Here are “our beauties,” as my friend Egon calls the Ashbridge’s Bay swan pair, out on a perfect June day with their eight babies. The cygnets were born, I think, on June 7th, so here they are still VERY young! Only five days old. . . Six at the very most. You can see that Mom (I think of her as the other Octomom) and Dad keep feeding while the cygnets stay extremely close by. There’s a good reason for this — so many hazards to the health and safety of the young swans. By the end of July, there were only three of the original eight cygnets left. Five had been lost to — who knows? My guess is mainly predation. Raccoons? Off-leash dogs? Giant killer fish in the bay? A hungry raptor looking for easy pickin’s? All of the above?
It seemed very sad at the time, but with the benefit of perspective that only time can give, we have to remember that this is Ma Nature’s way. It was exactly the same situation last year. Eight babies, three cygnets survived to adult size and fledged last fall. We don’t cry for all the maple keys that fall and fail to root, do we? But somehow the grand plan seems flawed when it comes to the baby birds and squirrels and adorable little raccoon pups. . . I have a dear friend who told me just last week that she had given up believing in God because she thinks God goofed when it comes to the whole predator/prey issue. She can’t stand the dog-eat-dog (or wolf-eat-deer) system. Thinks there has to be a better way.
At any rate, we are in no position to change it, no matter what we believe. So in the meantime, we can look at all eight lovely cygnets and marvel at their perfection….even if their dwelling on this Earth is all too short.
Feel free to click on the movie to play it. It’s only a minute long. Cheers!
©BCP 2010
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