The Parable of the Owl Cam

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, with all the energy we spend watching ourselves and watching each other, how does a new species of mammal go unnoticed right in front of everyone, in a zoo?”

Josh spoke thus:

“This is animal porn,” a naturalist said to a fellow naturalist.

“It’s not porn,” the second naturalist said, “There’s no sex going on.”

“But it’s invasive,” the first naturalist said, “It’s personal.”

“It’s a surveillance camera,” the second naturalist said, “We’re watching an owl’s nest.  There are hundreds of nest cams all over the world.”

“There are thousands of porn sites on the Internet,” the first naturalist said, “The fact that there are a lot of them doesn’t legitimize them.  The fact that there are a lot of them makes them cheaper.”

“Why are you suddenly so against nest cams?” the second naturalist said, “They’re science.”

“They’re not science,” the first naturalist said, “Not for most people.  They’re voyeurism.  People are peeping toms.  Owl peeping toms.  It’s degrading.”

“So is a zoo degrading?” the second naturalist asked, “Millions of people visit zoos every day and look in on the animals.  Millions more go to nature preserves, to national parks, on safari.  Are all those people peeping toms?  Are they all getting charged up?”

“Now you’re totally creeping me out,” the first naturalist said.

“And what about animal programs on TV?” the second naturalist said, “High speed cameras, extreme closeups, zoom lenses, micro cameras.”

“Stop it!” the first naturalist said, “You’re making me feel unclean!”

“How is it unclean?” the second naturalist said, “It’s nature!  It’s what animals do!”

“Birds to it,” the first naturalist said, “Bees do it, even educated fleas do it.”

“And couples who don’t know there’s an owl cam in the woods do it,” the second naturalist said.

“What?” the first naturalist asked, “Who?  Where?  Move over!  Let me see!”

There was nothing in the camera view but the owl’s nest.

The second naturalist laughed.

“Animal porn is disgusting,” the second naturalist said, still laughing, “But people porn in the woods is okay?”

“Shut up,” the first naturalist said, “And let’s see what’s on the falcon cam.”