Who are you rooting for?

It's been a long time since I wrote on the blog. I got carried away with life and my masters thesis so I haven't had a chance to put my thoughts down in a blog post. Never the less, here I am and I have a few things in my mind.

The first thing(and what I will talk about today) is predators. I was thinking about this while watching  the BBC series "The Hunt". I love predators and I am sure anyone reading the blog knows that. I just think that the way these animals live and hunt is extraordinary. They have to rely on themselves to survive and while the same goes for herbivores(since they have to rely on themselves to not get eaten), it feels different with predators.

During a very vivid scene of orcas hunting a baby humpback whale, I found myself rooting for the orcas and hoping they make the kill. It occur to me however that someone else might be rooting for the baby humpback to escape and survive. I pondered on that thought a little and thought that in the end of the day it may have something to do with human psyche and what is your outlook on life. I don't mean it in a " strong people root for predators, weak people root for herbivores" situation. A lot of herbivores are pretty badass.

What I mean exactly is the outlook on life and how you perceive it. Speaking from personal experience, people rooting for the prey tend to be more empathetic towards everyone and tend to have a larger picture view of life. They plan their life and set goals they want to achieve later in their life. People rooting for predators tend to trust only "their own" people and tend to prefer living in the moment with their plans not ranging that far into the future. They have a general idea of what they want to do later on but the  words "we will see" tend to come in mind.

This is of course a very gross generalization of humanity, one of the most complex species on the planet.  Of course there will be people who won't match these boxes and of course there will be people who will disagree with what I say.

But that's not really what I want to get through today. Whether you agree with what I say or not, I believe in what I am saying. So what that says about me as a human? I think that we have this tendency to take certain things from nature and project them into how we believe the world works. It's impossible to prevent ourselves from doing that. Ultimately the question isn't should we do that, but rather what is it that we do? What elements of our world perception come from our observations in nature and what is instilled by society. Can we overcome certain beliefs through our experience with nature?

When I first started being interested in nature, I found myself believing that predators were the best. They are highly adaptable killing machines. "Why would anyone root for anything else? Deer are stupid grass eating things and humpbacks just swim around. " It's only by learning more and observing more that I learned that prey species aren't all that stupid after all. Humpbacks will defend gray whales and their calves with possibly no other motive but altruism. Deer will move in herds to prevent themselves from being attacked. Other species have learned to look at patterns to prevent predation.

So much like nature, our perception of the world is ever evolving and what we take from nature constantly changes the more we observe and live in it.

Let's talk about wolf perception

The wolf. An animal that is the icon of wilderness. A symbol of defiance and dominance. We often use phrases such as alpha male, wolf pack and the sort. Our connection to wolves is a strange one indeed. Some people love them, some fear them and some indeed despite them. It's an animal that stands for pretty much anything you want it to be. Its imagery has been associated with anything from Native Americans to hippies to Nazis and everything in between. A wolf is truly an animal that can be whatever you want it to be. It's got traits that we as humans want and seek and so we seek to identify with it in certain situations. It's a pity that most of the things that people assume about wolves are simply not true. Let's break some of them down shall we?

1)Alphas do whatever they do and are dominant over all the others in the pack: 

Let's get it straight. No such thing as an alpha male or female. There is a breeding pair that happen to also be the most dominant at most times but this is due to seniority. Not only that but the breeding pair doesn't always call all the shots. They are experienced leaders which allow the younger wolves to lead the hunt.  Wolves don't work with a strict hierarchy. It's not a pissing contest between them. Wolves work together in a pack in order to survive. So there is no dominion over all. Merely the breeding pair calling the shots due to experience. 

2)Wolves aren't independent:

The entire idea of an independent wolf clearly works against what the wolf truly is. Wolves rely on each other to survive. Wolves hunt together, fight together and live together. More often than not some will leave one pack but only to form their own or join another. The wolf as a symbol of independence is vastly mislead.

3) The wolf as a part of supremacy:

First of all wolves don't keep bloodlines pure. Lets get that out there. Quotes along the lines of " Wolves stick with their own" are just supremacist propaganda.The black coat on the wolves is evidence of interbreeding with dogs(they got the black coat from dogs) and the wolfdog hybrids as well as wolf coyote hybrids are pure evidence that wolves do not keep their bloodline pure. Just like all animals they will mate when given the opportunity.

4)The wolf as a savage fighter:

Again this here is a major issue. Wolves don't do well alone. They fight and they are pretty tough but the wolf's strength is in their pack. Not really on their own. Wolves can be killed by bears, mountain lions or other wolves. Hell even golden eagles can kill them. So if you as a human want to be identified as fierce fighter choose a bear. Hell choose a wolverine. Those little things are badass.