I was appalled when I read about the woman who is drowning the squirrels. Drowning is a terribly inhumane way to get rid of anything. How she could have thought otherwise is beyond me.

And then the lady shooting the snakes – LOL! These are not snakes that pose any threat to her at all. She is getting rid of critters that are possibly her garden’s best friend.

Sorry, I just had to say something since I haven’t seen lgm or sausage on this thread.

Seriously, the mental instability of considering spoken communication fair warning to woodchucks…

Rose, do you have a blog where you post these recipes?

I remember that when I was in college, someone let about fifty chickens loose in one of the men’s dorms. The students woke and decided to deal with the problem by wringing all their necks. Since they were a bunch of morons, they couldn’t even kill the chickens properly, and down at the Grounds shop we discovered that we had about 20-25 injured chickens to deal with. I think that that the administration wanted us to kill and bury them, as the Board was due that weekend, but my boss didn’t want to do so – we improvised a hutch and kept them on the premises for a week while seraching for the owner. When no one came to claim them, we gave the 10-15 survivors to one of the locals.
The reason why I relate this little story is because my boss was a dedicated hunter who grew up on a farm, and consequently more inclined to treat animals responsibly. Most hunters I have talked to or read would do the same, I think.

Of course, this will offset the reasons you grew the garden in the first place.

Could someone please call in Master Negotiator Obama to take care of the flying crap machine, I mean Canadian geese problem? I am pretty sure they are far from endangered anymore.

“I stopped at 19,” he says. “One was a suicide. It realized its days were numbered and ran in front of a car.”

That’s $95 for the guy in the NY Times report…

and not counting the $20 or $25 for me either.. better round that up to $30 just to be sure..

I respect your heartfelt feelings on animals. I too am a conservationist. But I am also a lifelong hunter. It has nothing to do with a “bloodlust” and everything to do with our genetic makeup at the top of the foodchain and the preservation of wildlife in its natural habitat.

I grew up hunting and fishing. My father and grandfathers did as well. And up until very recent times, hunting and fishing were necessary to supplement what went on the table.

If you eat any kind of meat or fish, someone else has made the kill for you, and probably in a much less humane way that most hunters do. If you wear leather of any kind, fur or other apparel made of animal skin, someone else has killed so that you can benefit from the animal.

It may surprise you that most hunters today are avid conservationists, much in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt. And hunting plays a vital part in managing the ecosystems and wildlife populatins. If a species is even getting close to becoming threatened, hunting is either severely curtailed or stopped altogether for as many seasons as it takes.

The fees that hunters pay for licenses and permits, unlike taxes, go directly to wildlife conservation and management. Hunting itself is part of that management plkan, culling overpopulated species to preserve the proper balance between populations, genetic pools and food supplies. There is no more heartbreaking sight than to go into the Rockies where hunting has been banned after a severe winter. The dead bodies of deer, elk and other species litter the countryside. These animals were too weak from over competition for food to make it through the winter.

This is not just in the US but all over the world. Africa in particular has been the biggest beneficiary of wildlife regeneration resulting from, of all things, hunting. In places like Africa, animals compete directly with humans for space and food. Africa’s human population has boomed over the last 100 years, and that has, until recently had a devastating imoact on wildlife populations.

When people and animals compete, the animals always lose. What hunting has done is turned the animals into a renewable resource for people. The local populations directly benefit from the hunting and license fees, and the kills go to feed a local population literally dying from lack of protein.

Very rigid quotas are set and followed. As a result, countries that have embraced hunting have witnessed a literal explosion in species once considered to be threatened. Countries that countinue to ban hunting, like Kenya, continue to see serious declines in those polulations. The populations have no benefit to letting the game live. Plus, there is no budget for anti poaching efforts which in other countries are funded by the hunting industry.

As hunters, we have an almost spiritual respect for the wildlife we take. We take not more than we need or can use. And we strive to leave this world in a better condition than we found, so our children, grandchildren and heirs can enjoy what we have seen and experienced.

Your remarks on a hunters motives as some kind of kill for thrill is unfortunately all too common. It is the mantra of those who react, rather than take the time to listen. I hope that when you step back and take a closer look at the issue, you will find that your stereotype is one that is not warranted.

And people going around smashing animals with sledgehammers is in no way related to the mentality of a hunter. You need to be smarter than the animals to stay a step ahead of them. In the cases cited in the article, it appears that we are either dealing with the mensa of the animal world, or these folks are not too bright.

To Soliel,

That particular commandment actually says “Thou shalt not murder…”

Big difference between that and any old kind of killing.

How about the New Testament where God says all the creatures of the earth are man’s to eat?

I’m actually thinking of all the verses that cover ritual slaughter.

Jesus was a meat-eater, too.
If its’ good enough for Him, then its’ good enough for me.

“Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.”" (Luke 22:7-8)

Sounds really great… now I’d follow that up with a nice pint o’ Guinness and a snit of Jameson…..Slainte!

Rabbit On a Stick

marinade
4lb deboned cottontail rabbit, cut into small cubes
4tbl spoons olive oil
5cloves garlic minced
2tbl spoons rosemary
3tbl spoons parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Place rabbit cubes in combined marinade and let marinade over night.

Place rabbit on skewers {small portions} roll skewers in flour then in egg then in seasoned bread crumbs.

Heat a cast iron frying pan with oil and brown skewers in oil place browned skewers in roasting pan standing vertical and roast at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, enjoy! Serve with a nice Niagara merlot.

/unrepentant carnivore

That particular commandment actually says “Thou shalt not murder…”

Big difference between that and any old kind of killing.

How about the New Testament where God says all the creatures of the earth are man’s to eat?