to find wildlife programmes too distressing to watch?

[sparksthefirst]

Just that really. Can't bear them. I am a huge animal lover and i just find watching animals eating other ones really distressing. I absolutely understand nature is nature and animals have to eat but I just don't want to see it (I wouldn't want to watch a programme about labour filmed down the business end eirther,,for example!) I wish I wasn't this way and I don't want my two sons missing out on programmes like planet earth etc when they are a bit older, so I'll just have to leave room!! I sometimes think the Attenborough programmes are overly graphic. Anyone else with me?! Just interested really

And don't get me started on anything to do with pets being abused/neglected/abandoned

Now these I can't watch, it's a whole different ballgame to me because it's preventable and not necessary.

Yabu. I'm vegetarian too, but I don't have any illusions about nature being some kind of fluffy 'lion lying down with the lamb' scenario. We need predation in order to keep animal populations in whack - otherwise different bits of the world would be drowning in rodents/rabbits/antelope etc etc. Look what happens to habitats when you take out a key high-level predator.

The Attenborough series is gorgeous and endless watchable, but if anything for me, it's too sanitised. I loved it, but do also agree with that Springwatch presenter (whose name escapes me -he wrote a piece in the Guardian recently on nature programmes) that programmes like that, filmed in nature reserves, make us complacent about habitat destruction because it all looks so pristine.

Then again, you're entirely entitled not to find animals killing other animals 'entertaining' - I'm similarly baffled as to how anyone can watch Eastenders.

YANBU however, personally I think these programs need to be watched and seen by children. It sickens me that some children don't know where meat comes from, in some attempt to shield them. As an adult you know what the deal is with nature, but children need to learn and I think to some extent the general population would benefit even in a small way. If you know about it and choose not to watch it than that is absolutely fine, but IMO it's not OK to be completely ignorant to it.

We share this planet with so many other creatures we at least owe it to them to understand the basics of their lives, if we stand any chance in breeding the next generation that will attempt to conserve them.

Other than the obvious gore that is just part and parcel of life with animals, there is so much to learn about behavior, instincts, survival, and the natural evolution to out smart each other. Unfortunately feeding is just such a basic thing that has to happen, that it is something that comes up time after time.

We know that predation is part of the life cycle, but over the last few years wildlife documentaries seem to concentrate far more on this 'deadly killer' aspect than any other. When you watch the programmes now, you are left wondering how animals manage to survive long enough to breed at all.

I've been wildlife-watching in Africa. The constant gratuitous death and destruction as depicted in natural history programmes is not representative of a 'day in the life' of prey animals.

Technology has moved on, and the close-up slow-motion filming and camera-work in these programmes can be awe-inspiring and astonishing. But please... just a bit less of the blood and guts.

YANBU! I really struggle watching them - Planet Earth is beautiful, but there is a lot of emphasis on hunting/dying etc. My eyes are covered most of the time...

Yes I find those bits distressing too. Just want them to be over, but I know it is part of life, etc. I put up with it so I can watch the other gorgeous footage. To be fair, I don't think they do dwell on it unnecessarily, in fact they probably gloss over it for the viewers benefit. Well a lot of the animals being stalked do seem to get away!

About a year or so ago David Attenborough actually made a series called 'The Hunt' which obviously focused on predators and prey. Although I usually watch all his programmes, I avoided this one. I'm probably a wimp.

I remember the orphaned gorilla one

It had a good ending

Mum had left her baby behind to go with another troop. She didn't want to bring her infant as rival males kill babies not their own. So she left her behind

Dad, the big silverback make, stepped in and took care of her. She would curl up on the forest floor snuggled into his big mass

So it sometimes has a good ending

I love watching them. I find I learn a lot but I've definitely become more sensitive as I've gotten older and had children.

I went on a safari years ago as a teen and watched a cheetah take down a deer. My nan couldn't watch but I found it fascinating. Especially as once the cheetah settled down and started to eat....5 Cubs appeared out of no where. She had young she needed to feed

I really enjoy them and accept the death that happens as it is happening 24/7 out in the world, but completely understand why you and others avoid them. Nature is so raw and heartwrenching when we apply our human emotions to it.. We can read about it but seeing it in technicolour HD is very graphic. Me and DP were having a chat yesterday about what animal we'd come back as, and I said nothing that is prey for another animal as I would live my life on constant alert!

I still enjoy watching them (obviously don't enjoy the death scenes but find it as a whole beautiful in the sense that nature can work so well). I watch with DD (5yrs) as I feel its important for her to understand how nature works and where meat comes from, she finds it mostly fascinating rather than upsetting so far.

Ah I'm really glad I posted about this, lots of interesting views! And most definetly not just me!!