This urks me...
<rant>
This is why it urks me:
I feel bad for people stuck under the assumption they're 'helping' creatures. There are only a few times our interruption can be helpful, even in that time span it's usually abrupt and shocking for the animal.
In this case, for the woman
and the seal.
I know of only one fantastic co-relationship between man and a wild creature that manages any sensation of true helpfulness. And even then it's a rare form of relationship.
Granted, I don't mean to sound so harsh as to present the idea helping animals, or 'nature', is wrong. It's not wrong but helping them
the right way,
for their safety and our own, is together a different way of handling things. It's a very emotionally removed, concious process.
People get some sense of gratification helping animals but without understanding they[said animal] doesn't respond to that sense. They don't '
thank' us -- we're two different animals all together.
Humans, no matter how you look at it, personify non-human things because our culture responds to that. We as a people justify helping another creatures to suit our emotional necessity. We often times do that, sacrificing the actual mentality of the animal because we assume they think like us in some way or have similar feelings like us in some way.
I just feel people need to remove themselves and think a little bit before they act. It makes me sad sometimes when people place themselves so willingly in the way of harm for the sake of compassion without registering how our compassion looks. That seal not going to turn around and thank you even when it's happily free again.
It only sees that it escaped death because no matter how you view your actions -- it see's us as a preditor and itself in a bad position. Proof of that is the fact it bit this woman's nose off. In the world of a seal it faces death at every turn -- it grows up knowing death approaches in strange or common form.
As humans we should, but very often don't, look at the picture so polarized. And then we take the backlash for not thinking. And it's not the animal's responsibility for it -- it's our own human responsibility because
we can see the full picture. When dealing with wild animals it is our own fault (no matter what) if we are injured because we, as smart as we claim ourselves to be, failed to put the process into context and act accordingly. Even accidental injury by an 'innocent bystander' is our fault. We failed to act accordingly.
The animal kingdom doesn't work on judge and jury or even cultural ethics and morality. What happens... happens and that's how the dice fall. But that's not as bitter and jaded as it seems, it's just simply how it is. As onlookers, participants, and members of such a kingdom
we should know this. The majority of us don't. But that's subject enough for a
whole different rant...
</rant>
Hopefully, for the sake of her new nose, she won't plan on random seal-saving ventures anytime soon.
At least not up-close-and-personal ones.
