Why do we feel the need to kill everything? Does it make us really feel like the superior race?

Charlie - posted on 09/10/2011

A magpie nearly took Harry's eye out the other day ...I would never kill it though it had a little baby just below the branch it was on .

Jennifer - posted on 09/10/2011

Wow, that is disturbing! I was raised with hunters, but if that bird had attacked me, I'd probably been spanked and told to leave it alone! I was taught to respect animals and their 'rights'. As a Christian I was taught it was our duty to protect the earth and it's wildlife. Don't molest them, don't kill it unless you eat it. Trophy buck were never shot, they were old and wise, and tasted like crap! We have 'kill-deer' here, they build nest on the ground. They love the mowed grass on our play ground. From March till May half the playground is corded off for the birds and babies!

Charlie - posted on 09/10/2011

Thats why we are top of the food chain .... I dont even like hunting for sport however I would be quite happy if more people hunt for food instead of supporting attrocious mass farming ( not small scale farming though )but we are the most advanced animal on the planet any other animal given the brain capacity would utilize these abilities too given the chance , chimps already exhibit hunting skills with weapons , spears mainly which they use to hunt other mammals.

Becky - posted on 09/10/2011

Now this may be off topic, but others have brought up hunting too. I grew up with deer hunting, fishing, turkey hunting etc! My family eats what we kill. BUt we all have a healthy respect for the animals too! My parents live in the country and to watch the deer from their porch is wonderfully relaxing - the herd in the area is massive, and can be very damaging to crops and car's alike. Round these parts we have deer management programs that help deter the population for getting to be completely unmanageable. This also thins the population before the winter when there is not enough food to sustain a high population.

We fish and hunt to help out with our budget! Having the meat from these sources really helps us to cut back on groceries and the meat is much healthier for our family than the commercially raised animals butchered to stock store shelves. Not to mention if you've seen the conditions that some of those animals have been born & raised in . . . it's just wrong!

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/10/2011

There of course used to be a time where we relied on our instincts to kill for survival. If we stripped away all of our unnecessary weapons and killed with minimal tools the way we originally did, now THAT would be a contact sport!

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/10/2011

Feen, big difference between an animal using its mouth, paws, claws, etc when attacking another animal compared to a person sitting up in a tree and shooting from a distance, and safe. When an animal attacks another animal for survival or "sport" they have to be literally right there in harms way themselves. If humans went one on one with most of the animals we kill for "sport", we would not survive....or would never get a kill.

Charlie - posted on 09/09/2011

Have you seen a killer whale play with a seal ?? they arent doing it for survival , Dolphins kill for fun not to mentione kidnap female dolphins from other pods beat them if they try to escape and repeatedly rape them , chimps are well known for killing for nothing other than fun and sheer cruelty ......It is also known that chimps will often leave he opponant close to death and leve it to suffer in pain , chimps arent the cute cuddly things you see in movies and neither are whales or dolphins .



Animals dont always eat what they kill either .....Just ask the seal ;)

Rosie - posted on 09/09/2011

i feel it's acceptable in certain instances. we have a MAJOR over population of deer here. i feel killing them whether for food or sport is good. i've been involved in a car accident with a deer. it totalled my car, and sent me to the hospital. there is less chance of that happening if you control the population.
i don't think it's necessary in every instance-like this year my city started legally hunting mourning doves. yep, those pretty little song birds that sit on a wire and do nothing but coo. we can shoot them now for sport. yes, there is an over population, but they won't cause anybody harm. they don't swoop, or run into your car, or anything. i think that is sick.

Rebecca - posted on 09/09/2011

It wouldn't solve or fix the problem for my kid JuLeah, but it would for the next kid. That's pretty much it.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/09/2011

My cat collects crickets if she finds them in the house, and places them at my feet. She seems very proud of her "offering".

Kellie - posted on 09/09/2011

Really? Is that why my cat keeps bringing me dead birds? she's even chased me with them hanging from her mouth she's wanted to give it to me that bad. Um thank's Moo but no thanks :/

Jane - posted on 09/09/2011

My cats do this inside, whenever they find something moving around. Apparently they consider me to be well-fed because they don't bring it to me. They simply play with it until it isn't any fun and then either eat it or leave it for me to dispose of.

When cats DO bring something home, experts argue that they may be wanting to teach us to hunt, just as they teach their kittens.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/09/2011

Well, cats usually will bring the "prize" home. Kinda like an offering. Not so sure it is for sport IMO.

Jane - posted on 09/09/2011

Cats will kill for sport - watch one playing with a lizard or a roach sometime. However, they don't glorify the act of killing, or turn it into a form of public entertainment. I also question whether they realize they are killing something or just playing with it until it stops moving and so is no longer interesting. People, OTOH, often consider killing to be an art form or simply good fun, but are quite aware that they are ending the life and consciousness of a living creature when they are doing it. And people don't always eat what they kill.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/09/2011

Feen "Other animals other than ourselves kill for sport too, just sayin"



If they do, it is not nearly in the same capacity as humans. They are doing it to become the leader of the pack. We are doing it...well...why? We have guns, bows and arrows, fishing poles and boats that kill an maim defenseless animals, chainsaws to cut down animals homes and make them homeless and displaced. I do not see other animals doing any of this. If we were doing it strictly for survival, well, we wouldn't be living the way we currently do.



