Today, at work, we had a very surreal conversation about pheasants.

Why we alighted on such a subject matter is a bit of a mystery although I think it started with a comment about a ‘vegan versus meat eating existence’. Always guaranteed to loosen the tongue and get the juices of conversation spilling forth. I kept my thoughts to myself.

One comment, from the Meat Eater Camp however, did peak my interest.

He said; “Well, we always eat what we shoot, and we never shoot the rare pheasants that resemble the Japanese Green Pheasant”.

Quietly, not wanting to get drawn into the now raging debate, I looked up what the difference was between the more common pheasant found in the UK and this Japanese Green Pheasant. What was it that made the shooter flinch from pulling the trigger.

Apparently the Japanese revered this bird because it was thought to be a messenger from the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. It was a symbol of luck, longevity and fidelity.

So the pheasants in the UK do not ordinarily resemble this revered creature, despite the beautifully coloured plumage of the males, and do not have the same iridescent green body feathers to make them less of a target. However, if they did exhibit a slight throw-back nod at their Japanese cousins, they would gain immunity from the cartridges primed for their relatives’ demise.

This got me wondering if the existence of such a pass for life existed in other animal communities.

For example we are excited by the news of an albino lion cub sighting in the Wilds, but would their lack of colouring segregate them from the pride, or would they just be accepted for their scent resembling the rest of the cubs? Perhaps a different coloured member of the family would not even be noticed as such. Unless of course the group felt threatened.

Could this lack of camouflage act as a flag for predators? A type of target to be aimed at, flushing out the rest of the group from their hiding place? Maybe then the creature would endure the questioning ethnicity of its existence.

I wondered if the ‘green’ UK pheasant was shunned for similar reasons or actually thought of as a prize when the mating  rituals began in earnest. If the decision of the group is one concerning life or death, the poor creature would not be welcome, which I can understand.

Unlike humans, who appear to pick on the ‘different’ member of the group merely for their amusement and deep seated prejudice.

If I come back as a pheasant, just so you know, I’ll be the bright green one living in the UK. I’ll take my chances with the ladies, but I’ll have an ace under my wing when it comes to the most cruel of predators out there.