Co-habitation: Brown Bear and Wolf Documented Sharing and Caring

Description

Wildlife Photographer Lassi Rautiainen, 56 years old, documented this cooperative relationship between a male brown bear and female grey wolf in Finland in 2013.

He told the DailyMail:

“It’s very unusual to see a bear and a wolf getting on like this. No-one can know exactly why or how the young wolf and bear became friends. I think that perhaps they were both alone and they were young and a bit unsure of how to survive alone…It is nice to share rare events in the wild that you would never expect to see.”

He documented the relationship for ten days, and noted that they would stay in each other’s company for several hours between 8p.m. and 4a.m. While normally these two species would be independent hunters in their own territory, these two individuals would share a deer carcass as a meal every evening.

Not only did they tolerate each other’s presence, but it seems as if they also found a sense of security and companionship with one another too. This type of behavior is often seen with animals of the same species, such as male lions or cheetahs who are brothers and team up by roaming around with one another.

What we can learn

This is a wonderful example that teaches us that nature is more complicated when it comes to behaviors than what mainstream scientific reasoning suggests. This may be an isolated example that can be considered “unusual,” but it shows that nature expresses itself in cooperative ways even despite genetic programming and environmental factors.

If this could be explained simply because the bear and wolf are young and have not yet learned independent survival behaviors yet, then this only gives more credence to the notion that aggressive behaviors are taught to developing animals rather than being the default state they are born with.

Applying this same concept to humans, no human child in their developing phase is born with aggressive tendencies, malicious intentions, racial ideologies, or religious extremism…these are all taught to them by parents and society.

Perhaps the natural state of every living being born into this world is pure and innocent, but the conditions of one’s environment bring out the survival traits programmed within us. At the very least…we can do our best as human beings to give all our children as safe and kind of a world as possible to give them the best chance at becoming beings who are both caring and sharing.like this bear and wolf!

Elephant Empathy

Elephant Empathy

Elephants Helping Others

When it comes to altruism, elephants are very well known for their selfless behaviors towards members of their own species as well as other species. Some examples of recorded behaviors include:

• Purposefully not dropping logs in locations where injured animals lay.

• Assisting in protecting and rescuing other elephants’ calves.

• Taking care of injured humans who have been trampled by other elephants.

• Rescuing trapped dogs.

• “Grieving” for dead relatives.

Humans Helping Elephants

There are plenty examples of people helping animals. Whether it is a rescue effort, protecting wild areas, or simple acts of kindness, videos such as those below will surely melt your heart:

Living Camouflage: Spider Crabs and Algae

Living Camouflage: Spider Crabs and Algae

Description

The Common Spider Crab is a slow-moving, long-legged crustacean that lives mostly in shallow bays on the sandy bottom. They are among a group of several different crab species that are known as “decorator crabs,” because they cover their shells with material to disguise themselves from the eyes of predators.

Spider crabs snip off bits of algae and cover their spiny shells with it to make a form of living camouflage. This behavior is incredible because the crabs literally choose to decorate their shells, rather than algae growing on them by accident.

The camouflage works great in allowing them to blend in to their surroundings, and the algae benefits from this mutualistic symbiosis because it gets a free ride, giving it access to more floating debris for food and more space to spread its genetic material around the ocean.

What We Can Learn

This behavior within crabs teaches us that having adaptability for one’s home is important in maintaining security and sustainability. Being aware of one’s aurrounding landscape and all it can offer us for our conscious evolution makes us more resilient as a community.

Just like the image above, there are a plethora of examples of Earth-sheltered homes that people are building all around the world that work with the surrounding land by incorporating plants into the house’s structure. Not only do these structures look asthetically pleasing by merging with the landscape, they also provide practical benefits such as retaining heat and creating better warer drainage.

Nature's Love Ballad: Flowers and Pollinators

Nature's Love Ballad: Flowers and Pollinators

Description

The act of pollination is the most well-known and celebrated form of mutual symbiosis seen within nature. One cannot help but marvel at watching bees and butterflies flutter from flower to flower in the springtime, seeming to usher in a cacaphone of warm bliss that thaws our hearts from the cold winter.

In order for plants to become fertilized to produce seeds for the next generation of plants, many rely on pollinators such as insects, birds, bats, and other animals to carry out the task for them. Plants grow flowers that bloom and produce pollen, which is what contains their genetic material. Depending on what pollinator the plant evolved with, the flower is a specific color and fragrance to draw in the pollinator like a magnet.

When the pollinator sees a bright flower, it knows that there is food deep inside in the form of sweet, nutritious nectar. Many people speculate that plants “trick” pollinators into fertilizing them by making them reach deep for the nectar, causing their bodies to become coated with pollen, which they then rub against other flowers to complete the sharing of genetic material between individual plants.

I prefer to romanticize the process by seeing the act of pollination as nature’s way of ensuring that cooperation remains intact among the planet’s ecological flow, because the inter-connectedness of life is what holds everything together in perpetual balance.

Either way, in this case the plants benefit by having pollinators fertilize them for the purpose of producing offspring, and pollinators benefit from having a food source.

What is more beautiful than that?

What We Can Learn

Pollination first and foremost teaches us that there exists incredible beauty within nature. It shows us that everything in nature is an inter-connected system through the circulation of energy. We, too, are a part of this inter-connected system.

The act of pollination from a level of higher consciousness would probably look something like humans cooperating with one another at our maximum capacity. Imagine every human being looking out for the wellbeing of one another, with communities taking responsibility for the protection, education, and overall happiness of every single child.

Likewise, imagine every human being getting involved in planting trees to replenish our planet’s lungs through the re-growth of forests.

