Evening star., 1949-11-22
This and That
By Charles E. TracsweH
"GEORGETOWN.

People are Mortified when they see
praying mantis eating . butterfly, but do
you think they ought to be?
II had quite an argument over this with
some friends. They said the insect should
be killed, because 1t ate such q pretty but
terfly. and said the prettiness OF the
butterfly had nothing at all to do with 1t.
and that these things had been eating but
terfiies for centuries and there were still
plenty Of butterflies
1T was unusual to see a butterfly 50 late.
It was too bad the mantis got 1t. He was
eating 1t as II he enjoyed 1t. and no doubt
she1didsn How could he know any betterf h
"Are these insects more cruel than other
insects? find them very interesting and
would Like to know what to answer about
them, because 4 am rather Aon' their side
than againsta them. = -. -. 20 81
a. Sincerely. M. M"
#
The question of the natural world. Is it
has been called. Is q large one.
Relativity. Is Lecomte de Nouy points out.
In his excellent book, Human Destiny"
now to be had In a paper book at . cheap
price, comes into play In all facets Of human
life.
Black and white powders, mixed, as he
says, make what seem to human being
a gray powder. but to q tiny insect the
grains would simply be huge boulders,
through and over which 1t must crawl >,
We must never forget, In considering the
animals, the birds. the bees, the fishes. all
living things except man, that they have
their own viewpoints, and their own ways
Of living.
They are very old. too. and no doubt If
they could talk would tell us that the world
does not at all look IS we say It does. and
that our reasoning about things did not
impress them as very good.
They would give hundreds Of examples
of their way Of viewing things, which We.
as thinking beings. would have to admit
were correct-from their viewpoint.
In this way We come to see the danger
viewpoint. II we happen to be sensitive to
such things, we do not like to see one insect
eat another, or one animal catch and devour
another.
Natures way Of providing dinner for its
pure creatures Is extremely odd, to say the
least. We who watch, often with shrinking,
are inclined to believe all nature cruel.
Nothing could be more untrue. Nature has
her own ways and sometimes they are not
our ways, but we are q part OF nature, ana
have murdered our millions In our turn,
and scarce can deprecate too much the
promptiflgs Of the other things OF nature.
What we must not forget is what our
correspondent points out, that the purely
natural ways have been going on for long
time, and have become q sort OF pattern.
That is, each creature learns how to protect
itself, to :. certain extent, from others, else
how would there be any birds, In the face
Of cats-and man? How would there be
any little nsh, II all the big hsh ate them
all? The truth is that the big fish do not
eat all the little fish-most Of them manage
to hide in aquatic plants, or just swim
faster than the larger ones.
There is plan in nature, and 1t is not
always human plan, but In the main It
has worked out so well that often when
we try to experiment, in sending animals
to other countries. or killing OF too many
of the animals we do not like. we so change
natures balance that strange things happen.
As Tom Henry once pointed out, when We
succeeded tn almost eliminating the bobcat
we left place for . new predator. the
homeless wild house cat. Some persons
have thrown up their hands In horror. but
Mr.. Henry pointed out that when the bobcst
went, 1t left . place for another predatory
animal, and that this will do no great harm.
Mature Is delicately and intricately bal
anced." he wrote "and when predatory
creature u eliminated, trouble follows II
nothing Is introduced to take its place"
So one should not shrink too much from
the ways Of the praying mantis, or feel too
upset because some small bit Of destruction
takes place before his eyes. 1t Is all part
of the immortal plan. which, could we see
with the eyes Of the Planner. no doubt
would be seen to be necessary, or at least
not as bad as kindly human being u
sometimes inclined to think.
The mantis would say, "Oh, don't worry.
these butterflies are not worth worrying over.
There are too many Of them, IN the nrst
place, and IN the second, they are terribly
dry. I prefer hNmuingbirds."