Idyllic, isn't it?

Last night, a friend of ours relayed his recent experience of visiting a national park in this area, watching adorable marmots running about...only to have one of them carried away by a coyote minutes later to gasping, vocalized horror of all the tourists!

He had pictures to prove it, too.

Whereas the tourists' reaction was expected, it reminded me that people here, by and large, have lost their connection to Nature to such a great extent that they no longer realize its unsightly attributes, its dangers, and, most important, death as a fact of life. The philosophical, overarching reasons thereof--linked to Modernity and Postmodernity (which are quite obvious to some)--are beyond the scope of what I normally post in this essentially visual blog of mine, but there are more immediate, pop-culture-specific reasons, too, such as the proliferation of "unlikely friends" animal photos in news media and infotainment.

Admittedly smile-inducing images of pigs cuddling with tigers (well-fed and in a controlled zoo environment!) are often used for some sort of feel-good social commentary along the lines of "we, humans, should all get along!". Not only does the latter reinforce the above misconception, but it also makes us forget that in addition to being beautiful, Nature is hierarchic and violent.

So why the cute little bunny?

My two tiny dachshunds--they both feast in canine Valhalla now--used to team up, chase wild rabbits, and, yes, sometimes catch them, too. It was never a pleasant experience for us, owners, but it certainly demonstrated the Janus-like character of Nature.