I fully disagree. Animals are dealing with survival. We are dealing with convenience, and being comfortable at any expense.

JuLeah - posted on 09/09/2011

Feen? What other animals kill for sport? Son of Sam - suicide bombers - human trafficking - war - Charles Manson -

What other animals do these types of things?

Or even kill just for sport?

Rececca: I didn't understand the child was blinded, but even so, how would killing the bird solve or fix that? Why seek revenge on a bird? If my child were blinded by such a thing, which I find hard to believe - bird taking out both eyes before anyone came to help - I'd not want the bird dead - or in jail - I'd not even sue the bird - none of that would help my kid

Rebecca - posted on 09/08/2011

If some bird blinded my kid, I'd shoot it myself. Sorry, I can understand and get all about the behaviour and their environment, but that's about it for me.

We used to hunt game birds with my father growing up for a less important reason, you know, eating and sport.

I was a vegan for decades, but that bird would be going down.

Charlie - posted on 09/08/2011

Other animals other than ourselves kill for sport too, just sayin'

JuLeah - posted on 09/08/2011

Wall Stree Law and Natures Law .... the two don't often mix. I do think there will come a time when we die off - us that practice Wall Stree Law ... the world will then belong to all who practice Natures Law - there will still be many many humans, but they won't have ipones

Lacye - posted on 09/08/2011

I'm not sure what a Magpie is but I'll give it a go. :D

In my opinion, the only reason why they asked the police to do this is because the girl's parents probably threw a shit fit about it and demanded the bird's head on a stick. Otherwise, they would have let it go. They know how the bird's instincts are and how they will behave if they feel threatened.

Shannen - posted on 09/08/2011

Amie, From lots of experience with magpies, throw some mince meat out or bread into your yard or far enough away from the house because they will watch you do this and they wont swoop anymore knowing that you guys are a food source. I did it one year at my current house because there was a nest in the park accross the road and just walking onto the road they would come up and attack and after just one season of feeding them they stopped. Also at my parents place the magpies feed in their front yard (They have 100 acres) and have never been swooped by them because magpies aren't stupid birds and know that to get the best food they have to be nice.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

They are terrible at the beach. Because so many humans feed them, they are used to taking food from people. Whether you want them to or not. They will totally dive bomb you at the beach and steal food from your hands. Or do a sneak attack hopping approach, and get you that way.

Amie - posted on 09/08/2011

The seagulls we see here just converge at the dump in the city. Sometimes you'll see them by the weir but that's mostly pelicans, geese and the odd duck. I have no idea what kind they are but they definitely out number the pigeons in the city.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

There are a lot of signs up around here telling not to feed them. Especially at the fast food places. I live right across from the ocean, and I see dim whites down at the water front all the time with bags of bread. These are people who live here too! Idiots.

Cathy - posted on 09/08/2011

I think it's something to do with the fact that in their natural habitat they have a much shorter lifespan. They live up to 20 years in urban areas. So if each seagull has a clutch of 3 eggs, the next year you get 5 gulls returning, the year after that 10 etc. They are becoming more aggressive towards humans because food supply isn't actually meeting demand, especially with more people recycling and composting.

Locals know not to feed the gulls but the emmits (aka tourists) think it's amusing to throw food to them and watch ten gulls go in for the kill, then complain later when they swoop and rip food out of the hand of an unsuspecting child. There is definitely some element of human stupidity to it.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

Gotcha Cathy. Seagulls are a pain in the ass admittedly. No idea what you guys are going through. It is just difficult for me to justify killing animals, when most likely it is our fault for the over population in the first place.

Cathy - posted on 09/08/2011

Marina, a different species of Gull than you're used to. It's only one particular European breed that I hate with a vengeance.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

I guess an eye for an eye so to speak.

Amie - posted on 09/08/2011

Not so simple. Magpies generally go for the eyes, not so minor a wound if they succeed. It is common for them to attack during their nesting period but if you don't know where the nest is but stumble upon it - that's great fun. Magpies can recognize faces from what I did find in research when we moved out here. Awesome, vengeful birds. These birds have attacked the same person over and over.

I live on an acreage and I see them all the fucking time. If they attack one of my kids or one of our animals - then yes I will take out the gun. Especially since they can recognize faces and can come back. We share our property with them, 40 acres is more than enough room for all of us. So they can go build their nest somewhere that's not so close to the house or they can get shot at.

I make no apologies for it. I'm aware of my surroundings, my kids know what to watch for but we still would use our guns if needed.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

Does that give us the right to just kill them off? Some people think so. We are the reason they are reproducing like this. We need to find a solution. Unfortunately, it is all about cost efficiency.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

I grew up with seagulls. Yes they are a nuisance, but chances are they are overpopulating due to whatever effects humans are having on them. Increase in trash for them to eat, people feeding them. This happens when animlas are given food. They eat, populate, eat, populate. When I was living elsewhere there was an overpopulation of deer. Why? because of the mass amounts of soybean farms. The deer were eating and reproducing like crazy.

