Or, Why The Deer Never Filed A Complaint With Management
There’s something you begin to notice when you spend enough time around wildlife.
Not right away, mind you.
At first, you’re distracted by the beauty of it all. The steam rising off the Narrow River at sunrise. The call of Sandhill Cranes echoing through Bosque del Apache. The silent glide of a hawk over a meadow. The wolf staring through you as if it can see every bad decision you ever made.
And trust me, that feels oddly specific.
But eventually, after enough hours standing in mud, snow, rain, mosquito swarms, and temperatures usually associated with meat storage, you begin to see the underlying theme of the natural world.
Everybody is trying not to die.
That’s it.
That’s the whole business model.
Nature doesn’t hand out participation trophies.
The chickadee does not receive a ribbon for “Most Improved Pecking.”
The coyote cannot file an emotional grievance because the rabbit “was being difficult.”
And I can assure you, the rabbit has absolutely no interest in hearing the coyote’s perspective on the matter.
The mission statement in nature is beautifully simple:
Stay alive long enough to see tomorrow.
That’s why wildlife is constantly looking around.
Watch a deer drink water sometime.
It’s not exactly a spa experience.
Sip.
Head up.
Look around.
Sip.
Head up.
Panic over a leaf.
Repeat.
Every animal in the wild understands something we humans occasionally forget:
Attention matters.
Awareness matters.
And survival requires engagement with reality — not the version we invent to make ourselves comfortable.
Now before you think I’ve fully transformed into Andy Rooney with a camera and orthopedic shoes, hear me out.
Because this isn’t really about criticizing people.
It’s about compassion for the human condition.
Life is hard.
People are overwhelmed.
Lonely.
Scared.
Frustrated.
Disconnected.
And many are trying to navigate a world moving faster than their ability to process it.
That does strange things to human beings.
Sometimes it creates anger.
Sometimes entitlement.
Sometimes the belief that disagreement is cruelty, criticism is oppression, or discomfort is injustice.
But nature doesn’t really support those theories.
Nature says:
“You may not like the wind, but you still have to fly in it.”
The young hawk still has to leave the nest.
The wolf still has to hunt.
The fox still has to listen for danger approaching the den.
And the little songbird still sings despite living in a world absolutely filled with things that would happily eat it.
Honestly, when you think about it, birds are wildly optimistic creatures.
And maybe that’s part of the lesson.
Not toughness for the sake of toughness.
Not cruelty.
Not “everybody fend for themselves.”
No.
Awareness.
Resilience.
Adaptation.
Community.
Wolves survive because of the pack.
Geese survive because they rotate leadership in flight.
Even crows warn one another of danger.
Nature is not entitled.
But it is deeply connected.
And maybe we need more of that.
More conversations.
More curiosity.
More listening.
More asking questions instead of screaming answers.
More moments with our heads up instead of buried in screens like nervous gazelles at a watering hole.
Because somewhere along the line, many of us stopped noticing each other.
And that’s dangerous.
Not politically.
Not philosophically.
Humanly.
So perhaps the answer isn’t to become harder.
Perhaps it’s to become more aware.
More grounded.
More patient.
More willing to learn.
More willing to teach.
More willing to laugh at ourselves.
Because if wildlife has taught me anything, it’s this:
Nobody gets through life without scars.
Not the wolf.
Not the hawk.
Not the fox.
Not us.
Yet every morning, out they go again.
Into the cold.
Into uncertainty.
Into risk.
Into life itself.
And somehow, despite everything, the birds still sing.
Which feels hopeful to me.
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