OT: Wildlife and Hunting

[Guest guest]

Hey Jane,

 

> I wasn't offended, Butch! I know your humour better than that.

 

Glad to hear that I am. :-)

 

> You'll just have to come to Dorset and see for yourself how much open space

> there is with plenty of wildlife!

 

If that is an invitation .. I'll drop by next time I am in England.

That is, if'n y'all have one'a them little corner pubs nearby whut

serves that outstanding bitter beer. ;-)

 

> You must imagine the UK as a group of small overloaded islands ... one big

> sprawling mass of people, towns, houses, etc. but I promise there's some wild

> and wollly places -

 

Don't think that at all. I've driven around England a bit .. mostly

with white knuckles cause I wasn't used to driving on the wrong side of

the road. ;-)

 

> just ask Ann in Scotland ... now there's wildlife and game up there alright!

 

That I have heard .. and I heard that Scotland has the most wild game of

any place in the UK .. plus, one can hunt it.

 

> Don't forget the London area accounts for 13 million of our 55 million people.

 

Hard it is to forget that. Sorta like Istanbul .. likely it is that the

population there now is over 15 million in a country with 75 million.

And like Istanbul, there is no shortage of those lousy pigeons whut crap

all over the place .. dang tourists feed them. ;-)

 

> Yes, there are birds bred (pheasants) just for shooting by the wealthy (it

> costs a lot of money for an organised day's shoot).

 

Got a buddy in Kentucky whut came from a rich farming family .. never

worked a day in his life .. sorta like John Kerry .. then married a rich

man's widow .. sorta like John Kerry .. and still hasn't worked .. but

he runs such as hunting preserve.

 

> They are the most stupid animals because they're bred in captivity and most

> must get killed my cars judging by the scenes on the roads at that time of

year.

 

Jane .. even wild Ring Neck Pheasants are not all that smart. Ducks are

smart .. Wild Turkeys are smart .. Pheasants and Geese are dumb-dumb!

 

> Licensing for guns is also completely different ... the average person doesn't

> hunt or shoot or even want a gun.

 

Cultural differences twixt England and the USA in that regard.

 

> A few horsey people like to hunt (that's foxes) but apparently they don't

> kill many and it's a day's riding rather than the kill that motivates the

> vast majority.

 

I hear you .. and that's one of the reasons the Queen wasn't too happy

with the Parliament bending to the will of those who wanted to take away

a British traditional sport. It was all about opposition to the elite,

not about the foxes.

 

> Hare-coursing has been illegal for a long time but I know it still happens

> around here - I've seen the dogs chasing them and men in ridiculous (IMO)

> outfits running after them.

 

We just kick'em up .. or let the Beagle Dawgs trail them .. down South.

I prefer the taste of wild Cottontail Rabbit to anybody's beef or pork

dish.

 

> I guess it is a class thing - us commoners object to the land-owners getting

> their jollies at the benefit of wildlife!

 

Hawhawhawhaw. That's another of the big cultural differences twix the

UK and the USA. Even though I know your comment was probably tongue in

cheek, we don't have any Commoners in the USA .. least ways not any that

will admit to being so .. but we do have a few who think of themselves

as being Elite. ;-)

 

As far as the rights of landowners is concerned .. I support them 100%.

Farmers who post their land are respected down home .. sometimes they

write on the signs .. " Trespassers will be shot .. survivors will be

prosecuted. " But I also believe that ants and bees are more deserving

of surviving the cold winter winds than are grasshoppers. ;-)

 

> Jane

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-P Butch