Kellie - posted on 09/08/2011

My Step Grandmother is from there. LOL my SO calls Pigeons 'Rats with wings', but to be honest I probably wouldn't live there if it was that bad and nothing could be done. I'm not suggesting you just up and move, I'm just saying I either wouldn't live there or I would move if I hated it that bad.

Our Maggies aren't like your Gulls, they don't (well as far as I've seen), travel in megga huge packs like that, from what I've seen they live kind of like we do, with their family. So the Mum, Dad and their babies. We CAN give them the space to not feel threatened, and they don't swoop you when they don't feel threatened. It really is that simple for this situation. Yours, well not so much.

Cathy - posted on 09/08/2011

Cornwall, England.

They've tried every deterrent in my town. Seagull spikes (not as cruel as it sounds) line most of the roofs in the centre but the gulls just move out into residential areas. The council offered nest removal but the budget is limited and the gulls just keep rebuilding. They tried pricking the eggs, but catching them at the right time is essential and not easy. Every year the numbers seem to double.

Summer really has turned into "The Birds" around here. I have to walk through one of the worst infested areas to get into town. One infant gull wandering the ground was being watched by 20-30 adults waiting to swoop on anyone who got too close. Our houses are built into compact spaces. You can't get past.

Would you be happy to live on a road swarming with rats? Because that is how I view seagulls.

Kellie - posted on 09/08/2011

Where are you Cathy?

And no I'm sure it's not lovely, but is there another way to deter them rather than killing everything in sight?

Cathy - posted on 09/08/2011

Been attacked by a flock of seagulls? They are more than a nuisance here. They're "scare the crap out of you" scary!

It is not lovely when you can't let your kids or pets outside because they WILL get attacked.

I've seen the gulls take on a rottweiler and the dog came off worse.

Kellie - posted on 09/08/2011

Yeah that's how I feel Marina, our first response is to kill even when we've created the issue. Man puts Koalas on Kangaroo Island Koalas breed like crazy Man Culls Koalas because they are in plague preportions argh.

Maggie swoops so Maggie must die. Really?

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

We just kill out of sport, or because we don't want to be bothered with other living creatures. We created this mess.....so we kill more? Lovely.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

Animals get aggressive and protective through instinct.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/08/2011

Oh boy. Well, I feel that people need to stop and think about how we are effecting animals when we come and completely take over an area destroying its natural habitat. We expect them to move, and not be in "our" territory.

Cathy, yes seagulls can be a nuisance. But they have adapted to what they were given. I don't think any animal should be killed simply because it is a nuisance. We would have been gone a long time ago if that was the case. We breed, build, destroy, kill. We are the cancer of mother earth.

Cathy - posted on 09/08/2011

I want to see some seagulls killed around here. They are much bigger than a magpie and attack in groups. Nesting on a roof is not it's natural habitat. Ripping open rubbish bags is not it's natural food source. My eldest got attacked for walking out into our garden at our old house. So kill the buggers and make them "LEAVE MY BABIES ALONE"!

They need to move back out to the sea and cliffs. Allowing unnatural habitation is making the problem worse.

Shannen - posted on 09/08/2011

Kellie have you not seen alfred hitchcocks Birds movie :p

I like what Jane said but we also know what we are doing when we do it. With most animals it's intstinct right there and then it's not like they come back and find us to do it again. They don't hunt us down a few days later.
Growing up in my primary school playground there were always magpies and they got nasty so the school got wildlife people in to relocate them but each year they came back time and time again.

Charlie - posted on 09/08/2011

You know I used to get upset at people hunting and killing sharks for attacking people but Jane that makes sense .

Thanks for showing me that perspective.

Kellie - posted on 09/08/2011

I think it's different in the moment as opposed to after the fact. Such as bear attacks mei shoot and kill bear to defend myself, bear attacks me, I escape, injured but rather ok on the whole, I go back and kill bear for daring to well, be a bear.

A Magpie is a mediumish bird, it (I don't think) can directly kill you, it can hurt you pretty bad with it's claws and beak but I'm way bigger than a Magpie so the chances of it pecking me to death are rather slim.

I feel that we are in their home we should respect that, (general wild animal speaking, such as bears) and it's not like they can pack their bags and move out when we encroach on their territory. I think there has to be a better way than to just run around killing each other, man and/or beast.

Becky - posted on 09/07/2011

Jane has a point. We are merely displaying the same protective instinct that they are displaying. If anything - human or animal - threatened my children, my first instinct would be to attack or kill too! I don't know about a magpie, but here the attacks that we hear about are by bears and cougers. Their intent is to kill. So, when a bear kills a human and we in turn kill the bear, really, we're just acting on the same instinct that lead the bear to kill the human - protection of the species.

Jane - posted on 09/07/2011

Because we aren't anything special. We are just a predator with opposable thumbs that protects its young by killing anything that harasses them.

Mockingbirds and bluejays do the same thing, harassing anyone or anything who gets too close to the nest.