I was wondering when this would happen - at lunchtime, I looked out of the window to see a female Sparrowhawk crouched beneath the birdtable, amidst a swirl of grey Wood Pigeon feathers. She flew off into the hedge a minute later with the corpse in her talons. 

Why would whisperit have twinges of guilt KR?
This is not senseless killing as practiced by humans across the world, this is nature doing exactly what it has for millions of years! Sparrow hawks are flesh eating animals and without the occasional death of a pigeon or small mammal, there would be no SparrowHawks. There would be no lions in the wild without there being dead Gazelles or Zebras. It reminds me of when Howard Jones, a renowned Vegan, decided to feed his dog a vegan diet. He can do what he likes, being a sentient human, but a dog needs protein in its diet, as does the Lion and the SparrowHawks.
Nature can be unpleasant but it is always nature. It is not done for sport ( except, arguably, the Fox).

Lol....I knew that'd rile someone! I do understand biodiversity etc! I'm just a pathetic wimp who wouldn't be able to watch the pigeon suffer. I'd more easily deal with the thought of the hungry sparrow hawk and its chicks. Just my fluffy, hypocritical, illogical female mind. ( oops there's another issue!!!!)

I recently watched this documentary about penguins. They showed the babies being raised by the parents- then the babies being left alone on the shore so they could learn how to swim. Well the first shot was of some big ass fucking seal eating a baby penguin! Needless to say, I turned the channel...like I need to watch that bullshit. Some male animals kill babies just to bring the female back into estrus..seriously? No wonder the females have to be fierce to protect their young. Nature can be harsh and personally it disturbs me too Kat. Should all animals turn vegetarian and homosexual? Probably.

I do have sweet little ruby-throated hummingbirds around my house and discovered an interesting safety tactic they use. Since they are sooo tiny, they are sometimes preyed upon by medium sized birds. This hummingbird has used the predatory chain as a defense. It builds its nest within a cone shaped radius of the hawk or other large predatory bird. The larger predatory birds have interest in the medium-sized prey and don't bother with hummingbirds. So when possible intruders come upon the ruby-throat, a hawk will swoop down and intercept. It's built-in protection, Nature using Nature to survive.

Yeah, it sucks that us UK people have nothing to compare with hummingbirds (I guess that the nectar-eater niche is filled by butterflies and moths here).

On the other point, I think that Nature isn't there for our amusement, edification or education, and pays no attention to our moral sensibilities. It just is. Surely, the idea that H sapiens somehow knows better how things should be arranged is a symptom of disconnection, placing ourselves apart from and above Nature?

But some animals do have a moral sense of their own - two fabulous recent books on this are Cheney and Seyfarth's "Baboon Metaphysics" and Whitehead's "Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins"

Well the vegetarian/homosexual construct would solve alot of problems, haha. I'm talking Homo Sapiens now. When I say "problems", of course I'm referring to suffering and death. Let's go deeper. ( I'm already gonna tell you, I'm 3 glasses of wine in now- I cannot be held accountable for what I say when morning comes)

1) Nature and Territory- why does the male animal feel it necessary to kill other members of it's Species for territory?! Nothing can be built upon! From an Evolutionary stand point, it's a black-out! Always starting over- do you realize what the Human Race could have learned if the Libraries of Alexandria weren't burned down?! Civilization could be so advanced by now- but noooo,...war-restart, war-restart...sad really. It's competition between males..but for what? Survival? No..an individual can survive just fine on their own. A mate? Well this sounds more likely, that's where my homosexual "jest" of an answer came in. "Fuck" instead of "fight" basically. I know, I know...it did little to curb male aggression in Ancient Greece...could be those Neanderthal genes dammit.

2) Food Chain- just sayin'...the biggest, most muscle-bound animals are herbivores. I know, I've tried vege..did it for a couple of years- gone back and forth..it's tough. It just cuts down on suffering/killing of animals. Now GMO's have fucked up our whole food supply, not only sterilizing the seed (making farmers dependent on the government to produce these poisonous sterile seeds) but sterilizing the animals who eat them too...yeah, that includes "us". So, yeah, an organic fruit/vege diet sounds peaceful..the way Nature intended for primates. I'm not against hunting per say...it is natural instinct for predators- I just want animals to live real natural lives- not some fucked up factory farm life that Neanderthals have created for them-

Way too hopeless/helpless for me.  I've already suggested what is wrong but....