Comments on: Updated Again: Animals Gone Wild

By: Martin Berrow

Martin Berrow — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 01:49:10 +0000

This article on animals gone wild caught my attention. I was faced with wild animals on a daily basis where I used to live in North West Montana. I lived where there are the most grizzly bears in the lower 48. ILana's article on animals gone wild is exactly correct. The Fish & Game & forest service are totally wrong, & wield way to much power. I have never seen a fish & game officer, or Glacier Park ranger assume the "fetal" position, as they were being charged by a grizzly bear. Yet this is what they tell law abiding citizens to do when they are attacked. Oh, don't shoot them, they say. Just use pepper spray. I have known pepper spray to work on "some" bears, and known pepper spray to be totally ineffective against drunk humans involved with the Sheriffs dept. Can you count on pepper spray? No you can't. I have known a husband and wife both attacked by a sow grizzly after it was sprayed (Cracker Lake, Glacier Park). I could go on here with many incidents, too many to put down here without writing a book on it. Citizens faced with marauding wild animals have the right and duty to defend themselves and their families. Not according to fish & game officials, however. If you do the right thing, and defend yourself with a firearm of the proper caliber, the consequences you face are fines, jail time, loss of hunting privileges, or all of the above. A few proper thinking states have instituted the "Castle Doctrine". This is a law passed to protect homeowners from any liability from killing violent intruders or wounding them. This should be in every state in the USA. Why is it that shooting a wild animal in self defense should be held at a higher value or level than a human being? Where I lived in Montana, wild animal attacks happened very frequently. Not just grizzlies, but with mountain lions as well. You take a normal, logical thinking prudent individual, and he or she will protect themselves and their loved ones. However, the fish & game officials have caused law abiding citizens to "shoot, shovel, and shut up". Yes, that is right. The Fish & Game act like Gestapo agents holding themselves above the law. Trust me everyone, I have NOT, NEVER, seen or even heard of a Fish & Game officer assume the fetal position. I have seen them shoot charging bears with no consequences. Police officers that shoot human beings are put on administrative leave with pay, until they find out that the shooting is justified. It is totally wrong and absurd to expect people to defend themselves, their family, and their livestock, and then tell Fish & Game officers what happened, knowing you are guilty before proven innocent. A sheep rancher only a couple of miles from the ranch my family & I lived on, had 29 sheep killed in one night by large Timber wolves. They ate only 2 sheep. This, Fish & Game emphatically stated, that wolves only kill what they eat. What they say goes. It appears that our government enjoys this stranglehold it has on law abiding citizens. PETA loves this as well. It is worth noting, that men & women in the united states that purchase hunting licenses, are the ones truly representing the "people for the ethical treatment of animals". --Martin Berrow

By: Christopher Link

Christopher Link — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:20:36 +0000

Mom being a top-notch hunter, we had a lot of game meat growing up. (One night my sister complained, “Elk burgers again!”)
I don’t remember game meat being tough. In fact, fresh Venison will practically melt in your mouth.

By: Mario

Mario — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 14:19:17 +0000

“Animals live in harmony with Nature, obeying its dictates, while man must choose to do so,” this is what environmentalism preaches. Environmentalists advocate submission as the proper relationship between man and Nature. Sound familiar?

By: Pam Maltzman

Pam Maltzman — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 04:49:31 +0000

Like other posters above, I’ve also heard that game meat can be tough… in that case, you give it the same treatment as any other piece of tough meat… you cook it at a low temperature for a long time. If I ever get my hands on a piece of game meat, I’m betting that my biggest crock pot (slow cooker) will handle it just fine!! (I’m almost salivating as I type this! 😉 [Me too…Like Homer Simpson]

By: Stephen W. Browne

Stephen W. Browne — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 01:39:23 +0000

Please have a look at my blog post:

In this day and age, our fat, happy and secure people have forgotten what our fathers knew: that nature is the enemy, animals aren’t from Disneyland and strangers should be viewed with suspicion until we know better.

I’ll do the philosophical aspect of this later. For now, I’d like everyone to consider what they’d do if their car broke down in bad weather and they had to spend at least one night in it…

At, Rants and Raves http://rantsand.blogspot.com/

And for a great buffalo dish, try ground buffalo/ Anasazi bean chilli in a slow cooker. You can celebrate traditional Native American cooking by chowing down on an endangered species.

By: Laura Schneberger

Laura Schneberger — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 18:35:13 +0000

This essay is a masterpiece; I wish I had written it myself. Living in the Mexican wolf recovery area and writing about wolf reintroduction management and recovery strategies and tragedies has made me all too aware that “The Pavlovian response to aversive treatment has been bred out of the wild animal population.” I did write about it in RANGE this fall but Ilana has done so much better a job than I was able to. Hats off to the author of this great essay. Congratulations, I wish there was some kind of award to nominate her for. [Thanks for your generous praise, and do let The American Spectator, the brave publication that ran the essay, know you approve.]
http://www.mexicanwolf.0catch.com

By: Stephen W. Browne

Stephen W. Browne — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:37:38 +0000

Venison is indeed very good, though inclined to be tough. (That’s not bad, anthropolgists will tell you that orthodontia is so often needed these days because our kids don’t chew tough food anymore and their jaws don’t grow big enough to accommodate their teeth.)

But for delicious steaks, roasts and burgers – you have got to try buffalo. Oddly enough, you can get it in many health food stores these days… [and at some supermarkets, but it too is tough]

By: Rose

Rose — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:34:56 +0000

Spot on as usual, Ms. Mercer.

Two years ago a gorilla at the Dallas Zoo escaped from its enclosure and bit three people (including one toddler) before being killed by Dallas PD. According to witnesses, zoo personnel initially made no attempt to contain the gorilla or even to tranquilize it!
Appalling.

By: Pam Maltzman

Pam Maltzman — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:51:08 +0000

Heck, you can’t even trust your allegedly “domesticated” animals, such as cats and dogs, 100%. Most of the time they’re loving and affectionate… but they too can sometimes turn on you. If you own a dog, you have to be its alpha leader. If you have a cat, well, you might have to get out of the way of a swat.

When I briefly lived in a Colorado college town, I was mighty tempted to bag me a Canada goose as they stopped over in the middle of their migration. I’d have loved to give the turkey treatment to a goose. And I’d have kept the down and feathers to make something warm with.

If I lived in one of those places where deer have overrun the suburbs, I’d be mighty tempted to bag a Bambi for the freezer. I’ve never tasted venison, but I hear it’s GOOD. 🙂 [Same here; as a kid, the tales of Robin Hood made me salivate for venison. LOL]

By: Stephen W. Browne

Stephen W. Browne — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:12:53 +0000

I remember a libertarian discussion once when the question came up, “Do animals have rights?”

A friend answered, “Of course they have rights. They have the right to live and be happy – until I want to eat them or wear them!”

I was so shocked I decided to join PETA (People for the Edible Treatment of Animals).

And for some reason I am reminded of the chorus to the country classic ‘The Preacher and the Bear’

Oh Lord! You delivered ol’ Daniel from the lion’s den,
And Jonah, from the belly of the whale and then,
The Hebrew children from the fiery furnace, so the Good Book do declare,
Oh Lord, if you can’t help me – for goodness sake don’t help that bear!