THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -8-

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THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -8-

Gannets spend most of their time in the sea and form colonies on the rocks or on islands, where they lay their eggs. Gannets living in the northern hemisphere lay one egg, and those in the southern hemisphere lay two. Left alone by their parents when they are only three months old, the young go out to forage for food. Most often, they start to fly as soon as they leave the nest.

Young storks in the forests of Thailand have a very original way of being protected from the heat. The mother and father bring water in their bills and empty it on the babies whose feathers have not yet grown. This cold shower makes the babies comfortable for a while, but it is not enough. They also need shade.

Again this need is met by the parents' self-sacrifice. They spread open their wings to protect their young against the strong rays of the sun.

Storks are among the best parents in the world, considering the care, attachment and self-sacrifice that they show towards their young. When we look at the natural world, we always encounter the same fact: Allah has created every living thing. Each creature, with its wonderful characteristics, is a proof of the reality of creation. Allah is the Lord of all the wonders of creation in heaven, on Earth and in between. Thinking people should consider Allah’s creation and praise Him for it.

For living creatures, Africa’s heat can sometimes be fatal. For this reason, many animals look for shady places where they can protect themselves from the direct sun. The ostrich of South Africa thinks about her eggs and her chicks more than herself when she protects them from the heat. She stands over them and often opens her wings so that the sun’s heat will not strike her eggs or hatchlings. But in doing this, this creature subjects her own body to the sun’s rays. The reason for this behavior, as with other creatures, is because ostriches act by Allah’s inspiration. The ostrich is just another creature into which Allah has inspired a sense of tenderness and protectiveness:

… Everything in the heavens and Earth, willingly or unwillingly, submits to Him and to Him you will be returned. (Surah Al ‘Imran: 83)

Dolphins protect their young from the moment they are born. Immediately before giving birth, the mother dolphin begins to move more slowly and other female dolphins, seeing this, assist her when she is in labor. These helpers swim on either side of the mother dolphin to protect her and, when the baby is born, make sure that it gets up to the water's surface to take its first breath.

For the first two weeks, the baby never leaves the mother's side. Within a short time after its birth the baby learns to swim and gradually ventures farther and farther away from its mother. The new mother cannot keep up with her baby's swift, rapid movements; and so cannot give it sufficient protection. In this situation, the helper female dolphins come on the scene to provide the baby with excellent defense.30

Creatures caring for one another's welfare is a clear challenge to Darwinists, who believe that this kind of behavior-that is, one creature assisting another-is of no use for an individual animal's survival. On the contrary, they believe that such acts can put a "selfless" animal's life at risk.

The self-sacrificial behavior of mother dolphins can be seen when they put half of their own food, already digested, into the mouths of their babies. Another example of such behavior is dolphins helping one of their number when it is injured. Instead of fleeing, they exhibit behavior that poses considerable risk to their own lives.31

Dolphins act in concert to protect their young from sharks. One or two dolphins will swim out to attract the shark's attention. When the shark turns to follow this decoy, other dolphins attack strongly from other directions; one advances swiftly from behind the others striking the shark's side with their noses. Typically the shark gives up, but dolphins have sometimes even killed sharks in this way.32

Seahorses live on warm ocean reefs where they can hide among the seaweed, coral and sponges. Their thick, hard skin serves as armor against their enemies; they have eyes that can look in several directions at once which help them catch their prey. The male seahorse has a pouch similar to that of the female kangaroo. At mating time, the female seahorse deposits many eggs in this pouch where they remain for six weeks. The male seahorse feeds the eggs in his pouch with a fluid until they develop into miniature seahorses, and he provides oxygen for them by means of capillaries in the inner tissues of the incubation pouch.33

When their mating season comes, sea turtles crawl onto the beach in numbers. But it is not just any beach they come to; it is the beach where they were born. Sometimes they have to travel 800 kilometers (498 miles) to reach their birthplace. At the end of their journey, they lay their eggs and bury them under the sand. So, why do they always gather at the same beach at the same time? If they did so at a different time and on a different beach, would their young survive?

