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July 4, 2006 My dad took me hunting just once, feeling that, late in his life, he should have passed this hobby on – at least, that was my sense at the time. Quail was our prey, but none were to be found and the trip ended without a shot fired. We also went fishing just a few times, so, I've killed some fish. I still like to catch crayfish and add them to my aquarium; in my experience, they will either die rather soon (most do), or live a good long time. I've killed many crayfish by removing them from their natural homes over the years. Most of the animals I've killed weren't the aquatic kind, however. I've killed many bugs, many many land invertebrates. Many flies, fleas and lice. I am selective in my killing - I usually take beetles that get into the house back outside; we have some rather large ones around here. I also try to trap wasps and bees and release them outdoors, if possible. Sometimes, I'm forced to kill them in the process. I usually kill spiders, because I often can't determine just by sight if they can cause real harm or not. Many species of spider, like so many bugs, can't penetrate human skin. Enough of them can, however, with sometimes nasty side-effects. I do recognize a few types - I've left wolf spiders and jumping spiders alone, realizing that these kinds of bugs never multiply en-mass like roaches, stay out people's way, don't make webs, and eat flies and mosquitoes. Mosquitoes, of course, get no sympathy or consideration at all. I've also killed rodents. I once set some mouse traps and was throughly disgusted with the results. One poor beast was caught right in the middle of his body – no sign of blood. I imagine he must have suffered a while, dying of internal bleeding and injuries. Another was caught right between the eyes, literally. His face was bisected by the trap and and a bloody mess was squeezed out as a result. I don't use those kinds of mouse traps anymore. Our cats have also caught mice, usually at night with the victims dead by morning. Once, however, the critter was still alive but pretty bad off. I picked it up, took it on the porch, and dropped a very large rock on it, killing it instantly. I'd never killed a mammal directly by hand before. The biggest animal death caused by my own hand was a cat. She was my cat and she was old – very old and sick. I 'd put off the inevitable for far too long... She was a well taken care of animal. She was fixed, had regular checkups, and expensive flea medication. Her cat food was an expensive brand, as was her litter. She was my only real pet in many years – before she came along, the last pet I had was a dog who died before I turned six. She was a cat that only her loving owner could love – although she was a nice looking animal, all black with white whiskers, paws and chest, she was spoiled, strange, and mean. She enjoyed hissing. She was bad around kids, other animals and, well, most everyone, even people who came over often. She was different almost from birth, being born into a large country household with many animals. While her siblings were off having play fights, she took naps on an old dog. When I got her she was too young, I suspect, for she wouldn't clean after relieving herself at first. Perhaps this explains why, later in life, she cleaned herself with a passion, almost as if she an OCD disorder. As a very small kitten, she stayed on my shoulders when I was at home. She even slept near my head, next to my shoulder – she was a fur-ball parrot. Once when I was cooking, I bent over to pick something up off of the floor, and she walked onto the stove and singed her whiskers on the gas flame. If dogs are like men, then this cat was truly a stereotypical woman. She begged to be touched, but would bite or walk away if the petting was wrong. Her mood changed from one moment to the next for no apparent reason. After every shower, she would run after my bare legs and clamp on, sometimes leaving big scratches. She would hear me come up the stairs, knowing my hands were full of groceries, and zip out as soon as I opened the door, always running up to the third floor of the apartment complex. Anyway, she aged rather well but went downhill pretty fast during her last days. At that time, I couldn't afford to get her properly euthanized. I tried to wait, but when she started losing weight fast and could no longer walk more than three steps without literally falling over sideways, I decided the time had come. After some final petting, I covered her head with a towel and hit her with a shovel as hard as I could. To my shock and surprise, one hit did not do the trick. She couldn't move after that hit, she couldn't even blink, but she did hiss slowly and loudly, and was still breathing. I quickly put the towel back on and repeated my action. After taking the towel off, I watched her for a very long time to make absolutely sure she was dead. When I was confident that there was no breathing, I touched her and grabbed her back paws – something she hated – to gage any response. I waited another 20 minutes or so, with her sprawled there on my kitchen floor, not moving, not making a sound. When I was sure, I wrapper her in several trash bags and then wrote a note explaining her name, when she was born and some facts about her life and attitude. I put this note into a zip-lock bag and wrapped it again in several plastic bags. Finally, I put both into another trash bag. I dug a hole in the backyard, and in she went. Of course I've caused the deaths of many other animals, second-hand. The cliché of two kinds of people, those with gun racks and those with spice racks, places me squarely into the latter. However, I can't be opposed to hunting. Doing so would make me a hypocrite, since, by eating meat, I'm in effect putting hits out on animals – I'm part of the reason that they are slaughtered for food. I draw the line at pork, at least amongst the common meats eaten in the West. Although I love the taste of pork, I don't support the killing of pigs for human consumption because pigs are too intelligent. Pigs are the smartest animal on the average farm, they can be taught to operate simple computers to facilitate basic communication with humans (similar to dolphins and primates), and they have eureka! moments with sudden breakthroughs or realizations. Indeed, experiments have taught man that pigs like it warmer than we once thought – we know this because in one study, pigs were taught to control the temperature of their enclosure and they, literally, turned up the heat. Judging an animal by its intelligence is a method I support; it's standard practice in the scientific world. Animals deemed to have the brains to experience pain similar to ourselves are given pain killer when experimented on, for example. Although we can't really know how pigs or other creatures think and feel, we can make rational guesses and err on the side of the humane. Humans are animals after all, and non-human animals have behaviors and/or brains similar to ours. I've killed or caused the death of thousands of animals in my life, but one of those deaths stands out - ending the life of my own cat was both harder, and easier, than I would have ever thought. I ended her life to be compassionate, but if I had to do it again to another in a similar situation, it would be easier for me. I think this says much about human nature, good and bad. ------------ About the author Frederick Smith: I enjoy writing about the positive virtues of humanism - humanists are the good guys. I now have a blog that I will start to increasingly maintain and update. Here is the link: fredsuberview.blogspot.com/ About my personal background and life: I was born, I got some education, worked, ate, and had some kids. It seems I like to write � something that was unknown to me until relatively recently...How's that for detail? ;) Hate mail is welcome unless you are from the Army Of God. Please! It's not that I mind seeing pictures of aborted fetuses in my inbox, but once you've seen one you've pretty much seen them all... Email: dahlek65@gmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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