You seem to have a problem with the way the world is, why? - PSacramento
Nothing could be further from the truth, I am immersed daily in admiration of the natural world. Why do christians try to sugar-coat it with phrases like "give and take in a truly awesome circle of life"? Its pure carnage. It is totally inconsistant with the idea that it ws created by a god of love. Consider a couple of examples...
The female sand tiger shark produces 400 to 500 embryos at a time. While still in the womb, these embryo sharks grow razor-sharp teeth, the embryonic sharks start to eat other embryos. Within a few months, three to four dominant sharks engage in a life-or-death struggle until only one survives. By the time it is born, the sole-surviving shark pup has become an experienced predator. Amazing film taken inside the womb recently appeared on UK television clearly demonstrating this behaviour.
An amazing percentage of life on earth is parasitic. Some parasites do not just feed from their hosts the actually invade their brain and effect their behaviour to the parasites advantage. Dr. Manfred E. Rau of McGill University in Montreal, recently found that two types of closely related parasitic worms can dramatically influence the behaviour of mice to suit their own needs. One worm will prompt the mouse to become hyperactive, scampering through fields so frenetically that it attracts the attention of a predatory bird that will eat the mouse and the worm with it. When the bird eats the mouse, it provides the necessary next home for the parasitic larvae. By contrast, the related worm species will cause a mouse to become sluggish, heightening the chance it will be easily stalked down by the carnivorous mammals this worm prefers for its second shelter.
The ichneumon wasp has developed a particularly gruesome method of providing food for it’s young. Among ectoparasites, many females lay their eggs directly upon the host's body. Since an active host would easily dislodge the egg, the ichneumon mother often simultaneously injects a toxin that paralyses the caterpillar or other victim. The paralyses may be permanent, and the caterpillar lies, alive but immobile, with the agent of its future destruction secure on its belly. The egg hatches, the helpless caterpillar twitches, the wasp larvae pierces and begins its grisly feast. Since a dead and decaying caterpillar will do the wasp larvae no good, the ichneumon larvae eat fat bodies and digestive organs first, keeping the caterpillar alive by preserving intact the essential heart and central nervous system. Finally, the larvae completes its work and kills its victim, leaving behind the caterpillar's empty shell.
"All creatures bright and beautiful....."