When we try to answer this question, we meet a very interesting situation. The tiny turtles that hatch from the eggs weigh only about 31 grams (1.1 ounce) and a single turtle cannot dig its way up through the layer of sand above them. But with them all helping one another, the job is easily done. Soon they emerge to the surface of the sand altogether and hurry towards the sea.

How do these new hatchlings know that they have to dig through to the top of the sand? Who taught them that they must make their way towards an ocean that they have never seen? These tiny creatures could not do this with their own intelligence, so, where does this conscious behavior come from? There is only one answer to this question: Allah has inspired this conscious behavior into sea turtles.

Meerkats live in communities, and because of the dangers that exist in their environment, their support for one another is of vital importance for their survival. Every morning, meerkats first do a security check before spreading out into the surrounding area to find food.

Every individual in the community has his own job to do. For example, some meerkats stand guard to ensure the safety of the others, and watch for hours under the blazing sun without eating or drinking anything. If the guard sees some danger, he gives the alarm to warn his friends. Hearing this alarm, the other meerkats run to take refuge in the burrow.

The group's most important task is to rear and protect their young, and the young females are chiefly responsible for looking after the babies. Every day, one of them stays in the burrow to tend the young. The cooperation and mutual assistance in the group ensures that the babies will remain safe.34

It is Allah Who has taught meerkats the supportive and self-denying behavior they show towards one another.

A baby antelope takes between five and ten minutes to be born. During this time, it is difficult for the mother to move, and she is defenseless against her enemies. But while she gives birth, the mother is not alone. All the while there is another female at her side to provide support and protection.

From the moment it is born, the baby has no time to lose. The mother immediately nudges it with her nose to get it to take some steps. But its legs are weak, and it falls down. It gets up again and takes a few more steps. Within a few minutes, it is trotting by its mother's side and never leaves her because if it did, the young antelope would go hungry or be killed by wild animals.35

Everything in nature is the work of the eternal knowledge and power of Allah. With His supreme power, compassion, mercy, intelligence, knowledge and wisdom, He has given baby antelopes the strength to run at their mothers’ side within a very short time.

Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and Earth and all the creatures He has spread about in them. And He has the power to gather them together whenever He wills.(Surat ash-Shura: 29)

A mother rhinoceros gives birth to a baby that weighs only 4% of her own weight. Within one hour of its birth, a baby rhinoceros can stand up with its little armored body. Mother and baby spend a few weeks in a remote location, apart from others and come to recognize each other's scent.

Mother and baby spend all their time together until the next baby is born, between three and five years later. The baby rhino mostly follows behind its mother. Even though it stops nursing at two years of age, it still stays at her side and remains with her throughout her next pregnancy. Almighty Allah has given the rhinoceros the instinct to protect and patiently look after her young.36

As a family, the mother cheetah and her offspring are very attached to one another. The mother performs many selfless acts while rearing her young. In order to feed them, she often goes hungry, losing nearly half her weight. If she must, she will even give her own life for her kittens. For example, a lion is a great threat to baby cheetahs. Without hesitation, the mother will throw herself into the lion's path and, putting her own life in jeopardy, she draws the lion's attention away from her young to herself, giving them time to run away. This kind of altruistic behavior calls for consideration.

If this mammal were, as the evolutionists propose, a creature that assembled itself by chance through untold generations and by acting with selfish concern only for its own survival, we would expect it to flee and desert its young. Yet the cheetah does not do this, but confronts the lion and, if necessary, gives up her own life. Surely, it is Allah Who gives mother cheetahs this exemplary sense of self-sacrifice.

