2016-04

Safety in
Subterfuge
67 Dalewood Avenue, Beauchief, Sheffield S8 0EG
email: bigdavesummit@hotmail.com
07889 229013
Have you ever wondered
why, in the ‘balance of
nature’, the dice always
seems loaded in favour of
the predator rather than the
prey?
The big cats, swift and powerful
with teeth, claws and awesome
eyesight; owls on silent wings and
snakes with infrared vision and
a sense of smell that can detect
prey wherever it is hidden. Against
these animals their prey seem to
have no defence: gentle grazing
deer, little ground squirrels foraging
for food and, what seems like the
most blatant adverts for a fast food
takeaway, the zebra. The black
and white stripes stand out against
any background and can be seen
for miles. But all is not as it seems;
unlike the dinosaurs, these animals
have not become extinct, indeed, the
big cats are more at risk of this than
their prey as even the most skilled
predator only kills around once in ten
hunts and most of the time the prey
stays safe without fi ghting back.
Take the zebra for example: his
stripes act as an optical illusion,
and the faster the chase the more
confused the big cats become. The
fact that its chosen meal is part of
a herd only adds to its problem and
nine times out of ten the cat gets
a big headache and gives up the
chase. Young zebras are born to run
and can keep up with the herd 40
minutes after birth. Deer on the other
hand blend into the background, and
a young fawn with her dappled coat
can stay safe for hours as long as
she keeps still.
Some of the smaller nocturnal
geckos also stay safe by staying still.
During the day they climb a tree. The
loose skin on their sides has a ragged
edge which blends with the bark so
they don’t even cast a shadow.
Ground squirrels make a tasty
meal for many snakes and it would
seem that they are doomed. But
snakes have to cast their skin, and
ground squirrels have been observed
wrapping themselves in their castoff.
This apparently renders the
snake’s sense of smell useless as it
scents only ‘snake’ and ignores the
squirrel which stays safe in its cloak
of invisibility. Snakes themselves,
particularly the non-poisonous ones,
are also prey so if you are venomous
it pays to advertise the fact. The
colours red, black and yellow are a
warning of this, and snakes coloured
thus are avoided by almost all other
creatures. But 50 per cent of them are
not poisonous but merely mimics. How
can you tell the difference? There is a
rhyme used by human hunters which
goes something like this: “Red next
to yellow can kill a fellow, red next to
Black is harmless to Jack”. This kind of
learnt knowledge is key to our survival.
Our greatest gift is a huge brain
which has enabled us to colonize the
whole world – but we need to use it
wisely. When King Saul answered the
call of nature in a cave, David had
him cornered and could easily have
killed him. Instead he walked away
(admittedly with part of Saul’s robe as
a trophy), put himself into the hands of
God and wrote one of his best songs
(Psalm 57):
In the shadow of thy wings I will take
refuge till the storms of destruction pass
by.
Psalm 37:1 RSV
If only we could all show mercy and
let God take care of the big picture,
what a safe haven the world would be.
Sylvia Bennett
The story of Saul and David in the cave
can be found in 1 Samuel, chapter 24.
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St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Offi ce: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
email: offi ce@stchads.org
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Page 18 website: www.stchads.org
Church Offi ce: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA
Page 19
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
email: offi ce@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org