{"id":2591,"date":"2019-05-19T16:54:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-19T16:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nevilleronan.com\/blog\/?p=2591"},"modified":"2019-07-21T16:56:40","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T16:56:40","slug":"humanity-and-opposable-thumbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nevilleronan.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/19\/humanity-and-opposable-thumbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Humanity and opposable thumbs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One thing I could never do is observe a creature in distress\nand do nothing. I know there is a \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201crule\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d of non-interference amongst the real\nnature photographers out there, but I repeatedly break it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have freed moths from cobwebs, rescued snakes, lizards,\nand frogs from our cats. I have pulled over at 4 in the morning and taken an\nexit off the interstate because I spotted a frog clinging on to my wing-mirror\nat 70 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, no surprise then that every evening I spread out nine\ndishes of food for our wild friends that are in search of some nibbles at\nnightfall. It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s a nightly routine now for almost a year and it has brought us\nin contact with a large range of amazing creatures (Raccoons and Possums,\nSquirrels and Cardinals, mostly). We have even had a gift left for us in\ngratitude one night by an appreciative Raccoon, but that is a separate story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But about six weeks ago, I noticed the lovely lady in these\nimages. She has lost the use of her hind right leg and is very slow moving. It\nis a disability that would almost certainly lead to starvation and death as her\ninability to truly forage in competition to her healthier cousins means that\nher pickings would indeed be slim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we started putting out some extra helpings and putting\nthem out earlier and she comes ahead of all the others and gets a good meal\nbefore the competition arrives. She will never get back to normal but we have\nseen some improvement in her mobility. And she seems happily nourished \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 if\nthese images are anything to go by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raccoons are an amazingly intelligent creature and she is\nparticularly keen on the canned ravioli that we mix in with the cat food. They\nwash their food (if necessary) and generally wash their hands after eating. If\nthese guys had evolved to having opposable thumbs, they would likely rule the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which brings me to my thought of humanity. \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cHaving humanity\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d\nused to be an expression which meant that we showed compassion, caring, and\nconcern. It was a single-most quality that genuinely created a protective and\nconstructive environment for communities to evolve and for humans to become\n\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cgreat\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d. But somehow we seem to have lost our humanity and have mostly become a\npestilence to the planet on which we live. Our chosen path is destructive and\nuncaring and our focus on wealth and greed brings with it a huge price for the\nplanet and our children\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We buy into catch phrases like Make America Great Again\nwithout even examining what \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cgreat\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d actually means. In my humble opinion,\nhumanity was once great. Compassion, caring, concern and a little empathy \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6.\nWould go a long way to making us great again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cgreat\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n