I just have a few general thoughts on the video I put up yesterday in which some lions and water buffalo square off. First, were my wife here, she would be near tears because, through it all, the calf was still alive. What that tells me is that lions aren't always the swift killers they're portrayed as being. This pride was inexpert, to say the least.
The point where my own sense of awe is triggered is the appearance of what ER calls a pack of water buffalo. It seems clear that the parents of the calf went off and got a few dozen of their closest friends to come to their aid. The actions of the buffalo display a certain intelligence, a kind of planning, while also respecting the power and danger of the lions. They do not pursue the lions. They scare them off. Once the calf is back with them, they merely chase the remaining lions off.
I still laugh when I see, during the initial approach of that huge herd, one of the lions take off. She sees what's coming and decides that discretion is the better part of valor. There will be other buffalo calves.
What I get out of this is simple - how do we account for the behavior of the water buffalo? How do we make sense of it? There is a display of communal support. There is evidence of a certain level, not just of intelligence, but of forethought that is remarkable. In fact, if this were an IQ test, I think the lions would lose; once that herd of buffalo show up, rather than work together to protect their not-quite-dead kill, they allow themselves to be separated, picked off one by one by the buffalo, and chased away.
There is something so awesome about this little vignette. The ways of nature are strange and wonderful. Once we figure we have a good line on things, we get a piece of evidence that throws everything we thought we knew in to question. I'm not sure who said it, but someone once said, "Not only is the universe queerer than we imagine, it's queerer than we can imagine." if you don't believe me, watch that video again.
Six or seven years ago I was watching some show, I believe on Discovery Channel, about a private effort to map the floor of the ocean in detail. It is a cliche that we know more about the surface of the moon than about three quarters of the surface of the planet, because it lies submerged beneath water. In a section of the Pacific, I believe in the Gulf of California, or the Sea of Cortez, they discovered an area that actually mimicked the ocean. Superheavy, supercooled sea water had pooled in a huge expanse itself hundreds of feet deep. The area surrounding it was alive with all sorts of creatures. The large pool, a lake really, had tides. Ten years ago, if someone had told me there were ocean tides under water, I would have said you were nuts.
I mention this because, like the video of the behavior of the water buffalo, it shows just how little we really know, and how wonderful, strange, alien, and terrible this world is. For all we claim to know, and actually do know, about our world, it seems we are like sophomores, those wise fools. We still have a lot to learn.
Virtual Tin Cup
