Once again Mazlov's supposed hierarchy gets kicked to the curb! (Don't worry about Dr. Mazlov's feelings. He didn't like it either and as I understand was somewhat dismayed that everybody made such a fuss over it.) A story out of Japan just goes to show that the need for love and connection overrules the need to feed. An article in the Boston Globe shows how a lonely snake can make friends with his dinner, a master.
It seems the zookeepers thought the hungry snake, who wouldn't eat frozen mice, would eat a live hamster they named "meal" in Japanese. Well heart overcame belly and the snake didn't eat the hamster. Instead, he decided a nice furry cuddle was much more important than a warm meal.
This may be even better than the lion and the lamb lying down together. At least both of those have fur. I'm not even sure how far apart taxonomically-speaking we are witha snake and a hamster.
And don't worry about the snake. He nows eats frozen mice.
This could be the start of a great short story. Lovers reincarnate as prey and predator but eternal love overcomes momentary hunger. Hmmm. Or maybe a prequel to Haint...
Thanks to Lynn Hartke for sending me this article!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
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2 comments:
Joy,
Having way too much experience with snakes and rodents I can just about guarantee that sooner or later the snake will start to get hamster bit. From the picture it appears that the hamster may be too large for the snake to eat. Any "love" or friendship in that cage is strictly in the eyes of the beholder. I cannot tell you the number of times people have brought in lacerated snakes with the comment "but it never happened before"
Thanks for writing in realsarah!
You may be right. Now wouldn't that be poor recompense for sparing the "meal's" life?
If anyone hears a followup on this story I would appreciate you passing it on to us.
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