Life lives off life. It's a closed circle. Tigers eat tiger food, sheep eat sheep food. There is an old proverb about that but I can't readily find it on the 'net.

If it weren't for carnivores and omnivores controlling the population of herbivores none of us would be here.

Take the example of the Galapagos Marine Iguana.

At one time they were land iguanas and herbivores -- "vegans". They had their tiny ecosystem, one island, and without predators they ate everything on their island they could eat until they ate up their entire food supply and there was no food left.

So they started jumping into the water to eat seaweed. The iguanas are cold blooded and after going into the water to eat, they have to sit on a hot rock to regain body temperature or die.

As time went on the easy seaweed was all consumed and the iguanas had to dive deeper and deeper into the cold water to get food.

Now their population is limited by the hardship of finding food. Those who can't hold their breath long enough to get to the food will starve to death. Those who can't recover from the cold water will die of hypothermia. Life is a constant struggle.

At least the island is tiny and there is seaweed deep in the ocean. If it weren't for the seaweed there would be no iguanas there.

But the earth is a big island with no food nearby. If it weren't for the carnivores and omnivores, the herbivores would have eaten all the plant life on the planet long before the dinosaurs evolved.

So the vegans should be thanking us for giving us all an opportunity to live.

At least that's the way I see it.

Bob