Guardian Angels: I felt Safer Sleeping Beside Hyenas Than Humans** This article will include references to sexual assault. If this topic bothers you, have caution before reading fully.** "There will be spotted hyenas in our camp in Serengeti" is not a phrase that excites most people, but it excited me. That very day, I'd seen my first ever hyenas in Ngorongoro Crater and then on the drive through Serengeti to our camp. A big female had come within ten feet of me, eagerly vying for some zebra meat. Eventually, she had managed to make off with a bit of spine, loping into the grasslands with her prize with the same enthusiasm of a dog that had just stolen ribs off a dinner table. Don't get me wrong, I loved watching the lions, but there was something ethereal, something humanly intelligent about hyenas that I didn't see in lions. Maybe it was the way the female hyena communicated with her peers, yipping and barking and giggling. Maybe it was the way she seemed to grin the closer and closer she got to the carcass . Hyenas laugh when they're stressed or aggressive, but it's still a strangely human or canine trait- despite the fact hyenas are more closely related to cats and mongoose than dogs. Whatever the case, I was already fascinated by hyenas. But I'm part of the minority. If you grew up watching The Lion King - or even if you didn't - odds are, you've been afraid of the cackling carnivores at least part of your life. Admittedly, I went through a phase when I was about eight when I refused to watch The Lion King because of the hyenas (before then, I was perfectly fine with the movie). My research is on gray wolves, and they get their own share of hate, but if there's one animal hated more than wolves, it's hyenas. Considering leopards and lions both kill more people a year than hyenas, it's numerically strange why hyenas are so feared. Perhaps it's the way they eat their prey- often, hyenas tear into larger animals alive. This is to decrease the chances of kleptoparasitism, or the theft of their kill by another predator like a lion (fun fact: studies in Africa have shown that lions steal more from hyenas than the other way around). But African wild dogs, not to mention many other predators, likewise eat their prey alive and they're not hated as much as hyenas. In the end, it doesn't much matter the exact reasons why people dislike hyenas. Everyone knows that they're one of the most vilified animals in the world. I'll discuss the prejudice against both hyenas and wolves in an upcoming article, but for now, I'll leave it at "most people do not like and are afraid of hyenas". Noisy NeighborsWe saw the first hyena in camp just after dinner. It was already dark, and we wore headlamps and some of us also carried flashlights. A large female hyena ran around the back and dashed into the kitchen area, trying to make off with some of the trash (taka in Swahili). We saw her for only a couple seconds before she was chased off - yes, chased off; hyenas are actually quite frightened of people- but it was enough to stir a reaction. Some people were frightened. I was electrified. Half an hour later, I heard noise around the fire. I stood up and shone my flashlight into the bush behind our tents. Two bright, glowing eyes stared right back at me. There were two hyenas, and one ran between two tents, but the other retreated at my light. They were not even ten feet away. You must be crazy to not be terrified of hyenas so close to your camp. Hold on to your hats, friends, because they got even closer. People kept the hyenas from really entering the camp- well, awake people. When we went inside our tents, it was the signal for the hyenas to consider whether or not they wanted to come right into camp. And they did. It took a couple hours, but nearly immediately I could hear their whoops begin in the distance. Each whoop started off quiet, then got louder before trailing off. ooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooo. Whoops are primarily used to state territory and male dominance hierarchy: the louder the whoop, generally the bigger and more dominant the male. Not that it matters completely- females rule spotted hyena clans. Even the lowest ranking female generally outranks the highest ranking male. The whoops continued into the night, and started to get louder and louder as the hyenas came closer. At first, the sounds made goosebumps rise on my skin, but the feeling was one more of fascination than fear. Despite our noisy neighbors, I fell asleep quickly. ooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooo.ooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooo. Only a couple hours after I fell asleep, I woke up to what sounded like a miniature stampede outside my tent, coupled with OOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOO. There had to be at least ten hyenas in our camp, running amongst the tents and whooping. Some grunted, and I heard a couple giggles, but mostly it was the rising and falling whoops that permeated the air. Their paws thumped the ground outside my tent as they ran amok. At one point, I heard a garbage can crash over. For about half an hour, I listened to them. I loved listening to them. I knew they were talking to each other, communicating, strategizing, maintaining and challenging dominance hierarchies, and probably having a bit of fun. I didn't fear them, although I certainly wasn't about to unzip my tent and try to join them for a late-night pantry raid. Eventually, despite the