Alternatives to Bullets

[amiachicknorwat]

Free Feather, I believe we are led to believe that it's popular opinion that preying on predators for doing their natural predator thing. We may be in the severe minority here amongst those vocal enough to respond, but I bet we're a majority here on BYC as we're a majority in the real world beyond the virtual webbed in space. Keep on, Mother Nature Thanks You

 

[flurry37 2001]

Opinion= this was what this was about right= mine is i would not let any part of wildlife harm a human or a farm animal and if a varmint cant hunt the way the man up stairs made it to do so,thay are something wrong with it , don`t come to my house for a free meal , i hunt my kid hunts,my grandson will also , we take what we need the rest is left to other wildlife ..................and as far as most i have meet thay have no ideal about being out in the woods and about wildlife . i don`t mind varmints take a few ever now and again i raise for that but when thay come and leave 20 or 30 just laying just for fun, i will use what i have to do away with this messed up varmint . we humans are here and thats not changing , this just my Opinion .......................p.s. i have more trouble with cats and dogs than i have varmints and i thake care of these the same way i would a varmint.......................mike

 

[slingshotandLAR]

The stuff you are preaching as the blunt reality is all opinion. You are not tough or wise because you think like that, nor am I weak for not "coming to realize' this. It is stronger to do what is right no matter what everyone else believes, not take the easy way out because everyone else does. If you are not willing to take loss, keep them penned. These predators belong here more than the chickens, and even most people, do.

If you really accepted your role in nature, you would not "take revenge" when people are eaten by other animals, and you would not create cities void of animals. There are predators that eat people, yet once a person is eating like nature intended, we eradicate the predators. Say what you will, I can not stop you, but we are meant to be eaten and have our population kept under control. We think that anywhere where we want to live should be free of all animals that eat flesh. That is not the way it is intended to be.

Interesting and niave....

All well and good when a bear eats a stranger, just so long as it's not your children right? The reason those animals are put down is they learn humans( unarmed) are very easy prey, they than continue to hunt humans. Most people put human lives ahead of bears or lions or whatever. It's very easy to have the opinion you do never having to deal with large predators that are extremely dangerous. Would you let a bear eat you because it's a bear? Is that the way it's soposed to be?

I think not.

 

[amiachicknorwat]

You quote free feather and send it to me? OK. I expect you to do the work of fencing off, barricading coop, or even suck up the odd loss. This alternative to bullets thread started, I believe, with asking how to work fencing and coop design to adequately protect vs. a fox, and oh yeah, would a live trap work on a fox. Otherwise you're just using your birds as bait, which is very unsportsman-like, like shooting fish in a barrel. I, nor I believe Free Feather, ever here said people shouldn't protect themselves or their loved ones, be they chickens or cattle. You're using apples to rationalize oranges so to defend a indefensible, wrong-headed point. Heads are supposed to be undergirded by hearts. And yours is?

 

[centrarchid]

People, we have been carrying the protection of ourselves and stock to far at the expense of natural resources. I kill once in a while, but darn it, I am also concerned we have killed too much causing losses of just about everything. I do see a need for contracting our "foot print" so we do have long-term room for natural systems. Those natural systems may have real value in the future. All the crops and livestock we have today were derived from such natural systems. Who is to say we will not need more later. This continued nickle and diming to death of nature to protect needs to be re-evaluated.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Even I don't kill predators on a regular basis, only the ones that leave me no choice. I'm a trapper and do harvest furs, at a sustainable level. Rotating different areas different years and only leaving traps out for five to seven days and moving on. It's not always take either, young animals are released most of the time. Same goes for hunting on the farm, take what we need and no more, that's how it is.

I'm not sure how having this option makes me against nature or any other nonsense that's being spouted in this thread. There's a reasonable amount of protection needed to protect what's yours, end of story.


Edited by Staff

 

[shamrockmommy]

I use chicken tractors (see avatar) because of the foxes here They are protected in our county so they can't be shot.

Don't think my tractors would be bear proof but they keep my dogs out and Hawks, which were a major problem, don't stand a chance.

I tried free ranging and electric fencing but still lost to Hawks.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So you would be okay with predators coming into people's houses and killing them in the night? After all, they are just protecting themselves and what they love.

No, that is Social Darwinism, or perhaps even negative Social Darwinism, an even more perverse version of personification.

I can promise you that if a grizzly bear tries to break into my domicile that I will not unlock the front door, nor will I throw my naked body on the kitchen table, and slash my wrists. This however seems to be your desire for all of humanity with the possible exception of your own family.

 

[Catnip5]

Since I originated the thread perhaps I should conclude it by saying that it has been a lively discussion of varied viewpoints and I appreciate all the suggestions put forth. It has indeed been enlightening...and a bit frightening at the same time, LOL. I am thrilled that the solution that I found the most ethically acceptable for me personally, an electric fence, has thus far proven to be remarkably successful. I have indeed incorporated multiple layers of protection for the girls and hope that these efforts, in conjunction with ongoing personal education (chicken newbie), will enable my little flock of 12 and me, to live long happy peaceful lives while also allowing the resident wildlife a right to exist in peaceful co-habitation...beyond the protective perimeter the girls now call home.

The End. ?



Edited by Staff

 

[Catnip5]

Since I originated the thread perhaps I should conclude it by saying that it has been a lively discussion of varied viewpoints and I appreciate all the suggestions put forth. It has indeed been enlightening...and a bit frightening at the same time, LOL. I am thrilled that the solution that I found the most ethically acceptable for me personally, an electric fence, has thus far proven to be remarkably successful. I have indeed incorporated multiple layers of protection for the girls and hope that these efforts, in conjunction with ongoing personal education (chicken newbie), will enable my little flock of 12 and me, to live long happy peaceful lives while also allowing the resident wildlife a right to exist in peaceful co-habitation...beyond the protective perimeter the girls now call home.

The End. ?

Take Two: The End