Squirrels carry their young in their teeth by the loose skin on their abdomens. If her nest is destroyed, a mother squirrel will carry her babies to another place tirelessly, no matter how far away it is. She carries away one baby and returns to the old nest, time after time, until she is convinced that all have been safely removed.37

30. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language and Remarkable Behavior of Animals, p. 313; "Port Phillip Bay's Smiling Ambassadors," Troy Muir; www.polperro.com.au/s9.html)
31. Gordon Rattray Taylor, The Great Evolution Mystery, p. 224.
32. Russell Freedman, How Animals Defend Their Young, p. 66-67.
33. A. Vincent, "The Improbable Seahorse," National Geographic, October 1994, pp. 126-140.
34. "Slender Tailed Meerkat," Wellington Zoo; www.wellingtonzoo.com/animals/animals/mammals/meerkat.html
35. "Antelope," Animal Bytes; www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-antelope.html
36. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language and Remarkable Behavior of Animals, p. 186.
37. Red Squirell; www.yptenc.org.uk/docs/factsheets/animal_facts/red_squirrel.html

THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -7-

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THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -7-

This mutual assistance among wolves shows the self-sacrifice of which animals are capable and gives the lie to evolutionists who claim that animals are merely selfish.

A hummingbird's nest is about half the size of a golf ball, but one of its most striking features is that as the babies grow, the nest expands automatically. This is because the parent hummers weave together tree bark, moss and plant stems with very strong, pliable spiders' webs. How can these tiny birds know to choose such an ideally useful material for the construction of their nests? Like every creature on Earth, hummingbirds act by Allah’s inspiration and, with this intelligence and foresight given by Allah, are able to make their babies comfortable.

When most baby birds hatch, they are blind and lack feathers. Mother birds must attend to their fledglings' every need. Even after they leave the nest, their mothers typically follow them to make sure that they can fend for themselves. Our Lord protects and looks after all His creatures; it is He Who inspires the hummingbird with intelligent forethought to build nests that can stretch and expand; and gives other species a sense of responsibility toward its young.

Everything in the heavens and everything on the Earth and everything in between them and everything under the ground belongs to Him. (Surah Ta Ha: 6)

Do they not see the birds suspended in mid-air up in the sky? Nothing holds them there except Allah. There are certainly Signs in that for people who believe. (Surat an-Nahl: 79)

Ocean terns build their nests in communal groups on islands surrounded by water, but even so, these nests are not completely safe. They can be easily reached by the winged thieves. Building their nests beside those of their neighbors affords the terns protection from danger from above. Staying apart from everyone else lets a predator focus all its attention on you, but being immersed in a group means that you have less probability of being singled out for attack. Besides, neighboring birds can assist in driving away an attacker. Birds arrange their nesting colonies as if they knew this. Allah looks after and protects every living creature.25

Have they not looked at the birds above them, with wings outspread and folded back? Nothing holds them up but the All-Merciful. He sees all things. (Surat al-Mulk: 19)

The albatross has the widest wingspan of all birds, reaching 3.5 meters (11.5 feet). These birds take characteristically great care in building nests to protect their eggs and their young. During the mating season, they gather together in colonies-but weeks before the females come, the males arrive to repair already-existing nests.

Praise be to Allah, to Whom everything in the heavens and everything in the Earth belongs, and praise be to Him in the Hereafter. He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware. (Surah Saba’: 1)

Albatrosses sit on the eggs in their well prepared nests for 50 days without moving. Like some other species of animals, albatrosses perform great acts of self-sacrifice on behalf of their offspring. Allah teaches these animals to think about the welfare of their young, to feed and protect them. It is He Who looks after and protects every living creature.

The food and water an embryonic chick needs to develop is present in the egg, whose yoke contains protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. The gelatinous white serves to store a constant supply of water. Besides this, the chick needs to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide; they also need a source of heat, calcium to develop its bones, and a system to prevent bacterial infection and to protect against physical trauma. The eggshell serves all these purposes.

The chick absorbs oxygen and releases carbon dioxide through a layer filled with capillaries on the inner surface of the shell membrane. It does not use its lungs to breathe as adult birds do, but exchanges air through small pores in the shell.

Have they not seen how We created for them, by Our own handiwork, livestock which are under their control? (Surah Ya Sin: 71)

But that eggshell nevertheless needs to be strong enough to ensure the proper functioning of gasses, water and heat within it. It needs to be resistant enough to protect the embryo from external trauma and from the weight of the mother as she sits on the nest. But the egg does all these things perfectly. Allah , Who holds everything in heaven and Earth in His control, gives us such examples to make us aware of His flawless creation.

