Sunday, November 18, 2007

Go out and shoot a Feral Swine


This weekend we got an extra day off for what I call Hunting Day but is officially associated with Veterans Day, which falls earlier in the week. I have mixed feelings about hunting. I can see the attraction of hanging out in the woods, feeling close to nature, and looking for something. It's just the shooting it dead part that makes me uncomfortable. Largely because deer are so pretty, with those big eyes, and the way they run, I just love looking at them. Except when they are staring at me blank-faced from the top of a truck on I-75.

But then on the radio I found out that this year they are allowing a new kind of hunting: Feral Pigs. I never knew they existed around here, but according to the DNR they are a problem that must be stopped, and hunters are invited to take a go at it. I must say I have never seen a furry tusked pig trotting past my backyard but they are even here in this county. There's something about the mental image of those big bad hunters in their camouflage suits driving home with a pig strapped to the truck strikes me as funny and not as disturbing as the deer.


Maybe that's because I don't find pigs as pretty as deer. Or because pigs are already considered food, and deer seem more like lovely forest decorations. And I believe that pigs are supposed to be smart. Perhaps that is how they got to be feral pigs in the first place, they escaped their captivity. If they're smarter than the hunters then it could get interesting.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I justify those guys shooting Bambi because the DNR has always insisted that there are too many for the woods'(and added DNR's) food supply, and finding staving or dead deer would be worse. But how anyone could shoot the beautiful creatures is beyond me. And just a very small percentage of them NEED to feed their families with venison.
My compliments on a great photo of a feral pig. You might be able to earn a few bucks printing a bunch of them, attaching magnets to them, and selling them to dieters for their refrigerator doors. In fact, since the women's Christmas gift drawing this year has a theme of "beauty", you could add one of the magnet ones to your gift!
love, Aunt Chris

Anonymous said...

Excessive deer should be humanely trapped, spayed or neutered by vets, and released again. Hunting should only be with cameras. We need to become increasingly vegetarian in our diets, too. I just had curried goat as part of my lunch, so I should not lecture!