Super-predatory humans
BBC Nature online, edited by Matt Walker
16 February 2012

Predators have roamed the planet for 500 million years. The earliest is thought to be some type of simple marine organism, a flatworm maybe or type of crustacean, perhaps a giant shrimp that feasted on ancient trilobites. Much later came the famous predatory dinosaurs such as T. rex, and later still large toothed mammals such as sabre toothed cats or modern wolves. But one or two hundred thousand years ago, the world's most powerful predator arrived. Us. We lacked big teeth or sharp claws, huge tentacles or venomous bites. But we had intelligence, and the guile to produce tools and artificial weapons. And as we became ever better hunters we started harvesting animals on a great scale. We wiped out the passenger pigeon, the dodo, the great herds of North American bison. Last century we decimated great whale populations. Today the world's fishing fleets routinely take more fish than scientists say is sustainable, leading to crashes in cod numbers for example, while people kill more large mammals in North America than all other causes put together.

1. "No humane being, past the thoughtless age of boyhood, will wantonly murder any creature which holds its life by the same tenure that he does." - Henry David Thoreau,
   from the "Higher Laws" Chapter of WALDEN

 

Quotes

2. "Hunting.  Making some bird or beast go lame the rest of its life is a sore thing on one's conscience, at least nothing to boast of, and it has no religion in it." - John Muir
   as quoted from from p. 314 of Edwin Way Teale's The Wilderness World of John Muir

 

3. "Out of such heart-breaking experiences that often shamed me there slowly arose in me the unshakable conviction that we had the right to bring pain and death to another being only in case of inescapable necessity, and that all of us must feel the horror that lies in thoughtless torturing and killing. This conviction has become increasingly dominant within me. I have become more and more certain that at the bottom of our hearts we all think so, and simply do not dare to admit it and practice it, because we are afraid that others will laugh at us for being sentimental, and because we have allowed our better feelings to be blunted. But I vowed that I would never let my feelings get blunted, and I would never again fear the reproach of sentimentalism." - Dr. Albert Schweitzer
   as quoted from The Animal World of Albert Schweitzer edited by Charles Joy

 

4. "The article was both encouraging and sad.  Encouraging in that women are rightly taking their equal place in every aspect of our society. Sad in that Coloradoans are still taking the lives of other creatures for no better reason than recreation and pleasure." - Roger J. Wendell
   The Denver Post Letters, Faxes & E-Mail p. 11B - Monday, November 8, 1999
   (in response to "Women changing the face of hunting" Oct. 31 Lifestyles Story)

 

5. "If we all hunted for our protein like the subsistence farmer, there would be nothing left alive on this planet bigger than a grasshopper." - Russ Finley
   Poison Darts (Protecting the Biodiversity of Our World) p. VIII

 

6. "Trophy hunters argue that hunting is a natural instinct of man. We come from a hunter-gathering background they say, yet I don't see any acorn or root gathering going on. In fact, I don't think there is a single gathering club in the country. So, if hunting is a natural part of our instincts, then how come gathering isn't?

   "And there are few predators in nature that would target the biggest and the strongest animals. Humans do so, only because we have devastating weapons of mass wildlife destruction. Targeting the biggest and the strongest is not natural or ecologically sound.

   "Behind all the chit-chat of conservation and tradition is the plain simple fact that trophy hunters like to kill living things. Many, like Vice President Dick Cheney, like their victims helpless therefore they patronize canned hunts and safaris parks to snuff out defenseless captive animals."

