Give & Take

The quest for ascendency on the predatory ladder

- Michael Mason & Bryan And Robin Maritz

Much as in the board game Snakes and Ladders, those who are in the ascendency one moment often find themselves slithering to the bottom of the predatory ladder in a blink of an eye. Perhaps going around and around is a more accurate reflection of life than a straight ascent of a ladder, as things do tend to ebb and flow, rise and fall, and the diversity of life is maintained by a continuous system of give and take.

Writing this article as a keen birder, I was privileged to involve some know­ledgeable herpetologists, Drs Bryan and Robin Maritz from the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the University of the Western Cape, to impart a scientific and balanced view of the subject. Truly passionate birders and/or herpetologists, however, gener­ ally find themselves drawn to both rep­ tiles and birds, and indeed biodiversity in general, so there is nothing preventing us from developing an affection for both these groups.

Some good fortune has enabled me to capture moments in the ongoing, real­ life survival dramas of birds and reptiles through my other passion, photography. The inevitable clashes between the two groups are seldom observed dispas­sionately by nature­lovers and I have certainly found myself on both sides of the fence when battle­lines have been drawn. The antagonistic relationship is well established, however, and the pro­tagonists play the roles of both prey and predator on different occasions.