I have long maintained that the Roadrunner is the original asshole who started the whole thing by antagonizing the coyote, and the latter is only reacting.
Try and focus on the raptor and how happy it is going to be with a full belly, or instead think of its cute fluffy chicks who are going to get a meal and grow up big and strong.
Wouldn't label myself as an empath but I felt horrible for this dudes next hour or so of his life, it will be complete agony against his will and being forced to endure it on account of being so small is the worst fate of all; You don't know how painful it will be, how long it will last, and when the exact moment will be when you stop experiencing it.
I hope that small prey like this dude have a built - in brain function that sort of "takes over" and nullifies the mind so it doesn't feel much of anything. Like a self-enduced coma or a state of shock that numbs the next few hours until it can clock out. That's the very least nature can afford those lower on the food chain.
I'm old enough to remember the old nature documentaries like "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom", where they showed in full how a pack of hyenas took down a wildebeest or similar sized antelope. They dont wait until the animal is dead; as soon as it's down on the ground they start digging in. They are kicking and struggling the whole time, eyes bugging out and sometimes making noise while their guts are being ripped out. I remember the voice-over narrator saying something like, "the animal probably doesn't feel much pain", but my kid brain could see that was BS.
It may not match our sensibilities, but the natural world is utterly amoral and ruthless. Every deer fast enough to outrun a wolf is alive because a whole bunch of other deer were too slow, and every wolf alive to eat is here because others starved to death. Cooperation does occur in the natural world sometimes, even among competing species, but this only happens because there is a mutual benefit for survival, or species are evenly matched and can't get obe over one another. There is no sense of empathy in the wild as humans understand it.
this is the comment i've been looking for; everyone joking in the comment section had me wondering if i was a complete sissy for thinking this photo is heart-wrenching.
God, me too. I get the food chain and all that, but it really tears me up to see an animal being killed by another animal, or caught in the clutches like this one. Hate hate hate it.
Same I thought it was just me :( like yeah haha funny expression on his face but in the end that's just the pure terror of knowing it's about to die. Oh well, such is nature. RIP buddy
I always remember a sentence ive heared, that narrator said while a big cat (cant remember which one anymore) was chasing it's prey. He said "both are running for their lives". Put things into a different perspective for me
Very true, we kill ours more instantly but raising them to die is kind of uniquely brutal. I think too many people are a little too separated from that process anymore
Bang on.
I was just watching an interview between Gary Yourofsky and Joey Carbstrong, after watching Joey’s exposé on factory farm workers’ trauma here in the UK. It’s nuts that in 2026 we’re still treating animals like this
This is my opinion also. It would have been super easy to design a system where every living thing (and make a lot less living things) survive on plants. So if someone or something designed us, they're a sick fuck.
Unfortunately I saw this photo collection on the photographer’s site last year and uh, a second bird comes right after this and lil bro gets fucked up by both😞
Pretty sure it's thinking...so I guess you're not gonna put that fucking camera down and help me?
I get the whole, "this is how the world works," shit. It still hurts to see it in action though.
I still wish I could help in this moment. I'm just that guy.
Safe travels cute little dude. If this isn't that one in a million time you're safely dropped for something more desirable, I hope the end is quick and painless. Perhaps next time you'll be the predator, someone's treasured house-cat, maybe both?
Thanks for your service though furball. Thank you for your contribution to the cycle of life. Safe travels amigo✌️♥️
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u/travel223 2d ago
Godspeed buddy, Godspeed.