A Dose Of Reality And Nature.

In nature what might seem cruel, is in reality kindness.

Yesterday I got a reminder that living close to nature does also have some not so nice moments. Life or rather the life cycle has many facets in the forest.

We came across a deer lying on the verge of someone's garden. At first we thought the deer was giving birth, but it soon transpired that this deer was injured and in pain. Even lying there and looking at me with those big warm eyes, I could feel its pain.

Another man had also just found this injured deer and was wondering what to do. Luckily we had the phone number of the local Jäger ( hunter in charge of a part of the forest ) on our cellphone and phoned him straightaway. Serendipity was part of it, as he was literally around the corner and was there in under a minute.

He has to deal with injured deer all the time and knows how badly they are injured. He went to this deer and examined its injuries and knew that it could not be helped. This was a first for me and somehow I had visions that this deer would go to the vet.

When he went to the back of his car and got out a hunting knife, I knew what had to happen. The deer was beyond help and letting it suffer any more was cruel. He thought that this particular deer looked like it had eaten something poisonous ( not to be too graphic, but we could see the stomach hanging out from its backside ).

Nature and its animals were there first and as humans we should respect that. Chemicals to speed up this that and maybe get rid of ants, bugs or mice at the same time might be poisonous to deer and co. We need to start thinking before spraying. Artificially enhanced lawns, roses or flowers are not very sporting. Let's try and keep the poison out of nature's environments.

Living close to the forest, everyone should drive a bit more slowly too, as a lot of deer get injured by cars. Not necessary to speed like a freak. The other day a car passed Bob and I at such a speed, that we heard its engine before we saw it. Oh yes, a suped - up car...which can only be attractive to young'uns. For anyone our age, they look like idiots plain and simple.

Speed and speeding belong on a car circuit or the Autobahn. Nowhere else.

Biggi