Nature red in tooth and claw

I saw something rather disturbing yesterday. A magpie grabbed a little helpless duckling, carried it off a distance and then pecked it to death.

I was too far away to do anything about it whether I wanted to or not. On the way home, it stayed in my mind. 

Of course, we know that bigger birds and animals prey on smaller creatures. When it is insects and worms, we don't react too much, but when it is a cute, fluffy little duckling it suddenly seems sinister and beastly. But we enjoy seeing a falcon or eagle (if we are very lucky) soaring on the thermals and swooping down to the ground. Do we forget that they are hunting for food? Perhaps they have hungry chicks back on the nest. In other words, life goes on.

So what can we do? I think we have to keep some perspective, we shouldn't idealise nature but we shouldn't be cynical about it either. Enjoy the cute image of ducklings waddling behind their mother, enjoy the falcon soaring in the sky and accept that if the balance is not disturbed, there will be ducks and falcons aplenty to inspire us next year.