   - Captain Paul Watson, Seasheperd Conservation Society,
   in his 04-17-2006 piece; Loving Nature with a Gun

 

7. "Contempt for animal life leads to contempt for human life." - Edward Abbey
   One Life at a Time, Please p. 171

 

8. "Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and aesthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one." - Edward Abbey

 

9. "Thoreau enjoyed life in the wilderness without a gun. But John Muir was the supreme wilderness hunter and wanderer. He never carried a gun. Usually he was in the wilds alone." - Enos A. Mills
   The Grizzly pp. 103 - 104

 

10. "What will become of the deer, without the wolf to whittle its swift legs?" - Dave Foreman
    Confessions of an Eco-Warrior p. 81

 

11. "What sort of people would execute this type of crime? What sort of people would kill a creature, not to eat it or salvage its pelt, but simply to watch it die? Such activity is the ultimate blasphemy, an implacable refutation of the natural will to live and multiply, a crime that not even Satan at his most vicious or turgid could have devised." - Conger Beasley, Jr.
    Sundancers and River Demons , 1990 p. 118

 

12. "The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men." - Leonardo da Vinci

16-Year-Old Kills Three Bucks in One Hour
FoxNews.com 11-23-2010

FoxNews host Steve Doocy interviewed sixteen-year-old Corissa Wege, of Hortonville, Wisconsin, about the three bucks she killed in one hour while out hunting with her father earlier that week. Doocy almost wet himself trying to pry the kill details out of Ms. Wege. Of course nobody stopped to ask why one buck, let alone three healthy ones, needed to be killed in the first place. Ms. Wege, herself, stared dumbly into the camera probably wondering why she was out killing things when she should be home studying for college entrance exams. In a FoxNews 11 WLUK-TV interview, a day earlier, Corissa Wege stated, "I just saw horns, so I just shot." Wege's father, Tom Wege, said "I looked through the binoculars and said Corissa he is a shooter too, take him" - "She drilled him right in the boilermaker. She took that one right out of business." "She was shaking, almost crying," said Tom Wege. "She was just...you couldn't even talk to her. Just so excited. It was unreal." On speculating why three healthy bucks were in the area Tom Wege suggested, "I think we had a hot doe in the area." Spoken like a true "sportsman..."

Notes: In February 2002, Colorado State Senator Entz postponed action on his bill (SB44) to allow an earlier hunting season for bears in Colorado. In effect, that "killed" the bill for that legislative session!! ("Behind the scenes" many of us learned that there were an incredible number of calls, letters, emails and faxes to the State Senate. Had the bill come to a vote, it would have lost by a HUGE margin!)

Bad Photos:
Caution - these two photos are graphic and are not a setup - these kinds
of displays take place in public view throughout hunting season all of the time!

The Lazy Sportsman:

Click Here for a picture (85k) of two elk that were being "paraded" around a small town in western Colorado - November '99. Click Here for a front view of the same two elk (193k).

Guns:

As I suggested near this page's masthead, I have owned and used guns throughout my entire life - everything from home protection and work as a police officer to boot camp training and military duty. Still, I've never hunted anything since boyhood and am convinced you too, gentle reader, can give up recreational hunting as well! - Roger J. Wendell

A long, long time ago... I was an expert marksman I held a firearms permit I was an NRA member (joined again, many years later...)

"And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. . . ." - Thomas Jefferson, Third President and author of the Declaration of Independence (In a 1787 letter to William Stephens Smith)

Hunting Accidents:

Unfortunately hunting is a dangerous activity where many innocent people have been injured and killed - in rare cases it was even intentional. In reference to the photo, a left, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded Attorney Harry Whittington while the two were quail hunting in southern Texas (February 11, 2006). It's interesting to note that it took the media nearly 24 hours to get this particular story out, but then again that's another story... Anyway, the point is, hunting is dangerous and injury or death can happen to anybody. You need to be careful out there!! Hikers and other recreationalists have to be especially careful during hunting season. I, myself, avoid hiking in areas anywhere near hunting allotments. It took me a while to learn this after some relatively close calls - one was a hike along Loveland Pass, in Colorado, where some "cammo-guys" were shooting indiscriminately. Another was in southern Wyoming where I was climbing at Vedauwoo and "sportsmen" were shooting into the rock face about 200 feet from me.

