EARTH

New !	Home | Earthy Philosophy | Fallen Leaves | Nature Walks | Useful Links | Contact Me
	Spiders That Steal !   Look closely ! There are so many tiny red spiders (Argyrodes sp.) crawling around the web. They are stealing food from under the nose of a gigantic blue spider (Nephila sp.). Being small is by no means less aggressive ! This reminds me of an animal story I read as a child. It revolved around the long-suffering question which still rage on in today's world, and that is - 'Who is the GREATEST ?' It all happened one day in the loftiest rain forest of the world. All the animals were summoned to a grand meeting to decide who would be king as one was needed to rule the forest. The king, of course, must be the strongest among them all. [side note: I won't be surprised that the crafty mousedeer, Sang Kancil, had masterminded this contest!] In any case, the first candidate was the lowly forest mouse. Brave as it was in stepping forward first, it was nonetheless booted out of contention at the very first instance. A string of animals thus followed; one after another, out-strengthed by the next. This went on for some time until it reached a climax, and you guessed it - it was the gigantic elephant that finally stood triumphant as the 'last one standing'. However, the twist in the plot came as quickly as the victory dance. In stepped the lowly forest mouse again (meekly) and it gave the poor elephant such a fright that it stomped away in hysteria like a 'mad hare'! As it happened, elephants were paraniod about tiny mice getting into their large ears and playing havoc. Despite their smallish size, the mice were deemed little devils, to be avoided at all cost. I would squirm, for example, at the thought of having a tiny leech in my ear too! The moral of the story is that no one is greater or weaker than the other. And no one is 'more equal' than the other too, I must add. Mutual respect is the key. But the world is far from heeding the lesson of this old old story. Sigh... [end note 1: Though he was the smartest 'mouse' ever, Sang Kancil know why he would not aspire to be king. It is actually quite logical. Haven't you heard the saying that 'no head is more vulnerable than one that wears the crown' !] [end note 2: Teachers and parents can never hope to teach 'mutual respect' if they make a habit of shouting their head off at their charges without the slightest hesitation. It is extreme harmful to say the least.] Acknowledgement: Joseph Koh's assistance in identification of the species is gratefully acknowledged here. He is the author of 'A Guide To Common Singapore Spiders' published by the Singapore Science Centre.
	©Joseph Lai 2003