Interference

Years ago, I was sitting in my backyard when I observed an interesting situation. A sparrow hawk had a young robin pinned down on the ground, and the parents of the robin were taking turns buzzing the hawk. It looked like a standoff, the robins were unable to force the hawk off of their kid and the hawk was unable to takeoff with its prey, or even take the time to dispatch it. While this was continuing I thought about interferring. I admired the way the robins were fearlessly defending their young, but on the other hand, predators need to eat too and if the robins were unable to save their kid on their own, that maybe it''s just best to let nature take its own course. As I usually do, when confronted with a difficult decision, I decided to leave it up to chance. Change, in this case, assumed the form of my sister''s cat which I let go in close proximity to the birds. The robins were the first to notice the new arrival, they broke off their attacks to avoid the cat. This change alerted the hawk which spotted the cat and decided that it wasn''t that hungry after all and it flew off, leaving its prey. The young robin, having escaped death at the hands of the sparrow hawk, now faced an even greater peril. Its only chance lay in the fact that the cat had been distracted by the other birds. It had just one brief oppertunity to recover enough to take flight. To the cat''s disappointment, the robin escaped. I then thought about why I had interfered as I did. Was it my concern for the welfare of the helpless robin? Did I want to eliminate a predator? Or was I only interested in providing a meal for the cat and some entertainment for myself?