Here I thought you were hunting for a girlfriend!

So you got a squirrel with a bow, that's impressive! Though a bit icky at first thought. We  got a squirrel with a slingshot once, but didn't kill it. They used to run out along the washingline and nibble holes in the clothes. Why oh why!!! SO we thought we'd give them the message that they were not welcome. Hubby had the winning shot, but he felt pretty bad about it after. They would chatter endlessly, skreaming at us, looking us in the eye. I suppose they thought it was their territory.

It's a tough one. Cause on the one hand hunting is the natural way for humans to support themselves, but on the other hand we don't have to kill, cause the workers in the slaughter houses do it for us.

Killing vermin and wild animals is necessary sometimes, and part of the life gig on this Earth. After all, the environment is endangered because we are such a successful species.  I don't feel bad if I kill a mouse or a colony of ants that wanted to move into my house. The pioneers did a lot of killing animals and digging up forests to settle Canada. It's just the way of things.

However, we shouldn't kill just for fun. Tending our needs is ok.

So then, do we need to kill deer in the forest? No. But it is natural, especially with a bow and arrow. I actually prefer the taste of beef... and not having to gut and skin the cow. If I had to hunt my own cow, I would go veggetarian.

It used to be the measure of a man, to hunt things to bring home for the family. Not so now. And I have mixed feelings about that. I think the joy of hunting is a natural one that stems from natural aggression which goes toward providing for ones loved ones. And that spilled over into killing other people from the need to protect one's tribe from invaders.

Just a few thoughts there.

Hunting for sport I have an issue with, but hunting to provide for yourself and your loved ones - as long as it is done in a humane manner - is of little concern for me.

That said - I have never knowingly taken the life of anything larger than a mosquito.

The_Omnissiah,

"squirrelpocalypse"?  Awesome! :3

So what kind of Tree Rats were they?  And did you level at all?

I've never hunted, I don't think I ever will, so I really can't have an informed opinion on it.

I have done mercy killings.

I think I am Nature and Nature is me.  I think I can never be separated from Nature.  I think that with Nature death & pain & suffering are a great part.  "Humanity" (which, recall, is also Nature) does a 'better job' at trying to mitigate the death & pain & suffering, I think.

There seems to be states of existence that work so well, everything in synch, but aren't very good at adapting.  That which adapts more quickly (like "Humanity") has the "problem" of 'not being in synch' which is a natural consequence of the ability to adapt more quickly.

Nature operates by laws or habits -- "Humanity" (which is, recall, also Nature) operates by laws or habits.  At one end of the spectrum, there are some members of Humanity who think that Environmentalism (in the sense of protect everything) is the way to go, all the way through Conservatism (tend and befriend Nature, care take) to Exploitation (that which isn't the self doesn't matter at all but is to be used).

One great way I see coming right now that Conservation-type humanity is doing is vat-grown meat -- this will free up all that land going to 'waste' for cattle, will also help all those vegetarians that don't eat meat for the 'don't hurt animals' reasons and will help feed our growing population.  One of the things I support sometime terrorist organization PETA funding :3

I view "Pollution" as an unused resource.

I  don't have a problem with hunting as long as it is done humanely and ethically and within the law.  The meat of course should be used. Wild meat is better for you anyway. 

I  don't have a problem with hunting as long as it is done humanely and ethically and within the law.  The meat of course should be used. Wild meat is better for you anyway. 

@ Ianna : I'm not a level 2 Hunter!  Although my raptor pet got lost :(

I think a "give and take" approach to the environment is the best.  The aboriginal peoples of the world mostly knew this, and lived in near equilibrium with their environments for sometimes thousands of years.  

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

And @ Elanor

If only getting a girlfriend was that easy.  I want to go back to the neolithic period, and just grab a woman and leave so sheepskin or something as payment xD

The eternal hunt continues.

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

These are the squirrels you really have to watch out for

Seeing one of those makes me go

Holey Cow!

I've shot pest 'possums and goats, and helped butcher sheep. Also I dressed as thoroughly as possible and ate the goats. We tried eating the possum and found a way to make them edible... not pleasant, but edible. I also have butchered chickens and geese. Hunting for fun revolts me; and I dislike whacking "pests": we're usually more devastating that the "pests" that so bother us.

Wild Turkeys are becoming pests in some areas.  So are urban rabbits.  I think they  need to be ethically killed (no poison and you can't fire a gun in city limits so I am not sure how) and the meat can be used for soup kitchens etc. Better for the people in need than cheap over-processed meat like bologna. Rabbit stew, turkey this n' that....

Take care of two problems in one.

But Omni-why squirrels? and are you eating them?

Did you read my blog entry Tabitha?  A friend requested me to get ride of them from their yard because they were wreaking havoc on all the wiring in their shed.  They've had to dump 400.00+ dollars into squirrel-repairs so far.  And the squirrels aren't staying away with live-traps.

This was a last resort.

And I didn't eat the first one, although the gulls were happy I didn't.  However I''m going to see if any of the elders in town would like the squirrels to make stew and I'll gladly donate them.

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

A scence from one of my favourite movies, Never Cry Wolf.  The main character here is a researcher who is all on his own, out of his element and is trying to study why caribou populations are falling.  There are a LOT of mice around and, after having to deal with them eating his supplies, peeing and pooing EVERYWHERE, he 'breaks' and decides to "utilize a natural resource" :3

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Also, another example of a successful Canadian movie :3

The_Omnissiah, What do I think about hunting/'exploiting wildlife/wilderness?

I think that that parallel to the increase in human population there is a decease in the earth's wildlife population which is being decimated.  

Firearms play a relatively minor role.

