Letters to a Myrmecologist

Regarding the previous post’s explanation of biologist/naturalist E.O. Wilson and his documentary, my younger son and I wrote letters yesterday, asking Wilson to thoughtfully consider my son’s requests for animals, since they can’t speak for themselves.

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For the sake of our son’s privacy, I have not included his letter. It was polite yet strong.

Here is mine…

October 5, 2020

Dear Mr. Wilson,

Hello sweet man! My name is Edee Kulper and I’m Levi’s mom. I thought I’d write to you as well because, well, first of all I love any excuse to write because it’s my passion – as ants are your passion – and secondly, I thought I’d augment what my son said with a few important details.

To begin, I first came across your Of Ants and Men documentary several years ago and thought it was beautifully made. I also really enjoyed your joyful, curious personality! We are a family of nature lovers, and we always take every chance we get to be immersed in a forest, a meadow, a lake, or a rainstorm (well, I do in the latter, at least!), so your love of the natural world resonated with me.

Yesterday, I decided to show your documentary to Levi. Let me back up a minute to say that I raised Levi to love all creatures – to hold spiders, pet bees, find snakes, and care for the creatures that are so often overlooked by others. At a young age, he began to see animals in ways that not even I did. At 4½ years old, he began to contemplate why he ate meat and asked me to stop serving it to him for the most part. At 5, he gave meat up entirely, no longer wanting another being to have to die for his meals. I supported this emotional maturity and I began to question my own choices. I ate little meat then, but now I eat even less – not for dietary reasons but for ethical ones thanks to his influence.

Levi has opened all of our eyes more, and sometimes he has deep inner struggles with the morality of society when he sees that a lot of people don’t care about animals in some ways, or only care about them when it behooves their own lives (not for purely the animals’ sakes). He can’t understand why he – at 5 or 8 or 10 – could have compassion for other living beings and even many adults don’t.

We are very fortunate to have moved up to an island in the Northwest called Orcas Island in order to raise our boys in the magical beauty and lovely small community of this place. We are immersed in trees, we hover over the Puget Sound, and our lives are tranquil and unhurried. Everyone here has time to chat and every view here is stunning! You would absolutely love it! I would invite you for a visit if it weren’t COVID times. I wish you could explore it – maybe you’ve heard of it already or visited here.

Orcas Island is the kind of place where people blossom – their passions, talents, interests, etc. There’s time to explore and be; there’s time to become one’s authentic self. Levi loves to observe animals and insects – akin to you! – and he’s even made a few videos about caring for animals’ rights (with the help of his tech-savvy brother). It’s just who he is – he honors every life. He’s been brought to tears when other people have callously disregarded and harmed animals and insects.

You are both so alike in your curiosity and love of animals, but he can’t understand how an animal lover could kill the very things he loves.

I write this not to elicit an explanation from you of why it can be rationalized ‘in the name of science,’ but actually to implore you to completely reconsider that long-held belief that it’s alright – a belief that so many scientists adhere to in prioritizing the importance of their work.

On the other hand, you must also know that I see you – I see how sweet and kind and lovely you are. You are a wonderful human being. My son just can’t help but vocally wonder – all the time – if he’s the only one who cares for creatures if even the scientists who claim to love them kill them. Please see this not as a petty, immature view from a young boy, but as a wise, thoughtful plea from a child beyond his years.

Please also think deeply and out-of-the-box on this issue, and fight the urge to dismiss it flippantly. While he doesn’t really want a response written from you because he’s starting to believe that no one really cares, I know what I’ve seen of you to feel that you would see the worth in his heart and respond in a way that is proud of him and open-minded to the ache he feels.

We are homeschooling this year, and Levi and I will soon be reading your Tales from the Ant World book because I know that regardless of Levi’s qualms, we will both love it. I even wrote about you yesterday on my blog called Life on Orcas Island in a post about homeschooling, telling readers all about you and encouraging them to watch your lovely documentary. (www.lifeonorcasisland.com)

Thank you for reading our thoughts, and if you feel so inclined to respond to Levi, our address is below.

Very Sincerely,

Edee Kulper

P.S. If you’re open-minded about not killing in order to study, perhaps new methods could be created and you could ignite massive, humane changes in the scientific community, as you are probably seen by colleagues and fellow naturalists and biologists as a leader. ♡

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It feels a little backward to post this before E.O. Wilson receives it, but I don’t think it’s wrong or unfair or else I wouldn’t do it.

Hopefully we will receive an understanding response…