Originally posted by Sonya610
Originally posted by jamie83
And second, I was pretty cruel to the blackened salmon I had last night for dinner. Come to think of it, I was pretty darn cruel to the chicken I had
for lunch too.
Do not make fun of the death of the animals that feed you. Seriously do not.
I agree with a lot of your points but ridiculing the death and suffering of animals is really not cool.
I will admit I have been very seduced by the Republican platform (in comparison) but when they start mocking animals and reveling in their death it is
really truly not okay.
No one is mocking an animal's death, but what they are mocking is the belief that somehow Palin is cruel simply because she supports Hunting, and
Predator Control. If you are against the idea of Predator Control, then I know for a fact that you have no Wilderness Experience, especially not so in
Alaska.
I for one am a huge animal person, I feel bad at seeing any amount of violence amongst or against animals. I also hate to see violence amongst or
against people as well. However, I have also through life experience learned of the realities in this world. One of those realities is that the
Predators in Alaska are out of control. You have to realize, they have OVER 100,000 Bears within the State of Alaska ALONE. That is not counting the
Bears that roam across from Canada at will. You also have around 15,000 Wolves in Alaska, ALONE. Again, this does not take into account the Canadian
Wolf Packs which obviously know no "Borders".
When Humans hunted these Animals, they were conditioned into a Natural Fear which obviously persisted for Thousands of Years. Due to this Natural
Fear, you would hardly ever find a Wolf that would not stay in the shadows, or keep their distance from a Human. I have come across a Wolf before, and
he did exactly that. Bears, aside from Sows with Cubs, were simply kept at sustainable population numbers so as to minimize their interactions and
thus attacks on Humans, while still being allowed to propagate and thus never face the fear of extinction.
Then we faced a wave of conservationists, some of whom are actually so extreme as to believe this Earth should have never seeded Human life. I do not
know about you, but I call that a view bordering on such extremes as to label the purveyor a Terrorist Minded Individual. All of that aside, what most
ACTUAL conservationists know is that you must sustain all elements within any given food-chain. If you fail to do so, the entire food-chain can
collapse, and thus so can a major portion of any Ecosystem. However, due to the more Extremist Minded Conservationists (or ill-informed), much of the
Human Hunting factor was extinguished. Thus, a major portion of the food-chain was eliminated. People forget that Humans have been a Major part of all
Ecosystems, and the food-chain, for Millions of Years. Now with the aforementioned in mind, in regards to Ecosystem Collapse, do you see how the
elimination of human hunting can be devastating?
As a result of this "collapse" in Alaska, Wolves have completely lost ALL fear of Humans. I know Mushers who have been stalked by Packs of Wolves,
all the way down open trails, until the team was able to outrun them. Folks have also had their own pets snatched right off of their leashes while
walking them in populated areas. In ONE MONTH ALONE, in December, within the City Limits of Fairbanks, AK, 165 pets were snatched out of yards and
consumed by these Wolves. The worst part is that Wolves normally only kill other Canines over Territory, but here they were killing other Canines for
food, and within a populated area no less. I know of people who have had Wolves stalk them in broad daylight, down City paths, which used to be nearly
unheard of. As a matter of fact, the USAF, through Elmendorf AFB, in Anchorage, AK, is using a technique in an attempt to re-instill their natural
wariness. They lure Wolves (From the rightfully named Elmendorf Pack) through the use of meat, then when they appear, they open up on them with rubber
bullets, pyrotechnics, and flash-bangs. The idea is to have these exposed Wolves naturally pass along their re-emerged fear to other Pack Members, and
Pups as well. So far I believe it is working, but only time will tell. Wolves are extremely clever, and very quick learners.
Did you know that Wolves regularly now go after Dog Teams as meals? The reason being that they are first over-populating, thus their food supply can
no longer sustain them. Second, they have lost their fear of human presence. Third, they actually learned that a chained dog cannot defend itself, and
they look at it as a fast-food drive-thru, where they do not have to work very hard for a meal.
I like Nature, Wolves, Bears, all that as much as anyone else. However, go ahead and find your pet dog ripped into two-dozen pieces, or with only half
of their body left from a meal, and you will change your feelings REAL fast.
[edit on 9-8-2008 by TheAgentNineteen]
