Anybody ever feel bad when getting rid of a predator?

[johnwilly1962]

Quote:
Any chance of securing your chickens so they will be safe? Seems logical til you get the bobcat.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

Cant you have someone catch and remove the bobcat?

(Sorry...large cat lover here!) Im sorry she has found your birds to be easy prey... poor cat...

 

[saddina]

I've felt bad, but it's my duty to take care of my family, including the animals first.

 

[Mahonri]

I've dispatched coons and skunks and haven't felt bad in the least!

And I'd do in dogs or coyotes if I needed too.

 

[edb]

I'm 50 years old and have always hunted. My family eats a lot of venison all year. There is a feeling of respect for every animal I kill. As far as feeling bad, I don't. Even when I kill a coon or coyote on a predator hunt I have a great respect for its place in the food chain. I shoot squirrels and crows around my pecan tree's and know it's their place in the food chain to try to eat my food. Everything has a place in the food chain and we have ours.

 

[Rock Wyandotte]

Thanks, Edb, that's a good perspective on the situation. It really helps.

 

[jhm47]

Around here, we have many predators, and not always the meat-eating kind. We have a big problem with giant Canada geese. They were reintroduced here about 20 years ago, and we originally thought they were neat. Now, after 20 years of being protected by GFP, they are a terrible nuisance in our crops. They hatch their young, and get into our fields, and wipe out hundreds of acres of wheat, corn and beans. Since we now have up to $500 per acre invested in our crops, this becomes no small problem. If you lose around 10 - 12 acres around a waterhole in each field, that's a lot of money, and we have no recourse to be reimbursed.

We also have problems with other predators, since the price of furs have tanked (thanks to the animal rights people). Mink, coon, and coyotes are forever killing our birds, cats, dogs, and even larger livestock. A neighbor lost all his sheep in one night to a pack of coyotes. Many calves are lost each year to coyotes, and they even disembowel cows that are lying down calving.

Do I feel bad about killing predators? Yes, sometimes I do, but when it comes to protecting my livelihood, no, I don't. I have worked on, improved, and paid taxes on this land for decades, and the city dwellers who have never had to produce food for themselves have made laws that protect these animals. They have watched a couple of Disney films that have made them experts in their own minds, and they really have NO idea of the real world.

 

[Big C]

Quote:
Ahh, life on the farm, aint it grand???

"They have watched a couple of Disney films that have made them experts in their own minds, and they really have NO idea of the real world"

They just don't teach common sense anymore.
There is really no place to buy it (discounting a current book "Common Sense") Most don't understand it when they are looking right at it.
Its worse now than back in the early 80's. Learned a lesson from that one...
Seems that all we can do is to lead by example. Taking the high road here, but fully understand your frustrations.
I just yell at the predator before he/she is sent to valhalla.
"Why did you do this"
"I was just trying to raise my flock(s) and you ate them???"
"Sorry but there are laws and regs on relocation"
"Don't want to do this but its us or you"
"Just trying to make some money here for my family and you had to try and skrew it up???"

We run a retail store. Your quote above says it all but unfortunately/apparently applies to all aspects of life nowadays. Its as if people don't understand how to live unless someone tells them how but only lasts till they wake up in the mornin and they start anew again without any remembrance of what went before...

 

[Whispering Winds]

These predator posts make me so glad I am going to have chickens inside a very good 5' fence with two guard dogs at night watching the Alpacas as well as their house. . .I am like most of you, just the thought of killing something even a predator, makes me feel really bad. I get sick if I hit something on the road. Except a deer. Then I feel bad for my vehicle (we hit three one year, one right after another. Ruined two trucks and wiped out the side of my new Honda Civic, so I don't feel bad when I see a dead deer) But I love animals of all kind and just wish they would remember the days when the easy pickin' chickens weren't there and stick to their old hunting grounds.

 

[nzpouter]

we shoot predators whenever they come.... all types, and yes, I do feel bad when it happens to be somebody's pet...

It's NOT the animals fault, it's their owners lack of responsibility.