chaos, I fell asleep quite peacefully once again. OOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOO At about four in the morning, I nearly jumped out of my skin. The whoops were coming from directly outside my tent, and by directly outside my tent, I mean I could see the vague outline of a giant hyena through an uncovered portion of mesh in the top of the tent. I didn't move, although I did text my boyfriend something along the lines of Oh my god there's a huge hyena smack outside my tent whooping, I nearly had a heart attack. This was the only moment I felt actual fear, but it was more from the startle of being woken up to a loud sound than the actual hyena. It only took me a few minutes to calm down, and then I was treated to a front row seat to a symphonic melody of whooping hyenas. The big one - it was a female, a guard would tell me the next day- just sat there as she whooped, and her companions responded in kind, more off in the distance. The REal MonstersooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooo.ooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooo.The next night, a lot more people camped at the site. Instead of hyenas, the night was filled with loud human laughter, drinking, and talking. They terrified me. Why on earth would I be scared of humans beside my tent and content to listening to whooping hyenas scampering around me? Hyenas, after all, are monsters- at least that's what many seem to believe. Hyenas will attack you at any weakness, will take you alive, will laugh and not care about their defenseless prey. Why would I not fear them? Mostly because a hyena had not attacked me at my weakness, taken me in protest, laughed at me, or grabbed me as defenseless prey. But a human had. A little more than a year before my encounters with the hyenas, I was raped in my own bed. In my memory, the night is both vividly horrific and blessedly bleary. The morning after, as I lay naked and abandoned, all I could do was hold my body and scream. I screamed until I collapsed. It set off the next couple months of me struggling to survive, of considering killing myself daily from the complete numbness and pain that crawled and creeped through my body. Animals, especially wild animals, were my savior. It is very common for victims of trauma to disassociate, where their minds essentially separate from their bodies and they hardly process any thought. It happened to me. It felt as though I were simply watching myself walk, talk, even laugh throughout the next several weeks. I sometimes hallucinated a big black she-wolf I would later name Raksha. She stayed by my side and fended off any dangers or demons. And at night, she slept beside my bed, ready to attack any monster that came to call. Raksha, in my mind's eye, had been my guardian angel. She inspired my interest in wolves that would lead to my research and, in a way, a second chance at life, a purpose that I threw myself into with full force. But in Africa, in Tanzania, I had no Raksha, partially because the hallucinations had stopped with the disassociation long before. At the campsite in the middle of wild Serengeti, I was surrounded by loud people, strange people, and I was frightened. The humans frightened me more than the hyenas because humans had been my monsters more than any wild animal could. Hyenas never laid a hair on me, never tried to rush at me or attack me, never tried to kill me. A human had very nearly killed me. But, I wasn't alone. Though not loudly, in the distance the second night, above the laughter and talking of the strangers that so frightened me, I heard the eerie, beautiful sounds that had fascinated me the night before. ooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooo.ooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooo. That was enough to reach my soul and settle my wildly beating heart. I imagined that they were nearby, eyes glowing as they patrolled the camp. Like Raksha had been my protection long before, in Tanzania, I had other guardian angels. They came in the form of a crazy clan of eccentric, whooping, galloping hyenas. With their far off whooping in the starlit Tanzanian midnight, these guardian angels lulled me to sleep with the promise that they were always keeping watch- and probably knocking over garbage cans.
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Through the Eyes of the Wild: How I briefly Understood the Fury of Wolf HatersToday is International Wolf Day 2019, and it comes at a difficult time for anyone advocating for wolf conservation. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is being destroyed, a rare wolf attack in Alberta has given wolf haters 6 months worth of ammo (note that the wolf was old, emaciated, and desperate upon veterinary examination), Washington officials ordered the gunning down of a wolf and two puppies (with plans to kill the entire pack), and the major wolf hunting season opens in a month. Everywhere I look, it seems that all I see and hear are rants, posts, signs, bumper stickers, and carcasses filled with hatred for wolves. Hunters are eagerly awaiting when they can (legally) kill wolves, saying that they want to kill as many as possible to prepare for elk hunting season. The logic there is, I'm going to kill as many wolves as possible so that I can kill as many elk as possible. Naturally, it makes zero sense, but it's a common ideology. People hate wolves. Like, they really hate them. Why? There's an entire list of reasons, but the most common