Posted by Pinky.

I wanted to share with everybody an e-mail I received from crazy wolf (a.k.a. Wolfgang). It's about my poisoning the ants the other day (April 2nd diary entry):

hello Pinky
about your ant problem [wild ants]
killing them is not the answer
using poison is an absolute 'evil'
save our planet and yourself
by being what you teach
many ancient peoples have understood the inter[connectedness] of life on this jewel planet
they knew that to keep the undesired spirits away from the household or village
an offering had to be made
a recognition of the other
honoring the other
so
with regard to ants
the ancients made an offering of food [daily]
to their ant relatives
the offering was made in close proximity to the ants home[s]
but in a direction away from the village
this act of 'life'
created harmony
Pinky
make peace not war
crazy wolf

After thinking about it for a while, I wrote him back:

Hi Wolfgang,
Thank you for your letter. The ant incident has been bothering my conscience a lot. I think using poison was a bad thing to do. When an emergency arises your first reaction or 'solution' tells a lot about where your mind and heart is at. It made me sad that the only thing that I could think of at the time was that I had to kill all the ants. I wonder what I would have come up with if they were not ants but maybe tigers, owls, or something else. I certainly wouldn't have tried to poison them. Anyway I thought it was wrong but then I also couldn't think of an alternative. So thank you for writing me, I think it's a very different kind of relationship with ants (and others) that you're talking about. I will have to try this way of doing things and make an offering, but it'll be just the one tentative step since it's not like I deeply understand that way of being you describe.
You mention 'ancient people' and speak of this way of being in the past tense. Are there many people who are like this today or are they all gone? Are you someone who is like this?
Take care,
pinky

I'm very grateful that Bunny made us this website. We often receive very thought provoking e-mails and each one is like a mini-opportunity to learn from people from all over the world. One of the things that I'm having the most difficulty with is trying to imagine how to live a more respectful life on a day to day basis in this modern world. I wonder if Mr. crazy wolf will write back.

~pinky