Autumn arrives, it's back to school, back to work but that's ok too, you love your work, you love your 45-minute drive at this time of year. You drink your coffee, you listen to the radio, you contemplate the surroundings, you're in your bubble. Then one day as you turn your attention from the red yellow orange trees to the vehicle you are approaching, you realize with growing nausea in the pit of your stomach that your woodland companion has been shot, killed, and tied to the hood of a car. You become a voyeur in spite of yourself, you are a hostage, you can't escape any more than the moose can. Look away too long and you will crash. You are complicit, you are a witness to the scene.
And you know it's hunting season again. You reason that you live in a rural region, it's to be expected, hunting is a hobby, a way of life, a means of subsistance, part of the cycle of nature. And who are you to criticize, you carnivore, you meat-eater, you who enjoyed all those barbecues all summer long! But it's that shameless display of that poor sacred creature, the macho arrogance of victory that you just can't digest.
I think this is a beautiful story, well told. The end is a little sad, but you can see how the cycle of nature and the confrontation between species are. If someone gets attached to an animal he sees almost everyday, it takes a long time to endure the fact that this animal is gone forever.
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteI think this story is very, very sad ! I understand how you can get 'attached' to an animal even if it's not a dog or a cat ( the typical domestic animal) because when I was young, I had a pig and I was very sad when she had been killed. Since this day, I can't look at pork because I feel very disgusted!
I think that we shouldn’t think that way about animals that will eventually become our food. If every time that we see an eatable beast, we are outraged by how cruel life is for them, we won’t eat anything. It’s the way life goes, we can’t change anything about that. Moreover, hunting is not just a pastime, it is also a way to control the population of the cervidea in the forest.
ReplyDeleteYou know, this story isn’t sad for me. I mean that it’s true you can become attached for a wild animal but being affected concerning his death that too much I think. You can love wild animals and be able to hunting them with respect. You can eat them without being a cruel human. You can hate hunting, but still eat meat. In fact, they didn’t kill this animal just for the pleasure, but also to eat it. A car accident with a truck? That can happen.
ReplyDeleteLife is life, but for those who become attached to an animal from the forest try to don’t become friend with them in your head, because they don’t really have this feeling for you.
To eat meat or not to eat meat that is the question? For my part I am a meat lover and I cannot think of not tasting this delicacy. Even if you said try it I will answer no, because I have already tried it and it was a nightmare. In the end I was dreaming of eating meat. But believe it or not I cannot kill any animal, I just find them so cute and they have not done any harm to me. Not like a couple of humans I know but that's another story.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if someone kill for pleasure and after that he just sell the beast then it's not correct. But if a person kill because he wants to eat the animal then it's okay by me. Just think about it... if you past 3 or 4 days starving in the Cold winter and your family is really poor, will you just die of hunger or will you take up arms and kill a animal to save your family
I think that it depending the experience, bad or good, your will forge your way of thinking and all your convictions. I hope nobody experience poverty but when you triumph over such a feat you grow stronger and more mature.
For me it's not the killing or eating of the animal that is the problem but the way the unsuspecting driver or passerby is forced to "admire" the dead beast that is splayed on the back of a trailer and paraded around like a trophy.
ReplyDeleteI never thought that way before. Maybe because I never had to observe such an incomfortable scene. I have to admit that being next to a dead animal (whatever it is) while I'm driving my car is not a pleasing situation. Respect is a crucial value for me, and probably for a great deal of people. If I can hardly picture myself seeing that, I can't imagine how vegetarians and people against hunting feel. We aren't constrained to watch this kind of exposition.
ReplyDeleteSince I am young. I have always live in harmony with nature in my little village. I have always eaten meat and I think that human were born to do so. Some people might say that killing animals by shooting them is inhuman or disrespectful but I have something to tell you…
ReplyDeleteDoes keeping cows or chicken in captivity all their life long sounds more human?
I agree with Jennifer. Eating animals is okay, since we need it to survive. But what is really unacceptable, according to me, is being proud of killing an animal and showing it to everyone because you killed a bigger moose than them…
I agree with Jennifer and Dorothée. It's cruel of hunters to drive around town showing off their kill as if it were a trophy. I don't understand how anyone can feel proud to have killed such a majestic creature. Some people even put pictures of them on facebook. I have never been more disgusted than when I saw photographs of these beautiful animals being cut up. The person who posted the photos was even gloating over her father and boyfriend's catch. In my opinion, this kind of behavior shows disrespect and dishonors the animal. It died so you can have food. Don't treat it as if you're better than him. Be grateful!
ReplyDeleteHilary
I think hunting isn't a bad thing, I mean I eat meat and I won't stop just because the animal have been shot ( also because I like meat too much to stop). But what I'm against is when the hunter kills just for the ''fun'' of it and waist the meat. Also when the hunter doesn't go hunting at the right time of the year or doesn't follow any of the rules for hunting. I think it is really stupid and dangerous!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with Jennifer, I think that it's not civilized to want to show that you killed an animal and that you are proud of it. Seriously who cares to see the fruit of the hunt of a complete stranger ? ...
