Baby bear in front of our house

Werner Herzog produced a film called “Grizzly Man” about Timothy Treadwell who lived amongst grizzly bears in the wilderness of Alaska Treadwell thought the bears were his friends until one fall day, he and his girlfriend were mauled to death by one. Of the incident and the grizzly bear in general, Werner says, “And what haunts me, is that in all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature.” He concludes by saying that, “I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder.” 

Grizzly Man from the movie.

Werner may say that of bears and by extension, people, but I disagree. There’s always a balance between the chaos and harmony. For example, the Greek world began with chaos before order and, by extension, harmony could prevail. However, even with order, there was always conflict. 

Our dogs have their conflicts but generally, they live in harmony. They have their own games. The ball game involves my throwing it and, if Pippa retrieves it, getting Finian to chase her and then, eventually giving it to Finian who gives it to me so that I can throw it and the game can begin all over again. Sometimes their game is simply to attack the other and it can sound ferocious but it’s always a game. 

In nature, there’s always predator and prey and perhaps, this is the game they’re playing. Hopefully, in this world of ever greater political acrimony, we can continue to play the game and not move to the ever-dangerous world of predator and prey where conflict becomes deadly and harmony returns to chaos. My dogs live in harmony as do we with the bears and the cats in Greece. Hopefully, within this world of political animus, the people can too.