are 1) hunters believe wolves are decimating elk, moose, and other ungulate species; 2) westerners believe that the "wrong wolf" was reintroduced in 1995, and done so illegally; 3) westerners believe humans have replaced wolves as the apex predator of North America and their ancestors had "good reason" for eradicating wolves in the past; 4) ranchers believe wolves are a huge threat to their livestock; 5) people think wolves will attack people at any opportunity; 6) people think wolves kill for fun (ironically, it's sport hunters I hear this argument from the most). The list goes on, and you can see some of these myths debunked here. I've received a lot of hate both towards me and the wolves. Death threats, mansplaining, name calling, promises to send me pictures of dead wolves, belittling, and a whole lot of stupidity. Some of the anger, to peoples' defense, is justified (the filth and threats are not). Folks have lost livestock and pets to wolves and other predators and although in nearly every instance I can find some way the person could have better prevented the loss, I always sympathize. But I can never understand some people's blind hatred that seems to target wolves particularly adeptly. Face to Face with ElkAfter months of trying to wrap my mind around such blind hatred, a couple days ago I briefly understood why some people may despise wolves so much. It was two days after I'd flown about 24 hours back to the states from Tanzania. I'd spent a month there studying carnivores and human-carnivore conflict amongst the local people, including the Maasai. I wrote another blog post on that here. But I couldn't go a week without wildlife, so I drug my boyfriend to the closest Africa I could find, which turned out to be the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC. Although some zoos are scams, the NC Zoo is the largest habitat zoo in the world, so the animals roam on huge areas of land that mimic their wild homes. Half the zoo includes African animals/exhibits while the other features those hailing from North America. I'd seen elk before, albeit from far away, and also heard bull bugling (when males basically screech to attract mates). But most of my interaction with elk has been trying to get accurate population numbers (not an easy task) in the eight wolf states and reading reports going back to the 1910s in order to show people that in fact, wolves are not decimating elk. Though I still respected and appreciated elk, I'll be honest. I'd harbored a share of bitterness for them. It's hard not to, after hearing and receiving the horrific words from people, particularly elk hunters, that blamed wolves for the loss of their precious elk (that they enjoyed killing, go figure). Then, I got up close to a herd of elk cows. It was extremely hot, so the cows were lying by the fence line, chewing their cud underneath the shade. Up close, they were much bigger than I'd imagined. And though loathe I am to call an animal ugly - I think hyenas are beautiful and fascinating- the cows were not exactly pleasant to look at. My boyfriend went and sat down to watch the bison, but I stayed with the elk. As I continued studying the cows, my appreciation for them suddenly turned into something darker. Here were the animals (indirectly) responsible for so much of the hatred, violence, and cruelty toward my wolves. And look how stupid and ugly they were, doing nothing but chewing regurgitated grass. For a split second, the bitterness turned to rage and I wanted to grab my bow and shoot all of them dead. Then, one turned her head and looked at me. For a moment, I just glared at her. Then, something in my heart constricted and I took a breath. When most carnivores like wolves or lions look at you, they seem to pierce your eyes into the depths of your soul. Their stares are almost like challenges built up from constant violence with other carnivores and with humans, a sort of I can take care of myself. The stares are also deeply spiritual, at least for me. I can feel the carnivore's soul, its spirit, its wildness and wisdom. It may seem ludicrous and cheesy, but I swear on my life that's the feeling. Just try coming so close to a lioness that you could touch her, and her golden eyes turn to stare at you- you'll get the idea then. But animals like elk don't stare into your soul. They stare slightly past you, focused on both you and the area behind you, as if silently saying I see you and I also see an escape route, so don't even think about it. In a way, the elk cow's eyes were completely and utterly innocent. They reminded me of elk's contribution to the ecosystem: as grazers and browsers, they kept vegetation from growing too much and causing too many forest fires; they provided food not for just wolves but for coyotes, ravens, even sparrows that use their suet. I lost all the anger, but I realized I had experienced, briefly, similar feelings to wolf haters. Whether for their own benefit or not, these people see wolves as useless vermin, destructive, and cataclysmic to the population of elk that they care about (or at least care about so they can be shot regularly). How unfortunate for the elk that their advocates are also almost always the same people who come hunting them come fall, while wolves' advocates would never dream of stalking and killing them. It had only taken me thirty seconds to realize that my anger toward the elk was unjustified, that they serve a purpose in the ecosystem, and the only creature that had the power