わたしは自然の動物たちに無用にエサを与えることは自重しております。
　以前、自宅兼用事務所を建てた時期、それまでの集合住宅マンションから久しぶりの「地面を感じる住まい」になって、うれしくて、ついバードテーブルを置いてしまった。増築前だったので、シンボルツリーも植えていたので、スズメ社会に評判になってしまったようで、ついつい「かわいくて」エサを与えたところ、ハンパない大量のスズメが蝟集して、ご近所迷惑が心配になってしまった。
　また30年以上前、スズメにとって見慣れない３重ガラス入りサッシはただ空を反映して見えたようで、激突して動かなくなって死んでしまう個体も出てしまった。そんな経験から、野生動物にエサを与えることは非常に罪深いことなのだと思い至った次第です。たぶん地獄で閻魔様から断罪される可能性（笑）。
　しかし自然の動物たち、とくに札幌円山公園のような場所の動物たちは、人間とはエサを勝手に与えてくる存在だと見切っている。なので人間を見かけると近寄ってきたりする。「お、バカな人間がまたやってきた。エサにありつけそうだ」という心理なのでしょう。決して人間に愛情を感じての行為ではない。かれらの即物的な条件反射行動だと思います。そのように仕向けた人間社会の側の罪業。
　人間社会と野生動物社会の共生という問題は人間の倫理と深く関わっていて、そう簡単な解は存在しないと思います。ただ、野生動物の自然な姿はたしかに微笑ましくはある。
　久しぶりに札幌円山公園を散歩すると水辺に越冬中のつがいのカモたちが。観察しにわたしが近づいていくと、メスの方が積極的に近寄ってくる。オスの方はやや遅れて、寒さもあってか、身を丸めた姿勢でおずおずと付いてきた。メスの心理はよくわかるけれど、わたしには餌やりする考えはない。
　「あ、こいつはダメ人間だ」と彼女は即座に判断したようだけれど、かといって即座に身を隠す、無視するといった風情でもない。オスの方はただ付いてきただけで、自分の考えはなさそう（笑）。
　一瞬の、一期一会でのイキモノ同士の「対話」なのですが、本当はここから先が大事なのでしょうね。
　こちらにはエサやりする意思はない。けれどもカモを捕獲するような意思、もっと進んで食糧の対象とする考えもない。カモは、エサをくれるヤツではないと判断するけれど、さりとて自分に危害を加える考えもなさそうだという一種の「了解」もある。「なによ、こいつ？」。
　しかしわたしはこのようにかれらの映像を写真に撮る。かれらにしてみれば「肖像権の侵害」だけれど、かれら社会にはそういう概念はないだろう。ひたすら人間社会側の「勝手」な論理世界。「ただ観察するだけ」という人間側の姿勢はかれらにはどう「写っている」のか、考えてしまう。
　春になればまたたぶん、ヒグマたちとの接近遭遇がさらに多発するだろう。人間が作り出した都市空間と人為的な加工を施した「自然環境」。考えて見ればカモはよくてヒグマはダメという論理は確かに奇妙ではあるだろう。あくまでも人間の「勝手」だ。しかしこれは人間社会として自然への絶対の「強制」ルールだろう。さて野生とはどういう棲み分けがあり得るのだろうか？

English version⬇

A couple of ducks waiting for spring by the water in Maruyama, Sapporo.
The boundary rules between humans and wild animals that have taken up residence in man-made “nature”. How will they react to the human attitude of not harming or feeding them? A couple in Maruyama, Sapporo.

I am very careful about needlessly feeding animals in the wild.
　During the period when I built my former home-cum-office, I was so happy to have a “home where you can feel the ground” for the first time in a long time from my previous apartment complex that I ended up putting up a bird table. Since it was before I had built an addition to my house, I had planted a symbolic tree, which seemed to have gained a reputation among the sparrow community.
　More than 30 years ago, sparrows seemed to see the unfamiliar triple-glazed sashes as just a reflection of the sky, and some of them died after crashing into them and becoming motionless. Such experiences made me realize that feeding wild animals is a very sinful thing to do. Possibly condemned by Enma in hell (laughs).
　However, animals in nature, especially those in places such as Sapporo Maruyama Park, see humans as beings who feed them without permission. So, when they see a human, they will come up to us. They think to themselves, “Oh, here come those stupid humans again. I can get some food. It is not an act of love for humans. It is their immediate and conditioned reflex action. It is a sin on the part of human society that has made them do this.
　The problem of coexistence between human society and wild animal society is deeply related to human ethics, and I do not think there is an easy solution. However, the natural appearance of wild animals is indeed a source of smiles.
　When I took a walk in Sapporo Maruyama Park for the first time in a while, I saw a pair of ducks wintering by the water. As I approached to observe them, the female was more aggressive in approaching. The male was a little later, perhaps due to the cold weather, but he followed me slowly, curling himself up into a ball. I understand the female’s mentality, but I have no desire to feed her.
　She seemed to immediately judge, “Oh, he’s a bad person,” but she did not immediately hide or ignore me. The male was just following her around and didn’t seem to have any thoughts of his own (laughs).
　It was a momentary, once-in-a-lifetime “dialogue” between the two animals, but I think it is what happens from this point on that is really important.
　I have no intention to feed them. We have no intention to feed them, but we also have no intention to capture them or even to consider them as food. The ducks are not a feeder, but there is a kind of “understanding” that they have no intention of harming us. “What the hell?” I don’t know.
　But I take pictures of them like this. For them, it is an “infringement of their right of portrait,” but I don’t think they have such a concept in their society. It is a logical world of “self-indulgence” on the part of human society. I wonder how the human side’s attitude of “just observing” is “perceived” by them.
　In spring, there will probably be many more close encounters with brown bears. The urban space created by humans and the “natural environment” artificially processed by humans. It is indeed strange to think that ducks are allowed but brown bears are not. It is a “self-indulgence” of human beings. However, this is an absolute “compulsory” rule for nature as a human society. What kind of segregation is possible in the wild?

Posted on 3月 19th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 「都市の快適」研究