If one were to find divinity within Mother Nature, they need not look further than the act of pollination.

The Golden Prize: the Bond between the Greater Honeyguide and Human

The Golden Prize: the Bond between the Greater Honeyguide and Human

Description

The greater honeyguide is a small bird related to woodpeckers that is native to ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa. To various African indigenous peoples such as the Maasai, Hadza, and Yao tribes, the honeyguide has evolved to become a friend and ally.

This is because members of these tribes for generations have established a bond with local honeyguides that is built on a mutually beneficial relationship. When members of a tribe have an intention to find wild honey for food, they venture out and make specific vocalizations to attract the attention of honeyguides.

The honeyguides have learned to identify these vocalizations with these people, and begins making specific vocalizations in return. They then fly from tree to tree to lead these people to a bees nest, where the people use smoke to sedate the bees and then begin the process of harvesting honey.

The honeyguides benefit from this relationship because the tribal members always leave behind some honeycomb and bee larva for the bird to feast on, which is why the birds continue to follow through with their part in the relationship by guiding them.

There is even superstitions within various tribes that if they forget to leave behind something for the birds to eat, then the birds will lead them to a lion’s den next time! This goes to show how much these people respect the honeyguides and rely on them for a food source.

While humans have established many mutual relationships with domesticated animals, this is a rare example of a mutually beneficial relationship with wild animals.

What We Can Learn

This relationship teaches us that as humans we are capable of interacting with wildlife in a respectful and harmonious way. There is nothing that we cannot achieve if we atune ourselves to nature and rely on wildlife to assist us in better navigating the ecosystems in which we live in.

We can even apply this relationship to other aspects of our society. From a perspective of higher consciousness, lending one’s natural talents and characteristics to benefit another is an expression of Love.

By preserving and honoring indigenous wisdom, culture, and sovereignty, we are opening ourselves up to an avenue of infinite possibilities in regards to living harmoniously with our planet. Indigenous peoples such as these tribes in Africa have lived in perpetual balance with nature for thousands of years, and learning from them and their connection to the land will greatly benefit us all.

Roots of Inter-connectedness: Fungi and Plant Cooperation

Roots of Inter-connectedness: Fungi and Plant Cooperation

Description

A Mycorrhiza (pronounced MY-CORE-RYE-ZUH) is an association between a fungus and the roots of a plant or tree. Plants and fungi have evolved over millions of years to work together to maximize their ability to thrive in a world of abundance.

A plant’s roots can only dig so deep into the soil, but the mycelium roots of fungi are able to penetrate far deeper due to their thinner strands. While it is much easier for us to see plants as the green specimens that dot our landscapes and the fruiting bodies of fungi that grow above soil, in reality below the soil there exists entwined root systems that connect an entire forest’s ecosystem.

While the plants convert sunlight into energy through chlorophyll and provide the energy to the fungi, the fungi provide the plant with nutrients and water that it otherwise would not be able to obtain on its own. The fungi essentially wraps itself around plant roots creating a super-organism.

The vast majority of plant specimens on our planet have fungal associations in the form of Mycorrhizae. Anywhere there is a plant, there is an abundance of fungi. It is estimated that the majority of the mass of any gram of soil is composed of that of fungi mycelium.

What We Can Learn

Thinking in terms of energy, fungi and plants have learned a long time ago that cooperation leads to the ability to maximize their ability to tap into the planet’s abundance rather than compete in a paradigm based upon scarcity.

This mutually beneficial relationship teaches us that as each of us humans has unique gifts, talents, and characteristics, we are much more able to tap into this abundance when we cooperate together by sharing these gifts freely with one another.

Just like fungi and plants have found a way to connect to nature’s abundance in ecological harmony, we also have the potential to do so by creating sustainable energy sources through solar, wind, hydro, and bio-power. Only through a harmonious connection to the natural elements are we able to successfully thrive as we were always meant to.

Nature's Security Guard: Pistol Shrimp and Goby Fish

Nature's Security Guard: Pistol Shrimp and Goby Fish

Description

Within our oceans, specifically coral reef ecosystems, there exists a mutually symbiotic relationship between pistol shrimp and goby fish. Pistol shrimp are named for their ability to produce a loud sound through the snapping of their large claws. Although they have large claws, they are still vulnerable to lurking predators, which is why their relationship to goby fish has evolved.

Pistol shrimp live in burrows that they dig in the sand on the ocean floor that they must constantly upkeep due to the sand caving in with the circulation of water. Because they are constantly busy repairing and remodelling their home, and because they are near-blind, they do not have the ability to watch their surroundings for danger.

This is where the goby fish comes in. The goby fish serves as somewhat of a security guard for the pistol shrimp. While the pistol shrimp is busy maintaining its burrow, the goby fish hovers outside the burrow scanning for danger. The shrimp keeps its long antennae touching the goby fish as often as possible so when the goby fish identifies a lurking danger, the shrimp is alerted so it can retreat deep within its burrow.

While the pistol shrimp benefits from having a security guard, the goby fish benefits by having a burrow to stay in to escape dangers. The pistol shrimp allows the goby to live in its burrow because of its services of protection.

What We Can Learn

While this mutually beneficial relationship in the animal kingdom is still self-serving in nature, this sort of behavior translated towards beings of higher consciousness would translate to Love. For us humans, community resilience is important for us in maintaining our collective wellbeing for us to prosper and advance our happiness.

In our own communities, it should be the duty of every member to protect and defend their neighbors from potential dangers. Those individuals who give their energy in protecting their communities can be honored and respected through the giving of other services in return, such as food and shelter.

Women and children especially need to be protected and defended, and there is no better way to express Love than to ensure that they have a safe world to express themselves in.