Aboriginal Right To Shoot The Cute?

[taxslave]

More hysterics. 1%, not a few. And if you read my post, I CLEARLY said there may be reasons to stop it, but, to call 1% cull a 'decimation' of the population is hilariously dramatic.

Depends on your perspective. We only harvest about one percent of the forest every year but to hear the tree huggers whine you would think it was 100% every year. Much more than that die every year from old age, desease and fire but no one cares about that.

 

[captain morgan]

I recall reading an article about certain groups hunting at night, blinding the deer with their head-lights and then shooting a number of the animals.

There has recently been some incidents in the news around Sundre Alberta wherein a group/individual is running around and shooting wild horses for no apparent reasons... A sad parallel to the events you have described.

Depressing and sad... I wonder how many of those animals just rotted away on the spot where they were killed.

 

[Strickland]

I don't see an issue here. I've tanned Deer pelts, never sold them though. Just used them to make art and clothing given away as gifts. But I can understand the urge to get in touch with their roots though.

From what I hear there is a huge difference in tanning deer/bear/cougar...etc hides compared to otters.
Sounds like it is not easy to preserve, and nobody around here has ever done it before. They may need to try to find an Inuit to possibly teach them?
I don't know....just a thought.

You may be right.
Though I won't eat it for spiritual reasons, I can not agree, I find it greasy and gamey, lol. But that's just my opinion. ;-)

We mixed the bear meat with blacktail and made delicious sausages. Mmmmmm:smile:
We learned quickly to NOT tell people there was bear in the mix.:roll:

 

[karrie]

.... Real good idea to kill the otters seeing that they are soooo prolific, eh?.. But then again, you're a zoologist, right? You just know these things.

I think it's a bad idea to kill a species that's challenged, and I think a heritage that claims to have a long history of worshiping nature ought to make these tribes stop and think about the fact that there just might be ways to fulfill the ceremony without hunting the otters.

But I also still laugh at the over dramatization you've engaged in.

 

[captain morgan]

Well Karrie, give some serious consideration to considering the long(er) term ramifications of killing only the reproducing males (or females if that were the case). The proposed cull allows for 1% per year - assuming that only 1% are killed. If the reproductive maturity of these animals occurs 5 years after birth (average), the first 5 years of the cull will realize fewer pups sired annually in the face of a decreasing reproducing male population.... The point is that there is a compounding effect - it's not as simple as having 20 fewer otters per year - the real impact will be far greater.

Lastly, over the last 35 years since there has been a directed effort in re-populating the area with sea otters, the estimated population in all of BC is a whopping 3500 otters.

Doesn't this strike you as a little peculiar? 35 years represents around 25-30% of their historic populations.... Apparently they aren't so prolific in nature over this long period so I believe that the word decimate is highly appropriate.

 

[taxslave]

Does anyone know if Sea Otters mate for life? I can't remember. The one problem that they have caused is the competition for sea food. Thins like clams, oysters and urchins that people both harvest and eat. Several of the natives that I worked with in Kuyout had complained about this. So for every species that we decide to "protect" we often produce unanticipated consequences.

 

[WendyW]

Skunks are cute. Want some in your neighbourhood?

Can't say I would like one in the neighborhood but they are there. Gotta live with it. Even skunks have their uses and before you say "but they can be destructive" yes I know heard it all before about squirrels, raccoons, foxes, bears etc etc etc and the list goes on and on. But which species is the most destructive? Hmmm
Anyways I am a firm believer that we should learn to live with what is around us instead of changing it to make us nice and cozy. Such as every year out in Yellowstone park (and several other parks too in US and Canada) someone is attacked by a bear. Then it is "Kill the bears so we can enjoy the parks" There I believe if you don't like nature and the bears are part of it stay in the city. Where I am sure there are a lot more dangers
Anyways I found a webpage that explains some about skunks.
Project Wildlife: Living with Skunks

And if you are thinking that many skunks have rabies well here is one study done last year.
2008 Rabies Annual Summary - Rabies Laboratory at the Wadsworth Center

Sorry I got a bit off topic here. Now back to the topic at hand

 

[petros]

10 Million pass through Yellowstone every year only one attack is nothing to worry about considering the crime rates in national parks is so high you life is in far worse danger from man as usual.

