189Fig. 6.3b. Here, ‘self awareness’ comprises knowledge of not only the ego’s
relationships with other entities, but also of relationships in the ego’s environment
that do not immediately involve the ego. Of course, recent advances in the fi elds of
ethology and behavioural ecology have demonstrated that these phenomena are
not exclusive to humans, and that there are plenty of other (for the moment, verte-
brate) species that are aware of both types of relationship in their environment (e.g.
[ 207 , 208 ]). Nevertheless, it is still pertinent to ask why humans would want to
attend to relationships that do not concern them directly. It has already been sug-
gested in Chap. 3 that the knowledge of plant–animal interactions allows people to
fi nd animal prey, as well as avoid dangerous beasts (also see Sect. 6.3.1 below).
Here, I suggest a further hypothesis to explain the phenomenon of attention to
third-party relationships after describing some such relationships that Solega peo-
ple are aware of.
The vast majority of third-party relationships (at least for plant–animal and some
animal–animal pairs) that Solega people speak of are trophic, or have a trophic com-
ponent, although non-trophic antagonistic relationships between animal or plant
pairs are also frequently mentioned. Each of these pairs will be discussed in turn.
6.3.1 Plant–Animal
‘Animals (and birds) eat plants’ is the central theme of this pairing, although there
are many variations thereof. The feeding habits of elephants fi gure prominently
here, due to their massive size, and their ability to cause very visible damage even
to large trees in their search for food. Elephants are known to knock trees over or
grab hold of tree trunks and shake them, in order to get at ripe fruits. They will also
pull bark off living trees (commonly daḍasina mara , matti mara and sirhonne
mara ) with their trunk or feet and consume it, and frequently scratch their backs or
hindquarters on tree trunks, the underside of low branches or large boulders to
relieve an itch. Clear telltale signs of the latter activity, in the form of smoothened,
mud- smeared tree trunks and branches, can be easily spotted in the forest. Other
herbivores such as various deer species will also scrape bark off trees with their
antlers.
As mentioned in Sect. 6.1 , when asked to identify a plant, Solega people tend to
also spontaneously mention the birds and animals that use that plant as a food
source. Ferns are quite aberrant in this respect, as no herbivore is known to feed on
their leaves. The vast majority of named plants, however, form a link in at least one
food chain, which may or may not involve humans. In any case, there is consider-
able overlap, as the fruits and foliage of many plants are food for humans and ani-
mals alike.
Table 6.1 gives a list of some of the preferred plant foods of prominent forest
animals and birds. The consumption of fermenting doḷḷi ( Careya arborea ) fruit
by elephants in mid-summer (June) was frequently mentioned to me, as it invari-
ably has the comic, and sometimes dangerous effect of causing drunken behaviour
6.3 Relationships