Last year I was looking at my frog pond and saw something really weird. A frog’s great big white belly was face-up (I guess that’s what we’d call belly-up!) and it was kind of rolling around in the water. I ran over to see what was going on, and I saw that a great big garter snake had him by the foot under the water. I thrust my hand under the water, grabbed the snake and it let go of the frog.

That spring I had a few more dramas of chasing away snakes, even going toe-to-toe with one big guy that bit me (no big deal) when I tried to get him in a paper bag for transport. Finally, I realized that I needed to forget about the snakes, stop worrying about them, and I did. I didn’t see snakes again that year.

Now, in theory, I got it that nature is nature and a snake is no less deserving of a tasty frog dinner than the frogs are deserving of a tasty fly dinner. But, I still didn’t like the idea of one of “my” frogs getting eaten. I admit it, I am attached to them.

So, the other day, I go out to the pond and see a smallish garter snake, nicely poised at the pond’s edge, ready to strike any frog that appeared. “Aah! A snake”, I yell, and try to grab him and he jumps under the water. There was no way to find him or chase him off now.

For the rest of the day, I was struggling with myself. The snake was out there, and it was quite likely going to eat a frog or two. Because of my standards of how I want to feel at all times (peaceful, happy, joyful), I knew something had to change. It did. I evolved. I finally got it.

What makes me so smart, and such a dictator, that I would tell a frog what it can and can not experience? Maybe the frogs are bored with me blocking natural predators from them. Maybe they’d be healthier individually and as a population with natural challenges. Maybe it’s wonderful to die by the mouth of a snake, especially when the cannabinoid system kicks in at death. Who knows? And, that’s the point…I don’t know, and it is none of my business!

Now, I am really starting to get it…I actually like snakes! They are another wonderful part of nature. If I don’t bother them, I’ll have a more complete ecosystem. I wonder who likes to eat snakes?…Maybe they’ll come around! Maybe I can get some more great nature pics…

Oh, but there is one last attachment…What about Bluey? My uncommon blue-coloured green frog. (Notice the “my” again.) Yes, Bluey is special. Yes, I love him. But should his specialness and my love for him make him any less qualified from living a full life, snakes and all? I need to let Bluey fight his own battles and live his own life.

And, finally, as close to home as my frog pond, I accept the same philosophy as I do for humans. The philosophy that I believe leads to the fastest evolution and highest good for all: Live and let live. It’s not up to me to make opinions about, dictate or control how anyone else lives…Friends, family, “foreigners”…Even Bluey.