Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

We will never be able to solve nature’s mysteries

Rasha-al-Raisi
Rasha-al-Raisi
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When it comes to nature, we will never be able to solve its mysteries.


Research and studies carried out by scientists only help understand things from a human perspective.


Many modern philosophers argue that human logic doesn’t always help explain nature.


If we want answers, we should ask nature directly.


It’s impossible of course but would be fascinating to get nature’s point of view on things that happen around us.


I’m a woman who loves observing animals of all kinds.


And at many times, I stand


baffled when my brain fails to understand things that don’t make sense to logic.


An example of this is a situation that happened this morning that left me stunned while my logic brain was working hard to offer different theories, comparing notes to many books that I read.


But before I describe the bizarre situation, let me set the context for you dear reader.


It all starts with a stray cat called Qanas (hunter in Arabic).


Qanas and his 3 siblings came to my garden when they were a month old. I managed to tame his brother and sisters but never Qanas.


He showed an amount of aggression that I rarely saw in stray cats. He bit and scratched my hand when I offered him food.


He was always in fights with other cats and I literally gave up


on the idea of catching him for neutering.


Qanas’s sister wasn’t neutered either and had her first litter of kittens. She hid them under our old car.


Every day we’d find one of the kittens dead with a bite sign left on the top of it’s head.


We suspected rats — that never existed in our garden — till I caught Qanas in the act of biting the head of the last one.


Needless to say, his sister’s heart rending howls lasted for days, searching for her dead babies.


That was the time when I decided that taming and neutering of Qanas would be my holy mission! I started by brushing my hand on his head and back when feeding him to get scratched and bitten.


I acted as if nothing happened and continued my befriending acts, offering him special food while chatting to him.


It took me a whole month of dedication till I was able to gain his trust and shove him in a cage for neutering.


Neutering would not only save his life but would lower his aggression too.


After a year of observation, I congratulated myself for the results that I was witnessing.


Qanas was tamed and didn’t have problems with other cats.


But my theory came crushing down when I discovered that I failed to eliminate Qanas’s predatory nature.


I went out to feed the cats to find a headless kitten being devoured by a mother cat that has 2 kittens.


My heart raced as I checked her kittens to discover that this wasn’t one of them.


Later, I found out that the devoured kitten was put in our house by the neighbours to shelter.


He was welcomed by Qanas — who despite being neutered — attacked him plucking off his head.


I stood speechless, watching the mother tearing the dead kitten apart.


What happened to the mothering hormones that made her docile and overly protective of her own? Mom came out and saw me rooted on the spot, gawping.


She called the cleaner to pick up the dead kitten’s leftovers.


I felt one of the cats stroking my leg.


It was Qanas demanding his breakfast all so innocently!


Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of:


The World According to Bahja.


rashabooks@yahoo.com


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