 

[petros]

I recall reading an article about certain groups hunting at night, blinding the deer with their head-lights and then shooting a number of the animals.

There has recently been some incidents in the news around Sundre Alberta wherein a group/individual is running around and shooting wild horses for no apparent reasons... A sad parallel to the events you have described.

Depressing and sad... I wonder how many of those animals just rotted away on the spot where they were killed.

The round ups for wild horses to go for meat or dog food never makes the news. How come?

 

[captain morgan]

The horses that I refer too in Sundre are shot and left to die... To be truthful, no one would really notice if one or more were shot and then removed. The only way that people are awareis because a dead animal is visible from the road.

 

[bloopoid]

if you don't agree with this then write a letter of complaint. it actually carries a lot more weight than you think. i disagree with this too. anybody can claim just about anything as traditional. equality means one rule. i rule that we dont kill animals for the purpose of entertainment which is really what it is if its not for food. a shrunk population also needs to be left alone. 1% a year means it will shrink every year. do people not know how to do math?

 

[Cliffy]

if you don't agree with this then write a letter of complaint. it actually carries a lot more weight than you think. i disagree with this too. anybody can claim just about anything as traditional. equality means one rule. i rule that we dont kill animals for the purpose of entertainment which is really what it is if its not for food. a shrunk population also needs to be left alone. 1% a year means it will shrink every year. do people not know how to do math?

This would be true if you didn't take into consideration the birth rate. Is the birth rate higher than 1%? I would think that if they have come back from the brink of extinction, then it would have to be.
(just questioning your logic, not condoning the hunt)

 

[petros]

I tend to see the lack of benefits to an animal that blasts you in the eyes from glands in it's ass.

 

[Cliffy]

I tend to see the lack of benefits to an animal that blasts you in the eyes from glands in it's ass.

Petros,

We are not hunting skunks. Get with the program. :lol:

 

[petros]

Quoting petros I tend to see the lack of benefits to an animal that blasts you in the eyes from glands in it's ass.
​

Petros,

We are not hunting skunks. Get with the program. :lol:

A swimming skunk looks remarably like an otter that blasts you out it's ass.

 

[bloopoid]

well cliffy there is merit in that. im making my point on the premis that the birth rate isnt climbing fast. on that point, if you look at how long it took for the population to climb to where it is then i doubt its bursting at the seams. not only that, just because the population isn't considered to be endangered doesn't mean it's back to where it was. mother nature has systems that keep populations level. the animal population would'n't skyrocket or plumet unless an unnatural force in this case humans) decimate it or a predator goes away so they overpopulate. i doubt their predators have gone away. if you take something away by one percent every year that remains at a natural level it will dissapear. try doing it on your calculator.

as for the skunk line, makes me wich we could get rid of people more easily theres a lot of air wasters floating around.

 

[petros]

as for the skunk line, makes me wich we could get rid of people more easily theres a lot of air wasters floating around.

Yeah mercaptan is harsh.

 

[Inteligento]

Traditions

I DO NOT support the sierra club, world wildlife fund or people for the ethical treatment of animals but I feel that each and every able bodied person that eats meat (animal flesh) should have to kill and butcher or at least partake in the act of killing an animal on an annual basis as a way to preserve their cultural and historic traditions.
I do, and I have taught my children to do the same, because I beleive it teaches them a respect for nature just as planting a back yard garden and taking care of it also adds to this understanding of nature.

On a related note:
Factory farms are a sign that there are too many people in the world.

 

[petros]

I feel that each and every able bodied person that eats meat (animal flesh) should have to kill and butcher or at least partake in the act of killing an animal on an annual basis as a way to preserve their cultural and historic traditions.

On a related note:
Factory farms are a sign that there are too many people in the world.

Everyone should go to a factory farm ato kill and butcher or at least partake in the act of killing an animal on an annual basis as a way to freak them out into eating vegetables, whole grains, fruit, and high protein beans, lentils and nuts.

 

[Cliffy]

I agree with Inteligento that people should kill their own meat. There would be a lot more vegetarians around... and a lot less nuts! All one has to do is visit a factory farm in order to be turned off to meat. Their treatment of animals is sick and barbaric. Most have to be pumped full of antibiotics just to keep them alive long enough to make it to the slaughter house.