This is Mother. Nature's favorite study. It shows her that human beings are trying to figure out how she runs this wonderful world of ours. Jove the world of nature and we feel sad that the dodo bird and 11 .he passenger pigeon have been lost for ever. The study of ecology helps us !;o understand why these sad things happen. It shows us that Mother Nature has very strict rules and laws for running the world and when we learn what they are, we can work with the old lady to help keep the world as wonderful as it was created.
The gentle deer have grazed under the pines around Grand Canyon for countless ages. And for countless ages they have been hunted by hungry mountain lions. This may seem cruel, but it is one of Mother Natures ways of being kind. The hungry pumas keep down the deer population so that 'here is enough food for all of them. When hunters almost wiped out the pumas, the deer multiplied too fast for their own good and they soon ran out of food.
The pesky flies, to us. are a nuisance and maybe we would like to see the end of them all. But they provide food for the frog and we do not wish to see the last of his froggy smile. However, the frog population must not multiply too fast or the world would be swamped by them. So every year, many frogs become food for owls and snakesp raccoons and weasels. If we swat all the flies, all these other wonderful animals would be lost also.
This give and take is called the balance of nature. It is very severe, but things get much worse when this balance is upset. The mongoose of Asia was taken to the West Indies to kill the snakes. But the little fellow fed instead upon the farmers, chickens and became a great pest.
The pumas of Grand Canyon were ousted and the deer perished from hunger. These problems came along because the balance of nature had been upset.
The balance of nature is part of the study of ecology. It shows us how animals depend upon one another and when we remove all the bunnies or add a mongoose from faraway, the whole balance of life will be upset. Ecology also teaches us how animals depend on plants. The caterpillar cf the monarch butterfly can eat only milkweed leaves and he can live only where milkweeds grow. Bunnies need grass and squirrels need trees. Each animal must live where he can make a living and he also must give¬ and take with many other animals that share his neighborhood,
Certain animals and plants live only in the deserts, others live in highlands or lowlands, the tropics or polar regions. So the ecologist must study the balance of nature in certain areas, He considers the climate and the rainfall of each area and he even must consider the balance of life in the oceans, for the laws of ecology exist here also. Ecology, it seems, covers the whole world of nature and everything in it and we have only just begun is study.