The Furious Spinner

How is shooting wolves from an airplane sporting? Come on. I don't think they should be hunting wolves period, but if they are going to allow such a thing, they should give the wolves a chance. The hunter should have to be on the ground, just him and the wolf. No hunting dogs. No airplanes. Just the hunter's own instincts pitted against the wolf's. And no guns. Yep. He's got to do it with a bow and arrow. Or a knife. Yep. A knife. Or his bare hands. (I used the male pronouns deliberately. If you know of women who are up in those airplanes, let me know. It's certainly possible.) 2 comments

2 Comments:

Hi Kim,

This was something I heard about in circle one night a few weeks ago, and I was SO angry that I became not exactly in integrity (we were supposed to be in a protected, amplified, sacred space, not at the kitchen table) in wishing that the hunters would get to experience being the hunted with little or no awareness or protection...from the sky. Or thinking that things would be a whole lot more fair if their plane crashed. Ugh.

I felt the rush of energy go out as I said it, and the Winter Solstice candle blew out. My friend called my attention to it, and though I was still angry, I was immediately asking to take it back. I don't want to send out THAT particular kind of energy. I can't decide their fate, or wish karma on them, though I was angry at the unfairness and disadvantage of the alleged "hunters". Especially because of my love for wolves.

This is an absolutely disgusting practice that bears little or no resemblence to "hunting".

I have a cousin who is a hunter in the old sense of being a "stalker". He stalks his prey with a bow and arrow for days if necessary, and puts himself in their habitat or territory. He makes it as even a playing field as possible, because he considers himself a sportsman. He honors the animals' bones, eats their meat, uses their skins, and buries what remains. He has been gored before, and often hunts for bear.

I'm not necessarily a hunting 'fan', but there is integrity in treating the animal as an equal, rather than shooting defenseless animals from an airplane with an automatic rifle complete with scope.

I still get upset by this when I hear about it...

Think there is anything that can be done proactively? Other than cursing them? ;-)

Hope you are well today, my friend.

Much Love and Beauty,
Alyce

By  AWalkerBtweenWorlds, at 4:45 PM  

Hi Alyce,
I agree with you. I think hunting can be done in a humane and sacred manner, like just about anything else. In fact, I've long thought if we eat meat that's how we should all have to get it: by killing the animal ourselves. I was virtually raised on a farm (just down the road from my grandparents' farm), and my father hunted, so I knew that a death occurred in order for me to eat the food on my plate--and I couldn't always eat it because of that.

My father told me about when he was a boy, they killed a pig once a year. It was a day long event involving the entire family. I believe they did this in the fall. They started by building a fire. They wrapped potatoes and put them right in the fire. They hung the pig upside down and slit it’s throat. (Or maybe it was the other way around.) They captured (and later used) the blood as it drained. They used every part of the pig, including the hooves, although I can’t remember what it was used for. That first night, my father said, my grandmother would make the baby back ribs. (I think; I don’t eat pig, so I’m not sure I’m remembering right.) They ate the pig for the rest of the year, or until it ran out.

But killing wolves. No one is eating them. They’re killed because of fear or so-called sport! I remember when I was a girl once a raccoon was eating chickens and causing havoc so my dad and my uncles went hunting for it. I tagged along. They somehow found this raccoon and circled it. I was Miss Love-everything Child, so I cooed at it and tried to approach it. It hissed and “charged” me. I ran to my father and climbed up his back, and the men laughed. I don't remember what happened next, but I'm sure they killed it. To them, their livestock came first. Or their children. My father regularly killed rattlesnakes, too. (And that wasn't easy; he broke many shovels trying to do so.)

This is my ever long-winded way of saying that I do understand the fear the ranchers and farmers have. (I don’t understand people killing this beautiful animal for the fun of it, however.) I understand that many of the farmers and ranchers live close to the bone. But I admire the way some ranchers in Arizona have dealt with the jaguar (and other endangered creatures). Instead of hunting it to kill it, they're working to save it.

By  Kim Antieau, at 10:38 AM  

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