Food for Thought
by Tom Buchanan  06/06/03

A recent article in the local paper about an ordinance enacted by the city council to make feeding of wildlife a crime got me thinking about how we treat humans.

The recent uproar is a result of complaints by neighbors of an elderly lady who has taken it upon herself to put out feed the wildlife that visits her area.

One councilwoman said “They need to be wild - not fed.” Another councilman said. "I'm sure her intentions are heartfelt, but in reality, she's killing these animals." The council members said such feeding can doom wildlife who get used to human contact, they said.

It is so nice that we look out for wildlife and realize a very basic law of nature. If we feed animals, they become dependant upon us and lose their natural instinctive ability to fend for themselves as nature intended.

But what about us, the humans? Do we have any idea what it takes to survive if suddenly our way of life was disrupted? We have become dependant upon waltzing down to the grocery store to put food on our tables to feed our families. Like the women who puts easy meals out for the four legged and winged beasts we give compassionate welfare to those in need. Sometimes they stay in a state of neediness in order to obtain free food, housing, child care and other amenities.

How many of us would be in a state of dire straights and starve to death if the shelves of local grocery stores were to suddenly dry up? After we have eaten all that we could hoard what would happen? How many would starve because they did not learn how to garden and preserve food to last through the winter? How many would die trying to hunt for venison or even a rabbit for lack of knowledge?

Yes, we need to look at the lady feeding the wildlife and ask ourselves if we are not as naively dependent as the raccoons, squirrels and birds when we place our dependence on the belief that the stores will always be full of food to feed our families.

It appears as though we readily profess that we do harm to wildlife by making animals dependent upon us for survival. It makes them weak and less likely to find it necessary to forage or hunt for their next meal. If we are honest about our compassion for wildlife we must be ready to apply the same level of compassion to humans. After all, we are all creatures of the same God.

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