Now that sure is the kind of debate that will stir up the community for times (centuries ?) to come. For such a pratice from times of yore (hunting,that is) will likely continue and the number of vegetarians and and vegans alike will increase (hoooo noessss ! they might take over the entitre planet ! To arms citizens !).
ReplyDeleteI've never gone hunting myself(vegetarians, that is(yes,I'm being a goof)), but some folks might consider hunting an art, and I'd concur, wasn't it for the irrespectful attitude most hunters have towards the animal they've just killed. Displaying the corpse of the blood drenched animal on your vehicle ? yes..... only if you're a caveman (and still,I don't recall cavemen using trucks, do I ?(it depends on how you define "caveman" and no, being hairy doesn't automatically means you *are* a caveman(I am wandering astray again))). Only thing missing is a hunter turning into a businessman and owning a restaurant whose menu would comprise pictures of his macabre, gruesome hunting tales (and I bet it's already been done before but ignorance is bliss).....I'd totally blow his *ASH* up onto Jupiter's soil (which has none) and proudly plaid guilty... YES !
This is why we should all be vegan!!! Haha
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I think this is a great story. I get attach to animal very fast even more that human. When I see reportage about animal dying because of human I think it`s unfair. I don`t understand the pleasure in hunting. I don`t see it as a hobby more as a need to eat . I don`t get how killing a animal can be considered as a victory. I think it might come from the time when prehistory man had to kill animal for the survival of their tribes. Everybody was proud of them. It`s same a bit funny but I might be from this period.
Daphnée
Means of subsistance? Fine. Way of life? That’s ok. Control hunting? It’s all good. Hunting for fun? No freaking way.
ReplyDeleteWe are humans who «have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection and problem solving». Therefore, thanks to scientific and philosophical studies we are known as the most intelligent living species on planet earth. My point is that if we hadn’t killed animals back when we were at our most primary levels of evolution, such as the Neanderthal, we probably wouldn’t be here today. That can also be referred to as Darwin’s theory of evolution which is based on the natural selection. Thus hunting cannot be frowned upon. It is what gave us the chance to still be part of this world today.
BUT you don’t get to kill animals for fun. Although they may not have the same feelings as we do (and that I can’t be sure of since I never read about animal’s genetics or emotions), they have a heart. They’re living creatures with families just like we are. The only way I would ever accept hunting as a hobby would be if the hunters at least ate or gave the food to a soup kitchen or the equivalent. Also, whether you are killing and eating the food afterwards or not, there is no excuse that will ever be acceptable for hanging the head or the antlers of the poorly killed animal in front of your truck and then showing it off to everyone. People who act this way make me want to throw up. I remember when I was in high school, I used to say: ‘’later, it’ll be their heads in front of my car.’’ I know it sounds overly cruel and heartless but it is somehow the way I felt and still feel towards this kind of ‘’people’’, if we can call them that at all.
Maxime Labrecque
I think it is normal to kill animal in a survival goal. If you hunt to bring food to your family there's nothing wrong with it. Like Elton John sang it's the "circle of life". Eat or be eaten it's the modo in the wild life. We are on the top of the alimentary chain so it's normal that we kill animals. We are not anatomically conceived to eat only vegetables. I'm pretty sure that you eat bacon and steak but would you be sad for each cow and pig that you see because they could end their life in your plate? Probably not. And if this moose had been really mad? like running in front of the cars and charging walkers like you. would you have been so sad to see him shot and exposed?
ReplyDeleteWell, this is not a funny story at all, welcome to the jungle! You eat or you get eaten, it is a law of nature. Seriously, what I am saying is that we would like to enjoy meat but without the guilt of killing it, it's simply impossible. Let's simply assume that we want meat and that our compation is somewhat limited or let's lie to ourselves saying that killing beasts gives a bitter taste to the meat.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that hunting is a sport, I do not even understand why it is a hobby for some people.
François Jacques
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ReplyDeleteThis situation is peculiar and opened to a lot of different opinions as I can observe it in the blog right now... Actually, we seem to agree to the fact that hunting for survival is acceptable, since we need meat to be healthy. It is hunting that gave us the opportunity to be here today.
ReplyDeleteThough there are two points that make this case special. First of all, the moose is not any moose; it's the moose you have seen all summer long, the moose you admired, the moose you've become worried about.
Secondly, people driving along with their dead moose on the top of their car make you sick. I personnaly think that we cannot really blame hunters... I know it seems crual but I think it was always like that. Hunters are proud of their catch and they want to show it to everybody. It's a question of domination: the hunter says I did it, I won over the beast, I'm stronger.
I would not parade around with a dead moose but I don't think it's a bad thing to hunt, even for fun. Quotas are set up by the government so the number of beasts don't go low. Some years, there are animals you cannot even hunt. I see hunting as a back to basics where humans can appreciate the legacy that our ancestors left to us, as an opportunity to apreciate the thrill of hunting.
Marc-Olivier