Teen Goose Hunter Shot, Killed By Person In Passing Truck
Student Hit By Shot Fired From Passing Pickup
KCTV5.com, Kansas City, first reported this horrible incident on December 17, 2007 and then added updates:

"Beau Arndt, 18, of Americus, and two friends had placed several dozen goose decoys in a farm field Saturday and were lying in the snow waiting for incoming birds, according to the Lyon County Sheriff's Department."

"Arndt's companions told police that a pickup truck stopped along a nearby road and fired a rifle shot into the decoys, but hit Arndt instead and then left the scene."

"Shooting waterfowl with a rifle is illegal in Kansas, as is shooting from inside a vehicle or onto someone's property without permission."

"Arndt was the first person killed in a hunting accident in Kansas since 2005, state officials said."

"The Emporia Gazette reported on Tuesday that witnesses described a truck they'd seen as a late 1970s model Ford pickup with a standard cab and a Shawnee County license plate."

"A witness told authorities there were three men inside."

"The newspaper reported that the cab and front end of the truck were red and the bed was orange."

"The rear of the bed had an old Ford logo on it, which the newspaper reported as being three blocks - one large, one medium and one small."

"Authorities urged anyone with any information to call the sheriff's office at 342-5545, the Lyon County Crimestoppers organization at 342-2273 or 1-800-KS CRIME."

Vermont Man Kills Himself After Fatally Shooting Friend in Deer Hunting Accident
Published November 28, 2011, FoxNews.com

"A Vermont man took his own life Saturday after accidentally killing his friend in a deer hunting accident, police said."

"Authorities said they believe 49-year-old Timothy Bolognani, of Readsboro, Vt., killed himself with a hunting rifle after accidentally shooting his friend, 39-year-old Benjamin Birch, while the two were hunting for deer Saturday morning, the Bennington Banner reported.

"The two men were reportedly hunting in woods about a mile west of Howe Pond Road in Readsboro with another friend, identified as Mark Colford.

"Police said that when they responded to the scene, they found Bolognani and Birch dead from gunshot wounds, according to the newspaper.

"Investigators said Birch shot at a deer, which then ran through the woods. The three men tried to track the animal, police said, and at some point Bolognani fired his rifle.

"Birch was heard crying out before Bolognani and Colford found him lying on the ground, where he later died, the newspaper reported.

"Bolognani, the son of former state Rep. Betty Bolognani, then shot and killed himself with his own rifle, police said. No foul play is suspected.

"'These guys were best friends and professional hunters,' Birch's mother, Jacqueline Clara Howe, told the Boston Herald.

"The hunting deaths were the second tragedy to hit the Bolognani family in the past two years.

Bolognani's 18-year-old daughter, Jessica, reportedly died in a snowmobile accident in Jan. 2010.

"The teenager was struck by an oncoming snowmobile after falling from her own, according to the Burlington Free Press."

Party Hunting
Disgraced Parker outfitter put profit before ethics in the hunting arena
By Dave Buchanan
The Daily Sentinel, Sunday, November 21, 2010 p. 8D

"A Series of missteps by an outfitter from Parker has resulted in him paying fines in excess of $13,000 after pleading guilty to illegally hunting deer in eastern Colorado."   "In addition, outfitter Tom Tietz, 56, faces two years of supervised probation and lifetime loss of his hunting and fishing privileges in Colorado and 34 other members states in the Wildlife Violator's Compact."   "According to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Tietz was paid $5,000 from each of three clients in 2008. During the ensuing hunt, the three engaged in "party hunting" (where one person would tag an animal with someone else's license). Also, one person in the group was hunting outside the legal game management unit."   "As their guide, Tietz was aware of the violations and therefore complicit in the crimes, the DOW said."   "One of the charges to which Tietz pleaded guilty carried a $10,000 Samson surcharge for the killing of a trophy white-tail buck."   "Two other defendants, Thomas W. Franks, 56, of Harrisburg, Ill., and Amy S. Word, 35, of Newburgh, Ind., pleaded guilty in November 2009 to three counts of illegal possession of wildlife, including Samson violations, and each was fined $11,968.50."   "The fourth defendant, 57-year-oldBlaise Pignotti of St. Louis, MO., pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal possession of wildlife and was fined $1,968.50."