to completely destroy it was me. If only wolf haters could take a moment to go through this same thought process, to look into the eyes of a wolf and truly feel its soul, and to realize that they belong in the ecosystem. A Lesson From a WolfWe often forget how much animals can teach us, as we're caught up in our own human prowess and pride. We forget that our ancestors survived by mimicking wolves - how they hunted, how they cooperated in a society in order to make ends meet. But when it comes time to blame something for "fewer" elk or livestock deaths occurring in national forests, people jump at the chance to point fingers at wolves. Just this month, Washington State ordered the slaughter of a pack near Prosperity Peak after the pack had predated on some livestock in the area. But the pack's hunting boundaries were in a national forest, where ranchers were given permission to bring their livestock. Rumors abound that the ranchers purposefully took their livestock close to the wolves' den to provoke them and therefore make it easy to eliminate them. The truth of the rumors hardly matters. If wolves cannot even be safe in their own homes, how do they stand a chance when human greed, commercialism, and profit are doing everything they can to destroy them? This International Wolf Day, I implore you to remember not just wolves, but all of wildlife. If predators were really so detrimental to ecosystems, they would have driven species extinct. Yet, humans are the only creatures that have been responsible for the nonnatural extinction of species. Wolves are very much like people. They live in families, respect their elders, don't take kindly to strangers, care for injured/sick pack mates, work together raising puppies, cooperate in hunting, share resources with each other, mourn losses, sing with each other, and will stop at nothing to protect their families. Maybe some people hate wolves because they're a direct reflection of themselves, but so much more noble and wild than they could ever be. Maybe some people hate wolves because they wish they could be wolves, or that they know perfectly well that wolves are the mots skilled hunters in their woods. But then again, with humanity's propensity for evil towards our own kind- torture, discrimination, war, selfishness, and greed- maybe the hatred of wolves has more to do with the human darkness than with fear or lack of education. After all, if humans can't even love each other and look after our own, what hope do wolves and wildlife have? Not much, unless we all learn to look into the eyes of wolves, into the eyes of elk, squirrels, lions, parrots, praying mantises, and every creature with whom we share our home. And not unless we look into those wild eyes, see ourselves reflected back onto us, and realize that our souls howl the same songs. Instagrams:
Wolves & Carnivore Conservation: @pounceconservation Personal: @aspen_marie_stev Email: [email protected] Please share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. HYENAS AREN'T UGLY, LAZY, OR VICIOUS...AND NEITHER ARE WOLVESWolves are either loved or hated. Hatred for wolves is deeply monopolized by the belief that they are lazy, vicious, sport killers, demons, ugly, sinners, and onward. But there is one carnivore that is hated even more than wolves, and that is the hyena. Whatever the reason, from The Lion King to religious traditions, hyenas are the one animal that has been vilified even more than wolves. Though the hyenas in The Lion King did scare me as a kid for a while, I never directly hated them or was afraid of the actual animal. But I definitely didn't consider them as interesting, worthwhile, or fascinating as other animals like cheetahs or lions. Not until I went to Tanzania this summer did I fall completely in love with hyenas, with their behavior, quirks, and intelligence. I realized that, just like Americans (and Europeans) fear and hate wolves for no reason, the world has hated hyenas for no reason other than misunderstanding and lack of education. In the Beginning, God Really did not Like WOlves (Or Hyenas)Though many cultures, especially native tribes, respected and adored wolves, Abrahamic religions did not and since the modern world is run by the influence of Abrahamic religion and culture, so have the negative attitudes about wolves. In the Bible, every mention of wolves is negative. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. For reference, Ezekiel 22:27 (ESV) states "Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain". Most of the wolf symbolism in the Bible depicts wolves as the devil's chargers or Satan himself, attempting to destroy a flock of lambs, shepherded by Jesus. But did you know hyenas are also in the Bible? Though not written of quite as much as wolves, to nobody's surprise, the Bible is not positive toward hyenas either. Jeremiah 12:9 says "The people I call my own will attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas." And further along, Jeremiah 50:39 says "Therefore the desert creatures along with hyenas will live there... but people won't live in it again. They won't inhabit it from generation to generation". Ye Olde Medieval ManuscriptBoth hyenas and wolves are depicted in the Rochester Bestiary, which is an illuminated manuscript from 1230-1240 in medieval Europe. The Rochester Bestiary contains 107 entries of animals, both exotic, domestic, and mythical. It was basically the Wikipedia for animals in ye olden days. It's based off Physiologus, another