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| broiling insect ecosystem |
Whilst wandering in the meadow down the lane this evening, we came across this gruesome hive of activity.
The dead sheep is piled in a mound of manure that's been left in the field, and was a writhing mass of maggots, beetles, flies and who knows what else.
In this case, it seemed like the close up image was not going to be particularly palatable, so I didn't bother...and I'd probably advise not clicking on the photo to see it in more detail.
The shepherd seems to do this - just leave a dead sheep lying around in the field to rot away. I don't know whether there's any purpose to it, but I've seen it before.
It's not very pleasant, I know, and I'm sorry to subject you to it...but it does make an interesting addition to my ongoing dead animal series, and it's not every day you come across a dead sheep!
Without human intervention, this would happen all the time, and is part of the natural order of life...it's fair to say that this carcass alone is supporting a diverse colony of life of myriad form and number...death always feeds new life, when allowed to...
It's curious (or maybe not, but it is interesting at least) to note that the closer a non-human animal is in size and shape to a human, the more we find its death disturbing, upsetting or simply distasteful.
Nobody cared about the dead giant woodlouse thing I found by the sea, and nobody thought much about the dead pigeon whose foot featured a while ago.
But there has been much concern about merely the possibility of the death of Frankie the horse...and I anticipate that the image above will be treated with an element of upset...poor lamb.
I somehow doubt if anyone would be particularly concerned if we now burnt this carcass, brutally slaughtering whole colonies of beetles and maggots in the process...
And yet, the price of life is the same for all of us, animal or plant (human or not)...and the price is precisely one death.
No living thing can avoid the inevitability of this debt, which must in all cases be paid in full, upon completion.
So I suppose it's understandable (and acceptable), that death should crop up every now and then on my blog.
We should neither shy away from it, nor glorify it, nor turn it into something wrong, taboo or distasteful...
...but we should always remember that every other living being, no matter how big or small, is worth exactly the same as each of us...one life.
As we value our own lives, so we should afford the same respect and concern for all life.
Hmm, that one went off in an unusual direction...I'll shut up now!
Peace, out...
B-)
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