{"id":2261,"date":"2019-04-07T16:36:49","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T16:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nevilleronan.com\/blog\/?p=2261"},"modified":"2019-07-21T16:41:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T16:41:03","slug":"mother-of-nine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nevilleronan.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/07\/mother-of-nine\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of nine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 I came across this little family as I recently hobbled my\nway back to the car.  As I stood there, camera in hand, I couldn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t help\nbut think how we vilify wonderful creatures like these, in order to justify our\nown treatment of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We animate them as violent, cold creatures, and portray them\nas serious threat to our children. And then we steal their environment, kill\nthem in the tens of thousands, make a sport of it, watch them die on TV, and\nturn their skins into fashion accessories \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 not to mention those who proudly\ncollect and display alligator skulls in their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a distinctly human trait to kill for reasons not\nrelated to food, one that I will never understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So as the small crowd gathered around me as I took these pictures,\nthere were \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201coohs\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d and \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201caahs\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d galore for the pretty little collection of babies.\nBut scarcely a word for the mother who lay there protecting her young, exposing\nherself to danger and willing to give her life for the cause. She will stay as\nprotector for the first two years, bringing herself close to starvation while\nmaking sure her babies have something to eat. Yet some 80% of alligators never\nmake it to maturity. Yes \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 only one of these nine babies will make it \u00c3\u00a2\u00cb\u0153\u00c2\u00b9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have had several close encounters with alligators on the\ntrails I take and while one or two uncovered the fear of them that I too was\ntaught, I was never in any real danger. In fact while writing this morning\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s\nemail I reminded myself of the terrifying growl that I heard when got within four\nor five feet of a  12 to 15 footer some time back ( https:\/\/youtu.be\/CFh67UuOBVk<\/a> ). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so while I admit moments of fear, I guess the main\nmessage I have is that when we build characters up to a point of phobic-fear,\nit can undermine our own ability to understand them and even interact with\nthem. There is a difference between being fearless and being reckless. I am\nworking on the latter but thankfully I am making real progress on the former.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a wonderful week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n