Once we came across a fawn. The dogs actually found it. It crouched on the grass. Not far from the path. The dogs kept a respectful distance. The mother was nearby. I could hear them. So, we went. We left the fawn alone so that the mother could come back. It dared. It is safer for the mother to hide her baby than to take it with her. Many still think that the little one no longer has a mother and that they have to save it. Because we no longer have any experience with nature. But from where? Nature no longer exists. Isolated nature reserves. Even there is hunted. Actually poached. Hunting is a privilege. You have to be able to afford it. Those who hunt in order to survive, not to starve, without a license, poach. That is a punishable offense. Survival is a punishable offense. Trophies do not get hold of. Poaching as a means not to starve to death. That’s the page. The other. Poaching to make a lot of money very quickly.

The big cat, stretching out and relaxing while the little ones cuddle up to her. They were just romping around. Now they are lying exhausted on the grass. Ready for the moment. They don’t have more, the moment, because they don’t know about any future. All the more, because it is only about the moment. Together. Satisfied. Who knows what the next moment will bring. The man with the rifle is already waiting. He was waiting for this moment. The animal, which has become rare in the meantime, lies relaxed and apparently inattentive in the grass. It shouldn’t be fooled. Wrong step. A branch cracks. The mother is already ready to face the approaching danger. She can smell it. Fear too. Then he shows himself. The big cat attacks. She is hit in the middle of the run. She collapses, fatally hit. The little ones are easy prey. Then take them with you. Because of the fur. You get a lot of money for it. Others are captured alive.

The mother rhesus monkey with her baby. You need them for animal experiments. Allegedly to alleviate human suffering caused by wrinkles, for example. They are caught so that they can be injected with Botox. During the transport, the mother bites off her baby’s head. From despair. As if she knew what kind of endless martyrdoms they would be subjected to. Better to be dead than to suffer or even to be in captivity. Soon they will be exterminated. The great apes. The wear is too high. The laboratories greedily devour their victims. Many die on the transport. Others are not caught, but perish in the flames when rainforests are burned down. Orangutans for soy. Or palm fat. For animal feed made from soy. For biodiesel made from soy. And palm oil for the cheap greasing of finished products. Always cheaper and cheaper. So that we can always buy more what we don’t need.

We live in abundance, many of us. We buy unnecessary things. Superfluous excess. Instead of overflowing abundance, of thoughts and togetherness and observation, without killing or owning or encounter. Even with the shy fox. What doesn’t count.

Forest walk. Peace and contemplation and solidarity. It doesn’t take anymore. Happiness that cannot be bought. Moments of well-being that are given to me. The rustling of the leaves in the wind and the singing of the birds. That is becoming increasingly rare.
“The house cats are to blame that catch the birds and plunder the nests,” they say. That their natural habitats are being destroyed is left out. Also, that the insects that make up their livelihood are destroyed. You are starving. The cats can’t help it. On the other hand, humans do.
“How good, now I don’t have to keep scraping dead insects off the windshield,” the driver recalls. Car protection comes before species protection. You have to deal with that more. You need the car. Insects are a nuisance. That is why you should also feed the birds in summer because they don’t find enough to eat. But the bird feeders are also becoming more and more orphaned.

“Where did all the birds go? Where have they gone?”, one could satirize. It negates what is obvious. No longer trust common sense. Observation, just that, is unscientific and cannot be taken seriously. Only the counts show it and give a little insight into the extent of the destruction.

Go to part 3 here.