posted on Sep, 15 2004 @ 11:53 AM
I wonder how many foxes are killed in Britain by hunting parties each year? I bet it is alot less than the number of foxes that are run over my motor
vehicles each year. Why not ban cars and trucks in the habitats the foxes call home? After all, it's the foxes we are trying to ptotect, isn't
it?
The part of the US I come from has a very liberal mind set. For many years, hunting and trapping were a normal part of rural and even suburbian life.
Folks hunted deer, bear, and duck, mostly. Some indivuduals made a decent living off trapping animals such as foxes, coyotes, beavers, martins,
fishers, and other small mammals, selling their pelts as has been done for hundreds of years.
Well, some time ago the PETA people made a concerted effort to get leg traps banned in this state - which would ultimately stop the practice of
trapping all together. Through a campaign of disinformation and sensational advertising, the PETA people convinced the residents of my state (most
who had never even seen a leg trap in their life) to vote to make leg traps illegal.
What people didn't realize was that the hunting and trapping was keeping the population of these animals in check. Since we had conveniently killed
off all the Timber Wolves, Bears and Coyotes over 200 years ago, hunting and trapping was the only thing keeping the lower species in check.
The first thing that happened was a population explosion. People suddenly started noticing alot of wild animals in places they were never seen
before. Compition for scarce food drove animals into close proximity with men, and conflicts started to happen. Deer ravaging gardens and farms.
Beavers damming up creeks, causing floods into lands now occupied by $300,000 homes (this cracked me up because these were the same left-wing PETA
types who voted to save the beavers in the first place). Heck, we even had large Tom Turkeys chasing our local mailman down the road.
Then came the diseases. Foxes started developing mange, and their population crashed. Varmints started catching and spreading rabies. Distempter is
rampant.
Then came the return of the predators, especially the Coyotes. They are everywhere, killing and eating family dogs and cats. They have attacked
children in broad daylight in front of their shocked parent's eyes. They have little fear. And because of our anti-hunting and anti-gun laws, your
likely to spend time in front of a judge if you shoot a Coyote in your yard, unless it was actually attacking someone (and that someone DOES NOT
include Fluffy, your miniature poodle).
Hunting serves a valid purpose in areas where man has eradicated the top predators of the local environment. It is a necessary evil - even though I
don't find it evil in any way.
Ban hunting and trapping and see what happens. It won't be all roses.
[edit on 15-9-2004 by Pyros]