'Deck-side hunter' shocks quiet neighborhood
Homeowners watch as animal survives multiple gunshots
By Vicky Gits
Canyon Courier, Wednesday, September 28, 2011 p. 1A

"Hunting elk on private property in unincorporated Jeffco [Jefferson County, Colorado] as long as the bullet doesn't leave the boundaries. In the last couple of years, individual elk have been bagged in Paradise Hills, Cold Springs Ranch, Hiwan Golf Club and Indian Hills."   "[Ruthe] Hannigan awoke at 6:35 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, when she heard the familiar sound of an elk bugling close to the house. She popped out of bed and headed for the backyard deck to see two male elk jousting, their antlers clicking and clacking."   "She was thinkg how much she appreciated this part of living in the Highlands, where homes are situated in a scenic mountain meadwo, when she spotted a hunter in full orange on the deck of his house about 150 yeards away, taking aim at a large elk."

• "...after the first shot, the elk failed to go down. Badly wounded, it made its way onto the property next to Hannigan's house. Hannigan's husband called the Jeffco Sheriff's Office, and a deptuy was on the scene in five minutes."
 

• Law enforcement soon determined the hunter had an appropriate license for the first day of hunting season..."
 

• The unter went to the neighbor's house and received permission to take another shot, which also failed to kill the animal. The hunter reportedly took another shot in the direction of Hannigan's house and then trailed the elk across the street to another hourse."
 

• "Ultimately, a Divison of Wildlife officer had to finish the kill with a handgun."
 

• DOW spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said in an email Sept. 23 there was an ongoing investigation but that no decisions regarding a possilbe citation had been made."

Me and my TV I don't get to watch much television since my foothills neighborhood has no reception. So, when I'm on the road, for business travel, I try to take a look to see what's new. Unfortunately TV hasn't improved much since I first started watching back in the late 50s. Nevertheless, there's the occasional gem boxed in between hours of drivel.

Sadly, I was traveling during the December '06 holiday season when I stumbled upon ESPN's
morning spate of hunting programs. It was pretty sad stuff as it featured overfed, over
equipped high-tech hunters outnumbering deer, ducks, and other wildlife. And, I assume,
many of them were getting paid for it since this is TV, right?

Anyway, I went to ESPN's website and filled out their email request form where they warned
me my words might be used publicly. Well, although they never bothered to write back I
thought I'd pay 'em off in their own coin and post my exact words incase they decided not
to do it themselves:

More TV Hunting... As I explained, earlier, I don't have any TV reception at home and can only watch it when I'm on business travel. On March 13, 2007 I was in southern Colorado, staying at one of my favorite hotels (I've earned "gold" status for having stayed with them so much...) when I tuned into the Outdoor Channel (channel 32) from about 08:45 to 09:15 I watched the following:

The first segment, I believe, was the Easton Bowhunting TV Adventure where they were shooting white-tailed deer in Kansas. Apparantly you can never have enough technology when hunting deer. In this case they talked about using some kind of "Stealth cam" to locate the "big ones." Anyway, after killing a deer the "hunter," I believe his name was Fred Eichler, lifted the animal's head by its rack and twisted it about for better TV angles. The hunter, while holding the dead animal's head, said, "I could not be more tickled with this beautiful buck."

Later in the program the TV commentator said something like, "Fred makes the perfect shot and the deer falls within site." I think Fred then says, "Oh my god, oh..." "This is a 200 pound deer, it's huge, look at the head on it, it's like a horse!" I don't hear very well but believe the TV commentator then said something like, "The 2nd deer rounds out a great adventure and memories that won't be forgotten." The program ends with an advertisement about Fred's next adventure where he shoots pheasants right out of the air with his bow and arrow...

