I know that hierarchy exists in the natural world. Social order is especially prevalent among European honey bees, most ant species, many coyotes, gorillas, and numerous others. It seems that the greater the number of individuals, the greater need there is for some kind of social cooperation. While the world at times seems chaotic and disheveled, structure and precision always emerge from it.
My baby chickens are eight weeks old now. For the past couple of weeks they have been working on establishing their pecking order. They have discovered that they have wings and on windy days they make attempts at flying in spite of the fact that they will never attain more than a few feet of altitude. They fly at one another, puffing up their breasts in a face off and call out chicken expletives. It isn’t nearly as serious as the fighting you would see between roosters, but fighting for place in the hierarchy seems to be a basic instinct, even among our own species.
Jealousy, too, while considered a base and unhealthy emotion by society’s standards, is common in many species. We often see jealousy between one family pet and another, in addition to that which occurs between siblings. Jealousy is the emotion that gives rise to rivalry, which is all about survival of the fittest. Abusive husbands and boyfriends are motivated by jealousy. The same is true for women who are spiteful to other women. Most likely, all of us have experienced some form of jealousy at one point or another in our lives; but recognizing it and understanding that it is really just another survival instinct, allows us to simply observe it and let it go. We do not need to give it power.
My role as surrogate mom to five chickens is giving me insight into their social behavior. Animals are so much like us and I pity those scientists and religious fanatics who cannot see that all species are our relatives. All living things, including trees and plant life, are our relatives and we must learn to relate to all of them with kindness.
