Interspecies Co-operation

I WAS interested to see a video in which a bird appeared to be pecking a hedgehog in order to remove the creature from the centre of the road and therefore avoid the potentially fatal consequences of an approaching car. I have seen birds nibble hedgehogs when they want to eat fleas, and the latter are usually infested with them, but in this example the pecking definitely seemed designed to prod the hedgehog away from danger.

It reminded me of the endless debate about human altruism and whether people do actually have a selfless concern for others. In other words, that when someone holds a door open it may have less to do with being kind, thoughtful and well-mannered than with a more basic desire to appear that way and thus feel better about oneself.

Similarly, perhaps the bird saw the hedgehog as a useful source of nourishment and would rather help keep it alive for that very reason. It's a theory, at least, and certainly one way of avoiding the kind of insipid anthropocentrism which results in the Disneyfication of the natural world. Not that I am completely ruling out the notion that, as bizarre as it seems, a bird might instinctively have the best interests of a hedgehog at heart.

All good Anarchists will know that Peter Kropotkin's mutualism - which, from my perspective, is endlessly preferable to the theory of 'might is right' - is the epitome of the beneficial relationship that can exist between two different species.