Dogs and Nature

The most thrilling moment I had with the non-human world took place some years ago when I was camping, but it did not involve any animal life that I had encountered camping. Rather, it involved my uncle’s dog and his father-in-law’s dog. I woke up early one morning to just take a walk, because everyone else was asleep, including my uncle’s dog. When I stepped out of the tent, however, I encountered his father-in-law’s dog, growling, showing its teeth, and drooling. I did not know what to do, and just stood there, motionless. In an instant, my uncle’s dog, which had been asleep, leaped out of the tent, confronted the other dog. It barked and charged the other dog. All the while, I was just standing there. My uncle’s dog then walked back and forth across me, chased the other dog away, then came back and licked me. It was startling. So much had happened. For one, the situation was completely resolved by animals. I was a “passenger” to the whole thing. Second, it was extraordinary to see the interaction of the two dogs, and understand that there was more than simple aggressiveness. There was a substantial amount of communication going on, which I did not understand, but they did. Granted, dogs are not as smart as humans, but it showed me how complex their world can be.

Whether or not nature should be saved, I think, is a simple question. What does that mean? It is very vague, because the problem seems so hopelessly complex and enormous. Obviously, as the readings said, and as anyone can judge, not all the animal life will survive, so to hope that we can save every single species is out of the question. From here, however, there are no clear-cut solutions. The natural systems are so complex that we do not fully know what is going on, only that there are a lot of interconnected factors. So I would agree with one of the readings that we should study these systems more so, to prioritize what needs to be done. But to what extent can even the prioritized species survive if changing climate and reduced land for wildlife do not ensure a secure area? Sitting back, however, can accomplish little, because there is the massive potential to lose very valuable linkages in the system that can bring the whole work down. Not to sound selfish, but apart from all the beauty, humanity depends enormously on the complex linkages of actions and species in ecosystems, so to the extent that we can preserve these, we should, because our own way of living depends on them.