Carnivorous World & the Crowd Mining

In school we learned about biology, bios = life & logia = study of, so it is study of life, though I was good only for the sake of marks. My only distaste was with the Latin names. I still can’t remember any one of them, though my memory is as good as I can remember till 2nd standard. What made me think about biology all of a sudden, is the incessant telecast on NGC & Discovery Channel about Carnivores and the present news of Racist attacks in Australia.

I would like to first talk a little about biology first.
We learned that animals are into two categories, Carnivorous(hunters, eating other animals(Carni & Herbivores, both) and Herbivorous(grass eating). But NGC/Discovery, in India at least as I know, has only Carnivores to show as Nature's Beautiful Creation. NGC/Discovery had, is & will have umpteen shows on similar line. I really never understand this fascination about Carnivorous World. The incessant shows are oft repeat with -

• Crocs – croc saviours, and croc hunting zebras etc.
• Lions – always in groups, never alone and then the chases or basking in Sun
• Tiger – always alone when hunting or basking in Sun or drinking water near a pond
• Leopard – carries its prey up the tree and devours it
• Cheetah – chases its prey for 1 minute which increases its body heat and hence the sprints don't last for more than one minute
• Insects & Ants - The Masters in catching their prey alone, always!
• Some times about the Scavengers.
• If nothing else, it is always about Snakes, their types, comparisons of their venom strengths and death rates.

Gosh! Everything about hunters and hunters only. Not only shown but identified even by a 7 year old is as follows:

• All hunters (even Lions & Tigers, made a metaphor for valor and bravey by us) hunt in hiding, by stalking.
• Most big animals(sparing Elephants, obviously) like big cats etc hunt in groups and herds.
• The smaller ones surprisingly hunt or catch their prey single handedly.

Nature's(if it is GOD's creation; for no debate right now) rule book is absolutely twisted. Size matters, but often ain't helpful. The biggest animal, Elephant is a Herbivore but ants aren't. Housefly lives on microorganisms and garbage but it is always alone, but honey bees, having strong defensive mechanism, still live in colony for fear & unity and attack in groups most often. What is interesting about Carnivores for them is beyond my comprehension, but I can see beauty and fascination in many things that are not Carnivorous in nature. For example the way a Bird builds a nest or medicinal or herbal benefits of plants or creating home appliances for using solar power or recycling things at home and I mean in Indian sense, Western recycling goods are not even available here. I guess there will be atleast 1000 episodes on these topics.

May be it is (some and not all) White Guy's instinct towards destruction. His nursery poems are also destructive like, "Rain, rain, go away" or "London Bridge is Falling down" or "Jack & Jill --- who fall down" or "Piggy on Railway --- eventually breaking his bones". Compare this with Indian, or my experience with Marathi poems as "Yere, yere pavasa..." means pleading Rain to come (obviously India being an Agricultural Country, makes sense).

But, Man is supposed to be one step ahead of Carnivores. He is termed as Omnivorous. He can eat anything(meaning plants and animals) like Crow. On second thought it also means anything and everything. That is instinct!

Man is an animal. Just like animals he too has instincts such as being territorial. Animals are territorial and racist. How often it is a sight on street in a third world country like India, even in a City like Mumbai, where a discolored or disfigured or of a slightly different look DOG is chased, yapped or barked by other Street Dogs first. Many times it is Oxes or Cows shooing dogs or birds from their area of rest. I notice this even in pigeons fighting it out with pack of lizards. This happens with the same kind too. Man is racist by instinct. To top it all we have created borders, religions, communities by ourselves over this period of evolution. With manners and senses we tend to avoid them, but it is instinct that surmounts sense.

In short, it seems like Carnivores are the Crowd Miners!

I just hope the Racist attack are over asap and may harmony prevail like before.