Anyway, there was then a program break, somewhere at the top of the hour, where they advertised "Bad Boy Buggies" - an Off Road Vehicle where "They'll never hear you coming..." Oh great, as if we don't already have enough expensive gear to help us kill animals we now need ORVs that allow us to sneak in even closer...

The next program, just after the hour, featured Al Morris and his 15 year old daughter Alicia on her first turkey hunt in southern Utah. I think the name of this program was Hunter's Specialties Outdoors but am not completely sure as all the programming seemed to be either paid advertising or at least overlapping with the commercials and other propaganda.

Both Alicia and her father were wearing full camo gear with face masks - they kind of looked like wilderness bank robbers but I guess the idea is to blend in with the shrubbery to ensure even closer contact with the wildlife. Anyway, after Alicia kills her first turkey, using some kind of rifle or shotgun on a monopod, her fathers exclaims, "Oh, baby girl, good job, way to go, smoking!" [there's laughter as the turkey lies dead there in the dirt before them]. Then the father says, for the benefit of the TV cameras, "Oh, what a beautiful bird! Was that cool when he came up and strutted for you?" [The father manually fans the dead birds tail as if imitating life itself...] The father ends with, "Look at that, look how pretty!"

Again, the point here is that TV glorifies the killing of these beautiful creatures with all kinds of high-tech gear and clothing while the hunters, themselves, marvel at the beauty and wonder of the animals they've killed. My point, of course, is why not leave the animals alone and let them live where they can be watched and admired in real life? I really believe all living creatures have intrinsic value unto themselves and don't need to justify their existence by providing pleasure or entertainment for humans.

When I returned home I went to Easton Bowhunting's website where
they advertise, "We appreciate your comments and suggestions." So,
I took them up on their offer and filled out the email box:

Never did hear back from them, either...

One more TV try!!

Mr. Childress with "his" elk...

Okay, you know the story by now - I have no TV reception at my foothills home west of Denver so I "dive" into TV viewing anytime I'm at a hotel on the road. November 18, 2007 was no different - we were driving back to Colorado and had spent the night at a Utah hotel before the final leg home. It was Sunday morning and I was saddened to see Richard Childress, of NASCAR fame, hunting elk on Vancouver Island. What's worse, he was completing what they apparently refer to as the North American "Grand Slam" - a "little" exercise that obligates hobby hunters to kill 29 different big game animals around the continent. I couldn't wait to send Mr. Childress a note asking him to give up the hobby...

The envelope, please!

Yes, my handwriting is horrible! Here's what my note said if you're not able to read the scan: Dear Mr. Childress, Earlier this week I was driving back to Colorado and needed to spend the night in Utah before making the final leg home. On Sunday morning (Nov 18th, to be exact!) I turned on the television, with much anticipation, to watch ESPN since I have no TV reception at my foothills home west of Denver. Much to my disappointment the program I watched featured you not only hunting elk on Vancouver Island but attempting to complete the North American "Grand slam" of killing 29 different animals around the continent. To me, and most of the people I know, the recreational killing of animals is a cruel and unnecessary hobby that sends the wrong signal to our children and future generations. I hope you will take this opportunity to stop hunting, all together, for the benefit of everyone - including your loyal NASCAR fans! Will you do this? Sincerely, Roger J. Wendell

Did Mr. Childress or his staff ever bother to write me back? Nope!

A meat eater takes aim at hunting: (posted here with permission!) 04-25-2007

Hi Roger,

Love the website! Keep up the good work.

I thought I'd share a thought with you about recreational, or 'sport' hunting, and meat in general. I apologise for the length of this 'rant.' It's just that I don't often find someone with similar attitudes to my own. It is possible I got a bit carried away...