bestiary book written by the Greeks in the second century, but the Rochester Bestiary uses much more explicit Christian allegory in the animals' entries. The hyena is described in the manuscript first. They are said to be grave robbers and dirty hermaphrodites (an organism that can change sex- scientists also believed female hyenas, which have an enlarged clitoris that looks like a penis, were hermaphrodites for a long time). According to some legends, if you look at a hyena three times, you become paralyzed (and then it eats you). Hyenas also circle houses and imitate the cries of man until you step outside to investigate and our devoured by this trickster. Allegorically, hyenas represent "untrustworthy, two-faced people. Or it represents humanity, who first worshipped God and then worshipped idols. It can also signify a greedy and lustful man" (The Medieval Bestiary- online). Wolves do not fair much better. The following quote is from Medieval Bestiary and describe the allegories attributed to wolves in this medieval text. "Like the wolf, the devil always sees mankind as prey and circles the sheepfold of the faithful, that is the Church. As the wolf gives birth when thunder first sounds, so the devil fell from heaven at the first display of his pride. The shining of the wolf's eyes in the night is like the works of the devil, which seem beautiful to foolish men." Also, prostitutes were called she-wolves. Oof. Medieval records often compared wolves and hyenas. "The hyena is a cruel beast like to the wolf in devouring and gluttony, and reseth on dead men, and taketh their carcase out of the earth, and devoureth them". Still don't believe me about the similarities between wolves and hyenas? IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE ABOUT RELIGIONImportant side note: I am not particularly religious, although I was raised Christian, but I can tell anyone who uses the Bible as justification for hating wolves: don't. Firstly, the Bible is extremely symbolic and every mention of wolves in the Bible is part of a parable or representation. If you are a Christian and want to hate wolves and use God as an excuse, I leave you with the story of Noah. God did not say "take 2 of every animal except for wolves because I hate them and they're evil and literally Satan". God said "TAKE 2 OF EVERY ANIMAL. EVERY. INCLUDING WOLVES AND HYENAS". Werewolves And... Werehyenas?Yes, werehyenas were/are creatures of mythology in African lore. Remember when I said wolves and hyenas have very similar stories when it comes to hating them? Here's possibly the best example across history. Possibly the first "werewolf" story was from Ancient Greece. Zeus turned Lycaon, a king into a wolf after Lycaon decided to feed Zeus his own cooked son (as in Lycaon's, not Zeus's- HIS OWN; he butchered HIS OWN SON) to see if Zeus was really all-knowing (spoiler alert: he was). Stories of "true" werewolves began in the Middle Ages in the 14th century, possibly as a result of so many people dropping dead from, you know, plagues. Though the myths began around Christian symbolism of the wolves being devils, those myths came about probably from Proto-Indo European beliefs that men turned into wolves before battle. These "pagans" turning into wolves were likewise associated with the devil, so anything related to werewolves or lycanthropy was not exactly okayed by the church. Much of the fright and continuation of the werewolf myth came from German paganism. In 16th century France, the werewolf terror enhanced when people were accused (correctly) of murder and cannibalism (probably from starvation) , but the crimes had nothing to do with real wolves. At this point, werewolves were tried in witchcraft trials especially in France. Some historians think that werewolves may be "explanations" for serial killers. Also, because wolves are top predators, along with bears, wolves may have been merged into a terrifying werewolf tale that was only made easier by biblical symbolism. Other top predators, like jaguars and tigers, have likewise been made into "werewolf" stores. As have werehyenas. Werehyenas have history possibly even further back than werewolves, but we'll probably never know. Hyenas are associated with witches in a lot of African tribes, even today. Some believe that there is no such thing as a "wild hyena", that every hyena is just a skin-changing witch. Some believe witches keep hyenas as pets. In Ethiopia, Tanzania, and other parts of Eastern Africa, blacksmiths are said to be able to turn into hyenas and then rob graves at midnight. They're called buda. This story may have started because, during times of famine or war, hyenas will often scavenge human remains and were seen as a sign of death. This is similar to how we have come to associate crows and ravens with death. Other versions of werehyenas depict them as originally being cannibalistic humans, usually witches or blacksmiths. Arab versions of werehyenas say that they can hypnotize someone with their eyes and suck blood from their victim's necks, like vampires. In Persia, a kaftar was a half-man half-hyena that continuously killed (and ate) children. In Greece, there was a monster known as Crocotta, which was probably just their description of actual hyenas. Fun fact: the scientific name for hyena is Crocuta crocuta. And, if you want a combination of wolves and hyenas in these morbid scary stories, the Greeks also got you covered (they had pretty vivid imaginations). Literally until about 1800, Greeks