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Retirement........
- Thread starter Rich Z
- Start date
Emily1188
Smells Like a Rat
:-offtopic
There isn't an eyerolling emoticon big enough for what I think about squirrels having right (to the nth power, what's more!) to go eat Rich's bamboo grove.
Seriously?
The squirrels were perfectly welcome to share the land with us until they chose to try to destroy my bamboo groves. Just as I would have been fine with fire ants till they decided to sting the hell out of my legs. So far, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes have been fine to live with here as are a bunch of other classes of wildlife.
As for your argument, let's see how understanding you are about the rights of other bio-organisms if you were to catch malaria. Ever swat a mosquito? Do you cut your grass? Do you EAT anything that was ever alive and killed for the sake of feeding YOU? What about THOSE rights? Aren't you choosing to live at their expense?
Stars
Moonstruck
1. Grass, mosquitos are not self-aware.
2. Yes, I eat meat. I'm not PETA, I believe humans are omnivores. Are you eating those squirrels?
Your bamboo is not as important as a conscious animal's life. I don't care about squirrels, I just thought it was a little sick that you could shoot an animal because it was in your little garden.
Anyways this is an important topic that I shouldn't derail, so I will read your next reply then I'm done in this one lol.
How do you know? And killing something that you BELIEVE is not self-aware is OK in your book?
Irrelevant as to what you do afterwards. Are you really claiming that killing is perfectly OK as long as you eat what you killed, regardless of what it is?
So if a "conscious animal" were destroying something of value of yours, and the only solution were to kill them, you would not? Have you ever had a rat or mouse problem? What about roaches? And where exactly do you draw that line between what is OK to kill and what is not based on "consciousness"? What exactly IS consciousness anyway? And how do you know what organisms have it and which do not?
I suspect you will leave just as soon as you realize that you can't get a firm footing in this discussion that isn't based solely on emotion and not a whit on logic and facts.
Lucille
New member
Consciousness is irrelevant at some point. If someone was in my house and threatening me or my children, they could be an A+ student at Harvard and I'd still pull the trigger.
starsevol
Cohabbing is cruelty...
I personally like squirrels more than bamboo myself. I think squirrels are cute and I'm not sure what bamboo is good for....except in chinese cooking....BUT.....
The squirrels are destroying something that Rich values, and the ONLY way to make them stop is to kill them. So, I have no issue with that at all. He is shooting them, and intends to kill them, not injure them or torture them, kill them. Shooting an animal that small is a nice quick kill. Rich is not "cruel to animals"...if he was he would shoot out their little kneecaps!!
The squirrels are destroying something that Rich values, and the ONLY way to make them stop is to kill them. So, I have no issue with that at all. He is shooting them, and intends to kill them, not injure them or torture them, kill them. Shooting an animal that small is a nice quick kill. Rich is not "cruel to animals"...if he was he would shoot out their little kneecaps!!
I understand. The point I am trying to make here is that sometimes killing is the only answer that will be the solution to a problem. I don't particularly enjoy killing squirrels. Matter of fact, I used to enjoy having them around. But I had to make a choice when it became obvious that a distasteful choice needed to be made. Any one who has ever dealt with a squirrel problem knows that you can't keep them out of anything they really want to get into. So since I have to choose between having my bamboo groves or killing squirrels, then I have to kill the squirrels.
If it makes people more comfortable for me to refer to them as "tree rats", then I can do that. :noevil:
If it makes people more comfortable for me to refer to them as "tree rats", then I can do that. :noevil:
Honestly, if I thought shooting out the kneecaps of one squirrel would get that one to tell all the others to stay away from my bamboo, then yes, I would do that. It might injure one squirrel (until being unable to escape a predator brought it down), but it would save the rest from an untimely demise.
I think most people really hate to kill anything. It is part of maturing that you come to realize that sometimes there are situations where there just isn't any other answer.
ratsncorns
Bird Nerd
Id rather Rich shoot them than poison them. Quick, painless, and is not harmful to other animals in the area.
