Natural Animals [sic]

Something that was said to me about animals this weekend triggered a thought. When I was in graduate school I moved into an apartment that bordered the university campus. A tree-lined fence served as the border. One day I saw a not unfamiliar sight: a big bird was beating up on little birds. A large crow was antagonizing a bunch of little sparrows, annoying them mercilessly. Then, suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the sparrows, tiny as they were, turned on the crow and pecked it to death. It was over in a second or two. Stunned, I wondered at the viciousness of the sparrows, but quickly decided that they had only been protecting themselves. Still, it was a moment in nature that was powerful , perhaps for its spontaneity.