When we try to pick anything out by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John Muir

Chief Seattle reminds us in poetic fashion that "whatever happens to the beast soon happens to man. All things are connected. When all the beasts are gone man will die of a great loneliness of spirit." I think about these things when I consider all the critters that mankind, in his arrogance, has carried out extermination campaigns against. The snake, wolf, shark, and prairie dog come to mind, and there are many others. Once upon a time, nobody knows exactly when, our species was placed in a glorious garden and given the combined burdens of many choices and remarkable intelligence. Unfortunately we have mistaken this privileged role for divine right, the misconception that we are more than a single thread in the web of life. And may God save the beasts.