Ducks, like all water birds, have hollow bones-one reason why they are able to float on the water. Ducks also have air sacks in their bodies that resemble little balloons. When they fill with air, they help them float on the water.

When a duck wants to dive, it pumps the air out of the sacks. With very little air left in its body, its buoyancy is decreased and it can easily go under the water.

Ducks can fly at speeds of more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) an hour. In addition, often they change their direction when flying to avoid falling prey to wild animals. When they want to dive beneath the water, they do it so quickly that they make very difficult targets for hunters.26

The babies of diving birds like grebes travel on their mothers' backs when they are swimming on the water's surface. In order to keep them from falling off, the mother spreads her wings out slightly and feeds them by stretching her head back and to one side. When the young are first hatched, the mother and father make them eat feathers they have collected from the water's surface or plucked from their own bodies. Every baby swallows quite a lot of feathers, which are difficult for them to digest, but are not really intended as food.

Rather than being digested, these feathers collect in the babies' stomach-for a very important reason. Later on, fish bones and other indigestible bits of food will collect there, and so the feathers prevent injury to the babies' delicate stomachs and digestive systems.

This habit of eating feathers will stay with the birds for their whole lives-a very important precaution to ensure that these fish-eating birds survive.27

Allah created every animal from water. Some of them go on their bellies, some of them on two legs, and some on four. Allah creates whatever He wills. Allah has power over all things. (Surat an-Nur: 45)

The characteristics of water birds, and of every creature in the natural world, prove the existence of a Creator. That almighty and eternally powerful Creator is Allah . Every creature behaves in the way that God has determined.

The noted biologist, Prof. Jeffrey P. Schloss, writes about the contradiction between Darwinism and animals' self-sacrificial behavior:

Because natural selection by definition eliminates traits that reduce reproductive success relative to others, any trait that entails a reduction in fitness while increasing the fitness of others (i.e., "biological sacrifice") will be eliminated from populations. Biological altruism, defined as genetically "self-destructive behaviour performed for the benefit of others," is incompatible with Darwinism.28

Within hours of their birth, baby cranes can walk well enough, to leave their nest and begin to follow their parents around. Parents and babies use a special sound to communicate with one another. The parents make a soft murmur, but when in danger or trouble, the babies make a more high-pitched sound to which the parents immediately respond.

In the mating season, both parents stay on the ground to guard the spot where they will build their nest. After the female lays her eggs, both parents take turns sitting on the nest throughout the day. But toward the end of the incubation period, this alteration becomes more frequent. In this way, both birds are free to move about and feed themselves.

The time the eggs hatch corresponds to the time when the insects appear that will be food for the babies. This timing is vitally important for cranes, since they have to migrate before winter comes-and before that time, the young have to grow, develop and gain strength.

These and all other similar features in the life of a crane are the work of Allah , the All-Powerful Creator.

Do you not see that everyone in the heavens and Earth glorifies Allah, as do the birds with their outspread wings? Each one knows its prayer and glorification… (Surat an-Nur: 41)

When baby swans are born, they are brown or cream-colored and very ugly. They emerge from their eggs with short necks and covered with thick down, and they can run and swim within a few hours. The mother and father swans look after them for a few months until they finally turn into magnificent adults.

In order to keep their eggs warm as they develop, Trumpeter swans sit on them. They only get up from time to time to turn the eggs over. In this way, the heat is distributed equally. Surely, it is Allah Who inspires in swans the kind of care their eggs will need.29

25. David Attenborough, Life of Birds, Princeton University Press, New Jersey: 1998, p. 221.
26. National Geographic, November 1984, p. 581.
27. David Attenborough, Life of Birds, p. 256.
28. William Dembski, Mere Creation, Science, Faith & Intelligent Design, InterVarsity Press, USA, 1998, p. 238; [Wilson 1975, 578]
29. Roger B. Hirschland, How Animals Care for Their Babies, p. 6.