Roy Munson
New member
Whatever happened to killing with kindness? :sidestep:
And while I am making some true confessions, I am also killing wild rats and mice around here with poison and traps. I have had thousands of dollars in damages to my vehicles and generator from those pests when they crawl up into them and chew up the wiring. I wish as well that they understood that this is unacceptable behavior from them and stuck to the woods instead of finding man made items more attractive abodes. Even if they just lived there without the destructive side effects, I wouldn't have that much of a problem and would just clean out the mess they make. But once they go destructive on me, well, it's a declaration of war in my book. I am now spending money that I really would rather not at this time in my life for a garage to try to limit the damage they are doing to the vehicles. I guess it will make some people happy that I am going to quite actively killing rats and mice at that time, however.
Honestly, living out in the woods and being "back to nature Bob" really isn't all it's made out to be. Looks nice on postcards, but when you are pulling ticks off of you and hoping that latest mosquito that bit you isn't carrying West Nile Virus, well it sort of dampens your enthusiasm a bit.
But I guess living in the concrete jungle taking care to avoid dark alleys at night isn't all that attractive either.
Honestly, living out in the woods and being "back to nature Bob" really isn't all it's made out to be. Looks nice on postcards, but when you are pulling ticks off of you and hoping that latest mosquito that bit you isn't carrying West Nile Virus, well it sort of dampens your enthusiasm a bit.
But I guess living in the concrete jungle taking care to avoid dark alleys at night isn't all that attractive either.
I've never seen nor heard of a bonafide example of that taking place. Anyone got one?
RobbiesCornField
Bring it on.
I love how someone has the audacity to come on here and argue with the site's owner. That takes cajones... Or maybe just an empty head.
Lucille
New member
RobbiesCornField
Bring it on.
Sometimes they go hand in hand
:roflmao: That was just perfect. I think this is why a permit should be required to breed Homo sapiens.
Drizzt80
Dakota Corns
More than once I hope!
If second hand smoke is a legitimate cause of death, then how about the fat obese kids running (not literally) around this country because mommy and daddy can't say no to all the junk they put in their mouths? :shrugs:
Kill them squirrels!!! Kill 'em dead!!!111 They are low on the food chain anyway. Kill them and hang their carcasses from the bamboo for the raptors. Circle of Life baby, Circle of Life.
D80
Heck, I don't mind someone arguing with me, because I most certainly might be wrong about my beliefs and viewpoints. But don't come into the fray without any of your guns loaded, ducks lined up in a row, or think you can pass some BS by me without any logic or facts at your disposal. If it is your OPINION, then state it thusly, and don't try to foist it off as being some law of nature. And then if your argument starts going badly against you, I strongly advise against thinking that turning vicious and condescending is going to help matters much. Trust me, it won't............
I am tolerant of arguments. Invective and derogatory name calling? Well, not so much.....
glenhead
Elder curmudgeon
It's pretty simple. There are predators, and there are prey. Squirrels are prey. If you choose to support the health of your local ecosystem by encouraging strength of your dermestid beetles and other corpse disposal critter populations, then it sounds to me like you're doing your part. It's all a matter of perspective, after all! Dermestids are far more worthwhile than squirrels from a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately perspective. JMO. YMMV.
JimGERcream
German efficiency
Ok, and your argument in this sentence is...where?! Someone is audacious when he has another opinion than Rich? Hmmm okay, that's interesting, no argument but interesting.
I've read the whole discussion and I can understand both sides.
Do you just wanted to make a step forward to the 14k post? less than one and a half year here in the forum and nearly 14k postings, man it seems you have a lot to say. Well, with your 21 years (you're allowed to drink alcohol now huh?) things seem to be different than for other people. Sorry but I couldn't control myself. When other people are allowed to post pointless postings I think I'm allowed to do that too. :twohammer