The contest between predators is as much a part of the world as life and 
death, and so it must be. The hunter who shares her land with other predators 
soon grows weak and dies for lack of prey. That does not mean that all killing 
is right or even justified, even to her. It means that it is better to kill than 
be killed, better to dominate than submit. Were Tikki meant to simply bare her 
throat and let herself be murdered by any animal, two-legged or four. Nature 
would not have given her the soul of a hunter or the weapons with which to hunt.