A little while ago I got lunchables as a late night snack. I didn’t realize it when I was purchasing the Lunchables, but when I sat down to eat I realized there was a platypus on the front of the box. I didn’t think too much of it until I opened the box and realized there was a little cartoon on the inside of a platypus and a rabbit sharing a pun. Seeing this reminded me of Sterba’s book, Nature Wars.

In the bear chapter, as well as a few other chapters, Sterba warns against this type of anthropomorphism. He explains how it causes a false relationship with animals which can be dangerous. Sterba states, “Children grow up surrounded by images of wild animals presented as furry or feathery little people like them. We learn from our pets how some animals live and then mistakenly project that knowledge onto wild creatures living a much different reality . . . Today’s denatured adults often continue to see bears and other wilds animals the way they did as children without the corrective lens of different experience” (Sterba 184-185). Although I do not believe a rabbit or platypus will cause any true harm to a child or adult, the idea still holds. A food intended for children has images of animals acting like humans. These images will, most likely, stick with children throughout their life without an experience teaching them otherwise.