I would never deny my growing, 15 year old son the kind of high-quality, complete protein that meat provides. HOWEVER, that does NOT mean that I sanction the suffering of any animal, just so my son can grow up healthy. I only buy meat from sources that employ painless slaughter techniques and humane husbandry. For example, I will not buy kosher meat because the slaughter practices are painful and terrifying for the animal. Nor will I purchase any meat product from a facility that does not adequately pre-stun the animal with electricity; no captive bolts, no lazy techniques. Further, I will not eat, nor allow my son to eat wild game, because of the suffering the critters endure at the hands of testosterone-poisoned boneheads with high-powered rifles and telescopic sites.

I agree with you fully that hunting is a form of 'unnatural selection,' since the biggest and healthiest animals are permanently removed from the gene pool. The temporarily territorial nature of all deer species, (except caribou) during the rut is greatly disrupted also, resulting in does breeding with less than ideal males. Additionally, there is the physical effects of being hit by a hunter's bullet, to whit:

When a bullet from a high-powered rifle hits the target animal, a deer for example, bullet and bone fragments tear through the thoracic cavity at ballistic velocity, causing massive internal haemorrhage and severely disrupted respiration. Panicked, the deer rushes headlong to escape the pain and danger, only to fall from blood loss and blood filled lungs. In other words, the deer drowns on its own blood! Typically, several minutes elapse before the deer actually dies. Until that point, the deer experiences horrific pain and unequalled terror. -And if you think that's nasty, bow hunters cause their victims even more prolonged suffering.

Many hunters insist that the deer feel no pain; that there is some 'hydraulic shock' effect of being hit by a bullet that supersedes the pain response. ...BULLSHIT... There is no such thing as 'hydraulic shock,' and even if it were a real phenomenon, the deer would have to be hit with a Buick, not a bullet. I've been shot. It hurts, a LOT!

In my experience performing field research in Canada's magnificent North, I have had many run-ins with hunters. I have found that they ALL claim to be ethical, and I have found that NONE of them actually are! I have seen carcasses with just the head and cape missing. I have seen carcasses of belly-shot and mutilated deer the hunters could not be bothered tracking and finishing off. (Imagine the suffering that unfortunate animal endured!) I have seen countless 'camps' littered with garbage and liquor bottles. I have seen that hunters will shoot at absolutely anything that moves; bears, coyotes, raccoons, crows, ravens, rabbits, squirrels, badgers, even songbirds! I have listened to avid apologists defend their vicious hobby by insisting that they eat every part of the animal. I have listened to the very same hunters as they talk about throwing last year's kill out, to make room in the freezer for this year's victim. I have seen deer that took no fewer than 5 shots to kill. I have seen the very best that humanity has to offer in defence of hunting, and they have been found woefully wanting.

NO animal I or my son consume is allowed to have experienced such pain and torment. The meat we eat comes from animals sacrificed for our benefit, and although admittedly we do like the taste, we take absolutely NO pleasure in the death of that animal.

In short, it is my steadfast belief that killing is sometimes necessary. It should NEVER be fun!

Thanks Roger, for indulging me this way. I hope this finds you well and at peace.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Barnes
Calgary, Alberta

Australian Lesson

"I am an Australian and a gun owner (at least for now). I will probably never live in the United States, but earlier this year I joined the NRA for five years. Why did I join the NRA? Because I know that I am going to lose all my guns through further government confiscations and eventual prohibition of civilian ownership, and it will give me some comfort to think that at least there is one major western country where this most vital of individual civil liberties and rights is alive and well." "Whilst Australia and the United States are very different places with different cultures, particularly with respect to firearms, 40 years ago Australian shooters would have laughed at the idea that in 2015 we would no longer be allowed to possess semi-automatic or pump-action rifles and shotguns, and that handgun ownership would be so restricted that only a few thousand of us would still own them. It looks as though lever-action shotguns will be banned in 2016. We, too, were once a frontier nation. "Governments will progressively introduce greater restrictions over time - they play the long game. You must learn a lesson from Australia: you must be ever-vigilant and fight to retain your rights and your guns." [Editor's emphasis] Peter Fleming, Australia Correspondence | Readers Write American Rifleman, March 2016, p.22

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