Motherhood in the Wild
Over the recent holiday my three daughters and I travelled to a foreign continent where we explored the African bush. We spent our days searching for animals and my girls always requested pursuit of the babies, maybe because they relished the idea of being ‘babies’ themselves, comforted by their mother right by their side. Perhaps it was witnessing the bond of a mother and her offspring in their natural habitat. With great fortune we witnessed baby elephants, baby cheetahs, baby warthogs, baby monkeys, baby impala, lion cubs, baby rhinos, baby giraffes, baby hippos just to name a few. We observed quietly in awe as the babies nursed, and mothers watched over them in the wild.
My daughters ooo’d and ahh’d over the cute, pint-sized animals, so sweet and innocent. I, of course, observed as a mother. A mother with my own babies in toe. In the wild, most males don’t stick around. The females are solely responsible for raising their young. In fact, male lions will not hesitate in killing their own cubs. The lions feel threated by the cubs and remaining king of the land includes eliminating competitors. My chest throbbed imagining the lioness fighting her previous mate, for the survival of her babies. It hurt me in a very deep and personal level where an explanation would surely fall short. The need for a mother to protect her offspring from their own father sickened me because I knew it all too well.
We learned from our guides that some species are better mothers and others. Giraffes are not very good mothers, yet elephants are doting and protective mothers. Some species stay with their babies for years, such as the lionesses, and some set their babies out on their own almost immediately. Reflecting on my own motherhood, my own single motherhood, I understood the responsibilities of taking care of three daughters in a wildlife of my own. An urban wildlife. While my children will never be prey for a hungry lion, I fend off other predators ensuring their
emotional safety. Over the years I’ve protected my girls from bullies, condemning teachers, and social media influences, and they all know not to mess with their mom when it comes to their well-being.
Since our return, I’ve daydreamed about what kind of animal I would be in the wild; what kind of mother I would be. Observing the animals highlighted how innocent our children are as they grow and learn. Baby animals are unaware of the predators and survival skills their mothers are teaching them from birth, and I realized I did the same, and my children were unaware as well. Looking back, I wish I had been more aware of the innocence and teaching, but I think I was just trying to survive each day. Just like the mamas in the bush I was worried they were fed, they were bathed, and they didn’t get hurt. Worry consumed me, probably like the many of the animal mothers.
Watching the sweet bond between the babies and their mothers, moved us all and I think I may have received a few more hugs and snuggles as my girls witnessed the most beautiful and special bond between a mother and her baby.