re: #277 Justanotherhuman

Just the thought of blasting a bird on the wing with a shotgun is sickening to me. I’ve never eaten duck or geese or quail and never intend to. There’s a supermarket right down the street where I can get food.

I wouldn’t even harm the chickens and ducks that come over here on this property from the neighbor’s.

I remember my dad bringing home rabbit when I was about 6; I wouldn’t eat any. And my grandmother would buy a live chicken from a farm truck that came into town and ring its neck in the bathtub. I wouldn’t eat that, either.

I’m not much on hunting myself, though I make an exception for the accursed feral hogs who seem to have taken over a big chunk of habitat here in Texas. They are destructive and smart, having more in common with human enemies than with harmless creatures like deer or rabbits.
Bird shooting, otoh, reminds me too much of Victor Charlie shooting at my helicopter in Vietnam. Unlike the ducks, geese, and doves, though, we had the option of shooting back. Too bad we can’t somehow arm the game birds. Armed ducks might be a little too sporting for the “sportsmen” out there.
There is also this to think about: Passenger Pigeon. These once darkened the sky with their numbers but hunting and habitat destruction killed every last one of them by 1914.