believed that undestroyed werewolf bodies would turn into vampire hyenas that preyed on bleeding, dying soldiers in battle. Eek. Blame Disney for Why you hate hyenasLet me first stop you at "they're ugly". I think hyenas are adorable, and super quirky in both appearance and personality. I literally saw one roll around in grass like a puppy. I don't think many people actually have seen hyenas, whether photography or in real life. I'd never seen a hyena before Africa. Why? They're not in common in zoos. Nobody wants to see them. Nobody likes them. Considering some zoos are trash, maybe that's a strike of good luck for hyenas, but as a whole, hyenas are received more negatively than even wolves. Blame The Lion King. Don't get me wrong, I love that movie (just yesterday I saw the new one and nearly sobbed from the beautiful animation), but let's be real: the hyenas are portrayed as ugly, stupid, dependent on Scar, and jokesters. In the original movie, they're also voiced by people of color compared to most other characters being voiced by white people so that was a whole debate and controversy (rightly so) as well. But The Lion King set a stage for an entire generation or two hating hyenas. They either were terrorized by them as a child or were only exposed to them by seeing them as villains trying to eat little Simba and Nala. Also, the Swahili names for the two of the three hyenas, Shenzi ("savage") and Banzai ("skulk" or "lurk"), weren't positive. And Ed was a complete slobbering maniac with a stupid name for a hyena. Naturally, hyena biologists weren't happy with Disney (one tried to sue them, but apparently hyenas don't have the same defamation rights as humans), and they had a solid point. If you ask anyone outside of Africa why they dislike hyenas, the answer is almost always going to be The Lion King. I will say the 2019 "live action" version did a lot to make up for this past mistake. Shenzi kept her name, but she was portrayed as the capable, strong leader of the group, as is appropriate since female spotted hyenas rule the roost. The hyenas were slightly more sympathetic since they were said to be starving because of Mufasa's rule. Some dialogue from the original movie about hyenas being "mangy slobbering poachers" was taken out. Sadly, that's about all the improvement. Banzai and Ed were renamed Kamari and Azizi which I was briefly excited about since I thought it may give them more dignified names. Then, I translated the names and was immediately disappointed. Kamari means "gambler" and Azizi means "they do not know". Nice work, Disney. Ernest hemingway and theodore roosevelt were jerksThese writings are detrimental to both species, and inspired not only the eradication of wolves in America but the continuous vilification of hyenas. Ernest Hemingway Despite his fame in the literary world (I think his writing was shit, but that's just me) Hemingway was a certified asshole, not just for this following passage about hyenas, but because he was a racist, homophobe, and sexist. "It wAS oKAy aT thE tIME" ok sure, read this and then tell me you still want to excuse Hemingway. It's an excerpt from The Green Hills of Africa when he describes the safari he took with his wife: "It was funny to M'Cola to see a hyena shot at close range. There was that comic slap of the bullet and the hyena's agitated surprise to find death inside him. It was funnier to see a hyena shot at a great distance, in the heat shimmer of the plain, to see him go over backwards, to see him start the frantic circle, to see that electric speed that meant he was racing the nickelled death inside him. But... the pinnacle of hyenic humor, was the hyena, the classic hyena, that hit too far back while running, would circle madly, snapping and tearing at himself until he pulled his own intestines out, and then stood there, jerking them out and eating with relish [the hyena probably did this from complete pain and attempts to get the bullet out of itself]. Fisi, the hyena ["fisi" is Swahili for hyena], hermaphroditic [myth] self-eating devourer of the dead, trailer of calving cows, ham-stringer, potential biter-off of your face at night while you slept, sad yowler, camp-follower, stinking, fowl, with jaws that crack the bones that the lion leaves, belly dragging, loping away on the brown plain, looking back, mongrel dog-smart in the face; wack from the little Mannlicher and then the horrid circle starting (Hemingway pp. 37-28, 1935)." Teddy Roosevelt "Teddy Roosevelt loved animals! He saved that bear!" First of all- Roosevelt was hunting bears with hounds at the time, and although he did refuse to shoot the bear after it was exhausted by the dogs and tied to a tree as an easy target, be insisted the bear still be killed for "humane reasons" (???). "...the hyena is a singular mixture of abject cowardice and the utmost ferocity. Usually feeding on carrion, and often hesitating to attack even the weakest animal if it is unhurt and on its guard, the ravenous beast will, on occasions, even when single but especially in troops [hyena groups are called clans, by the way], assail very formidable creatures" (Roosevelt and Heller, p. 259, 1915). Oh, and he hated wolves. "The wolf is the arch type of ravin, the beast of waste and desolation. It is still found scattered thinly throughout all the wilder portions of the United States, but has everywhere retreated from the advance of civilization." (Roosevelt, 1902) |
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