All things great and small, Nature appreciation Options

[Prashantt Nair]

i'm a huge wildlife enthusiast and i love finding out and gathering information about all sorts of creatures. i live in india and try my best to explore the forests and natural bounty of my region as best as i can. even though i usually steer clear of arguments i was faced with a very irate and disturbed bunch of co-hikers who just coudn't fathom the requiremnt of the existence of cirtain creatures like mosquitoes and leaches and cockroaches. i was totally unnerved and had to tell them of the benifits (not necessarily for humanity, but to the rest of the ecosystem) of these creatures. mosquitoes, leaches, cockroaches and their like (the kind that don't appeal to us humans) are extremely important for the welbeing of most tropical ecosystems. i had to go into the nitty-gritties of how exactly each of these life forms ensured and supported most other life forms in their vicinity. being a little inebrieated by then (the local toddy was taking affect) i went on to tell them about the utter brilliance of their evolutionary design. each one of these creatures have survived the harshest of climate changes and dispite their menacing (so it seems to us) appearance have a much more significant role to play in the long run than we (humans) ever will. i would love to get some thoughts or responses about your favourite animals or plants and compare notes. hic. cheers.

[Nymphetamine]

I'm scared of nature. Whenever I see polar bears or mountains or waterfalls or beautiful natural things, I freak out. I don't know why. I love rats and spiders.

Hm.

[Prashantt Nair]

i feel that way too sometimes. koalas and panda bears and cockatoos kind of get all the limelight, totally unfair. dragonflies, snakes and octopus are way more fascinating sometimes. but honestly, dispite the cute factor, all these creatures have stood the trials of natural selection. some more prolifically than others but they are all special just for the fact that they still exist. just like you and me. shanti.

[Nymphetamine]

If only dragons existed.

[Prashantt Nair]

in my own uneducated guess, they most probably did. maybe not exactly the way you or i imagine them to have existed, battling gallant knights and capturing fair damsels, but that design surely must have existed at some time. four limbs and two wings. no vertibrate that we know of (even fossil evidence) has ever had 6 limbs. but nonetheless i believe that a creature with those features could truely have existed. it is plausible.

[Jeng]

i like any animal, well not ugly ones, like when im visiting a zoo or something, im always like 'wow look at that' or 'omg thats so cool' idk :]

[Smoogrish]

I'm terrified of all creepy-crawly things, but I get your point about the "cuddly and beautiful" creatures getting all the attention these days. People just can't see why saving a spider is perhaps more important than a panda.

[by the way, they're spelled leeches.]