Everybody can find beauty in a flower, or a butterfly or a deer. But if you love nature, then you also see the symmetry and the grace of a common, ordinary black rat snake.
This December, just before the weather turned so cold that all the snakes went into hibernation, this beautiful creature decided to hang out right at the entry of my house.
I spotted its long, black form on the ground, but it did not stay there for long. Soon it was climbing the bare limbs of the bushes and trees at my entry.
The snake saw me, but it was not afraid. It posed for pictures, and it stuck its tongue out periodically.
Isn’t it a glorious world where both rats and rat snakes can live side by side? If you abhor violence, maybe you should check your premises. It’s the beautiful black rat snakes that keep our rat population down, without eradicating either species.
Live and let live is a policy I support. But it does not mean what people think it means. It does not mean peace and tranquility. It means the struggle for life that makes life itself possible. For all of us!
I know total peace and tranquility are not possible in all aspects of life, but I do seek it out in my own life because I feel more balanced. I used to have a feisty side that enjoyed political debates, but I felt drained and sad afterwards. Also, I felt I was parroting some of the main debates that the pro-Democrat club put out, but even when I was a part of it, I always got scolded a bit for being overly sensitive to the more scathing political engagement some liberal enjoy. Everyone else seems to have a glow about them and felt fired up, and I just wanted to retreat and go for a walk. Of course, I could care less if a lion or a cat kills their prey. The domestic cat is actually hated because they catch birds, but I still love cats. I never encouraged my cats to catch birds and would always take them away if they tried, but it is the natural instinct of a cat. I just prefer not to be Daniel Boone hunting for my super, but I am not going to stop someone from doing that, either.
Thanks, Julia, for your response. I do understand what you are saying. I avoid situations that destroy my inner peace and resolve, too. I don’t need that. But I think that there is a distinction between inner peace and outer peace. Even in the din of battle, some can find peace within themselves. I’m reading an article about how Nick Sarwark, the chairman of the national Libertarian Party, is a stoic. That struck me as odd, but it just means a practitioner of stoicism. The stoics concentrate on what they can do and do not obsess over things outside their control.
I also don’t just mean by my post about the snake that it’s okay to eat meat, the way a snake has to. I mean that while it is very bad for each rodent individually to be eaten by a snake, the rodent population grows healthier when that happens. It’s the balancing act of nature. And I would much rather have that snake eat my mice than have to poison them. So if a snake stands sentinel in front of my door and does not let the field mice pass, that’s a good thing for me.
On top of that, it really is a beautiful creature!