WHO WOULD WIN?
I saw a YouTube
clip today where a python was fighting with a cobra on a street in India. The python was wrapped around the cobra, but
the cobra got in a bite. They were
pulled apart, and the cobra went to a zoo and the python was released in the
wild where it’s survival after a cobra bite was seriously in question.
This clip
reminded of an old TV show "Animal Face-Off" on Animal Planet which fictitiously pitted two
animals against each other and speculated on which animal would survive. I think in real life, often both animals
lose. In the case of the snakes, if not
pulled apart, the python would probably have choked the cobra to death and then
later also died from the poison.
Survival in
real life is tough. It is why predators
look for easy prey. They look for the
sick, the slow or the newly born. The
strongest lion can be brought down by infection from the smallest scratch inflicted in taking down dinner.
Anyway.
As a result
of this show, my youngest son who was about eight would constantly ask, “Who
would win?”
“Who would win
a crocodile or a bear?”
“Who would
win an eagle or a raccoon?”
Who would
win a great white shark or an electric eel?”
Then we
would argue for one animal or the other.
Usually it came down to venue.
“If the crocodile was stranded in the forest,
the bear would easily kill it. If they
met up when the bear was crossing a river the bear would be toast.”
“If the
eagle surprised the raccoon out in the open it would probably win. If the raccoon got a good shot in to the
eagle’s wing, the raccoon would kill the grounded bird.”
The shark
and the eel? “Would the shark bite cut
the eels circuit? If not they would
probably both die.”
I was
planning to make a point with this post, skillfully applying it to politics, or economics,
or sports and making some great intellectual statement, but…I got nothing.
I do miss
that “Who would win” game with my eight year old who is now seventeen.
I saw a video the other day of a python that had eaten a fully grown porcupine - initially it seemed like the python had won and apparently they can digest something that big without any trouble but it was so bloated that it fell of a rock and died from internal injuries inflicted by the porcupines spines - there is probably an equally great point to be made from that one too ...
ReplyDeleteWhy are we fighting? Some people are losing more than can be born.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a fun game! I know what you mean--my stepdaughter is almost 16 and sometimes I miss the fun games we used to play.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a tyke at St. Francis elementary in the early '50's we had what I've come to call 'catholic questions'....once a month a priest would come and talk to the class and take questions. A catholic question was something along the line of: "Father, if you were trapped in Russia, and the commies were going to capture you, and you were on a bridge with the river far below, and you'd die if you jumped, would it be suicide to jump instead of being captured by the commies?" The priest would ponder and give some long winded answer.
ReplyDeleteAt St. Peter and Paul's elementary I sat there waiting for the commies to burst in with their rifles, demanding to know who among us would die for their faith. I was ready to proudly raise my hand! Interesting the coast-to-coast dilemma "commies" posed for 3rd graders back in that day!
DeleteI love this game. A lot of thought would go into this game. You may not have the right answer, but it's a thought provoking game.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day Joe. ☺
I think you made a point here. Sometimes we miss the things we used to do with our kids when they were younger. This sounded fun to play!
ReplyDeletebetty
Think you are right on the out come of the snake fight if left alone. A lose/lose situation.
ReplyDeleteWe never did animals, just characters like Popeye vs the Joker.
When I fill out my Final Four brackets, I usually choose by trying to decide which mascot could take down the other. I'm not exactly a sports fan.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had fun with this game! You are probably right, though, neither animal really wins in the end if they both get hurt badly enough.
ReplyDeleteThis has some resemblance, in spirit, to Scott's (Low and Slow) post today.
ReplyDeleteI never played the "Who Would Win Game" with our son when he was small. but we did play the "What If Game." Such as, What if we found a treasure chest filled with gold?
ReplyDeleteA fishducky vs. a human (in a war of words)--the fishducky always wins!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun game to play on long, boring car trips! My youngest son and I just counted (cars, cows, signs, etc.)...I take all credit for him turning out to be a math genius. Heh.
ReplyDeleteA spider wasp or a spider?
ReplyDeleteThe spider wasp wins, drags that paralyzed spider to its burrow, lays a single egg in it, and the wasp larvae eats the spider from the inside out.