What animal logic would seem terrifying to outsiders?

It’s a beautiful, amazing thing. How a woman is able to have that many babies at once—is beyond me. It is a miraculous feat.

Well.

And quite horrifyingly, if this same situation happened with certain species of animals:

Not all of those kids would have made it.

Why? Because mama would have eaten them. (Source: Offspring Abandonment and Filial Cannibalism Can Function as Forms of Parental Care. Davenport, Mackenzie)

It is common with various species of fish, cats, rodents, dogs, and birds.

There are several reasons, it isn’t just one. A few key reasons:

One: if a mother has too many kids, she won’t be able to realistically feed and protect them all. By eating a few, it enables her to maximize the odds of survival for the rest of them.

Two: Eating them also gives her a temporary boost in nutrition to help feed the others.

Three: it accelerates the process of “getting them out of the nest”. By being able to better feed them it will increase her reproductive cycle and make her available sooner for another round of mating. (Source: Why Some Animals Eat Their Offspring. Thomspon, Andrea)

Four: by removing a few, it makes her more attractive to potential mates.

Filial cannibalism is actually quite common.

It is yet another way that nature optimizes, in its typical, brutal way.

outsiders?