A man operating a bulldozer, to clear land for a housing development, is far more destructive to wildlife that a man with a gun.

Coexistence is becoming a thing of the past

Sorry I hadn't read your blog. You were hunting squirrels to protect your friends wiring.

I guess that's kinda like me keeping my cat-she's a mouser and we do not have mice in the house!

I'm not a hunter-but when we lived above the arctic circle I cooked and enjoyed all the caribou we were given!

It's like disabling my neighbour's car to stop it running over anyone's children. Well, running it through a crusher, actually. And THAT's fun! (Something to do with video gaming  impacts.)

@Mike, it's more like disabling the car AFTER it's run over children, to prevent it from FURTHER running down little ones :P

@ naman, I agree, urban sprawl and development has done much more harm to the environment than a fellow with a rifle. I believe hunting for food, and killing for safety/justifiable convenience are ok.  

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

Inanna, Never Cry Wolf is great. Crunch, crunch, crunch!! Eww.

Yeah, the rabbits at UVic. Much controversy. I say trap 'em and feed 'em to the students. The students could also sell them for school profits.

But Omni now.. I don't think the neolithic was quite like that!

so.....my dad talks about hunting squirrels for food....and definitely I remember mom talking about learning to make rabbit stew.

I have no problem with people hunting for food.

Sadly the bunnies are all gone now from UVic - all have been trapped and removed a few months ago. Before that happened I heard more than a few stories of students hunting and eating them - using a bow and arrow. The most entertaining story was of a friend of mine who was on a walk with the UCC chaplain - and looked up to see a rabbit's ear falling from the sky towards them. She wondered if that was a good or bad sign???

Omni: how about disabling its "reverse" gear so it can't back up to make sure the job is done?

I have no problem with people hunting for food, and in some cases where a troublesome wild animal needs to be killed for good reason, but I don't have much fondness for sports or trophy hunting.

At our cottage many years ago we had a very troublesome squirrel.  You could not sit outside without him climbing up your body and he was terrifying the children.  We decided that he needed to relocate.  I set a trap - an old cooler on it's side with the lid propped open by a stick on a string.  Inside was some peanut butter.  Didn't take long, Mr. Squirrel came a searching.  Inside the cooler, slam goes the lid when I pulled the string.  Hubby loads the cooler up on the back of the quad and takes squirrel for a ride many miles down the road to a new home.  The kids were crying, thinking he was going to do the squirrel in.  We didn't, we just moved him a little bit.  I often wondered how well he did in his relocation?!?

We've had many squirrels since then, but none of them bothersome, so we just co-existed.  We never fed them, nor tried to tame them as others did.

These squirrels have been relocated several times and keep coming back.

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

Somegal: Eeeee! Bad sign! It could get blood and guts in your hair! That's a funny picture though, students with bow and arrows... I'd be rather concerned about safety. The grounds are not exactly wilderness. It's a good thing they've solved the problem. On the other hand they could have had a new business enterprise there!

I used to see so many rabbits running wild in England and Scotland, and many times I wished to hunt and roast one, for the experience of living off the land, and the feeling of independence it would give me.

Omni, How did you feel about the killing of the squirrel? Did you wring it's neck?

I have set a rat trap today and will put it out in the shed tonight, after the cat has come in for the night. We have had the trap for well over a year and not put it out yet, we've been co-existing with the pack rat smell and the droppings and the nibbled items all this time, then today I found they had eaten our blood and bone fertilizer and decided tonight's the night. We'll see how I feel about it after one's caught.

I'm sure it won't come anywhere near the sorrow I felt when the neighbour's cat was run over last week.

Well, no pack rat last night. Try again tonight.

Elanor: as you may know, In Scotland (and probably England still) popping a "wild", freerange bunny in the pot can get you a jail term as a "poacher": they all "belong" to the landowner

Do wild bunnies taste better than ranch bunnies, in the same way that freerange chickens taste better than the corporate farm chickens?

I didn't know that Mike. Good thing I never went ahead! I was living in a bronze age dreamworld. The guy I knew who did pop 'em off, his dad owned the land. I didn't put those two points together. I just knew the rabbits were being poisoned and shot left right and center. Young men would go out in a landrover in the dark with floodlights, drink and shoot them. Abhorrent. They should be used for food and fur.

I don't know Pinga. I would expect they might be tougher and less fatty though. You'd want young ones... And you definately wouldn't want a mixxy bunny. That's one that's been made deaf and blind with the chemically caused illness mixamotosis, which eventually kills the poor pathetic creature. It was sad to see. Shame, as they' be easy to catch.

Samwise with a brace of conies

My taste buds find a difference between tame and wild bunnies.  I cheerfully eat both when available. My Nana grew chlckens and rabbits in her yard so I was introduced to the meat at a very young age.  Occasionally I have been given fresh killed wild rabbit.  Country dwelling friends say they can get to be a nuisance and it is better to shoot and eat them than let them overpopulate and eventually starve.

A culling?

Bears are not meant to fly

Turnaboot is fair play?

Ya got ta haves respekt

Interestingly, the news anchor in the second clip is a member of my congregation.

somegalfromcan,

it's a small world :3

Indeed - and Victoria is a small city!

Elanor,

Samwise Gamgee certainly knew what to do with a brace of conies!  (he was wishing for potatoes...)

They may look cute, but underneath that lie savage beasts!

This PSA aboot squirrel changelings, though they seem not to have mastered the art of camouflage yet

For as long as I live, I will never forget the horrifying Rooftop Squirrels

"I know Kung Fu," says the Neo-squirrel

Never mess with squirrel solidarity

Oh God... I hope I didn't inadvertently shoot EZed's cousin or something...

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni