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And being able to take an animal to feed yourself doesn't mean you don't have emotions, it just means you will do what you have to in order to feed your family and protect yourself. No hate or malice involved, just simple need like cutting the grass or decapitating a cabbage.
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Originally Posted by Holly-Kay
I don't like to think about killing any of them for food but let's face it, if it means me starving to death or the chickens becoming dinner I know which scenario I will choose.
I think this is the whole point of this thread.
We don't need to get off on a tangent of vegan/vegetarianism vs eating meat and fish. That is irrelevant to this discussion. What is relevant is that most all of us can think logically in a survival situation, when it comes to doing something for ourselves that we now pay others to do for us (the dirty work).
I generally do not kill senselessly. I have removed snakes and other animals from residential areas and simply transported them elsewhere.
Odd ethical dilemmas can often occur when local laws can encourage either directly or by default killing or euthanasia. Where I am located squirrels can be a nuisance by burrowing through your roof or siding and taking up residence in your walls or attic. This is actually a very dangerous and potentially unhealthy situation.
Local law states that if you trap a squirrel, you must either release it back on your property or euthanize it, it is illegal to transport and release one elsewhere. Of course you know what happens if you release it on your property so most squirrels meet their end under the circumstances.
And I believe you can shoot as many starlings as you wish (indeed it may actually be encouraged) where I am due to them being so prolific and invasive and therefore reducing the population of other less prolific species of birds.
A number of places where we have lived, we have had friends who are far too fragile of a snowflake to kill an animal. They keep an old crippled dog going on for years in pain, rather than put it to rest. Usually arrangement is made through my wife for me to go kill it for them.
When I was a child. I had to 'put down' any injured pets we had. If I hesitated I was beaten. I learned to kill my friends when I was 8 or 9.
So many responses making so many ignorant assumptions. Some people don't want to kill anything simply out of respect for life. That doesn't mean they don't understand where their food comes from, or have watched to many Disney movies. It is a conscious decision, sometimes based in religion, but often just part of being a compassionate part of this planet. I'm not sure some of the people reading this understand that it is entirely possible to live without killing and animal. If you want to kill to eat, I have no problem with it, but to assume others don't because they don't understand where food comes from is ignorant.
I had to rescue a friend from a snake. She called me to tell me that her dogs were going crazy. They had discovered a snake in her backyard. She wanted to know how to make it go away.
When I asked her why she wanted it to 'go away'; she said it was too beautiful to kill. When I got the description from her, it was a coral snake. (Red to yellow, kill a fellow; red to black, venom lack)
I suggested she get her hoe and kill it. Then I went over to her house. The dogs were inside; she was outside with the hoe. She was swinging the hoe back and forth over the snake. I took the hoe away from her and killed it. A coral snake in a subdivision full of dogs and kids is not a good idea.
She told me she just couldn't kill the snake. She said she was afraid of the snake and besides, she had never killed anything.
I wonder how many people would die in a SHTF situation because they couldn't kill. I wonder how many people would die because they were afraid.
I was raised on a farm, so I helped my Dad kill animals for food. I have seen people die, but of natural causes. I have never seen a person die violently, nor have I ever had any reason to try to kill anyone.
I have often wondered if I could kill a person. I tell myself that, in SHTF situation, I would be able to do what is necessary to care for my family and friends, but I still wonder . . . .
I also wonder how many people would die because they just couldn't cope with a new reality that required them to overcome fear and a reluctance to kill.
Not to hijack this thread, but this brings to mind my own similar experience, several years ago.
First, let me start by saying I'm so afraid of snakes I start to shake if I even see one on TV I won't even wear snake jewelry! But then, one day....
My DS was about 8. We were in the house, in the kitchen, when I heard DS making a panicked cry, like when you're half-asleep and can't cry out. I turned and looked, there was a "beautiful" diamond back , coiling, staring dead-on at DS. You'd think I'd faint....instead, I was "attacked" by a deadly calm. I stomped my foot on the ceramic tile floor, to distract the snake towards me. Then, I told DS to run to the garage and get Dad's shovel, which he did. Meanwhile, I had that damned thing in my sight. I know it was poisonous, I could see the pit in its forehead, and it was side winding towards me. My Dad taught me sidewinders are poisonous. DS brought the shovel, and I heaved my best shot, smashed the damned thing into snake jelly. I was calm and collected, not even shaking. Then, later, I realized how close I was to the snake---within arm + shovel length, and it was coiling, getting ready to strike. I never once felt fear, it was like a higher power took over. The power of Mother.
I guess none of us know what we will do until we are tested....but to this day I am amazed at my own inner courage. That was my SHTF situation, and I proved myself........
BTW, my DS said I was praying, although I don't remember that part, I said "Jesus hold me
Oh, and lets not forget DS part. He did break loose from the snake's hypnotic stare and ran to the garage and found the shovel, He proved himself that day, too. I believe its called leadership----he followed my lead....but he had the guts to do so!
Last edited by MaryleeII; 06-14-2016 at 02:15 PM..
Not to hijack this thread, but this brings to mind my own similar experience, several years ago.
First, let me start by saying I'm so afraid of snakes I start to shake if I even see one on TV I won't even wear snake jewelry! But then, one day....
My DS was about 8. We were in the house, in the kitchen, when I heard DS making a panicked cry, like when you're half-asleep and can't cry out. I turned and looked, there was a "beautiful" diamond back , coiling, staring dead-on at DS. You'd think I'd faint....instead, I was "attacked" by a deadly calm. I stomped my foot on the ceramic tile floor, to distract the snake towards me. Then, I told DS to run to the garage and get Dad's shovel, which he did. Meanwhile, I had that damned thing in my sight. I know it was poisonous, I could see the pit in its forehead, and it was side winding towards me. My Dad taught me sidewinders are poisonous. DS brought the shovel, and I heaved my best shot, smashed the damned thing into snake jelly. I was calm and collected, not even shaking. Then, later, I realized how close I was to the snake---within arm + shovel length, and it was coiling, getting ready to strike. I never once felt fear, it was like a higher power took over. The power of Mother.
I guess none of us know what we will do until we are tested....but to this day I am amazed at my own inner courage. That was my SHTF situation, and I proved myself........
BTW, my DS said I was praying, although I don't remember that part, I said "Jesus hold me up"
There's one problem with your story. Snakes don't move toward people. They try to get away. A snake may strike when startled or attacked, but a snake does not launch an attack. Inasmuch as they eat their prey whole, they probably know instinctively that a human is a bit more than a meal. I assume that they also know that a human is big enough to eat them
I was once walking down a trail on my place at the edge of some sagebrush. I caught a flash of a snake thrashing at my foot. I realized that I had stepped on him. Gross motor skills took over and I was suddenly about two feet away. I looked at the snake to see if he were a rattlesnake. He was. He was poised to strike for a few seconds and then crawled into the sagebrush. His rattles were broken so I had apparently stepped on his tail.
That's how snakes actually behave. I don't imagine that too many people live in houses that have holes in the walls. I confess that I don't keep an eye out for snakes in my kitchen.
There's one problem with your story. Snakes don't move toward people. They try to get away. A snake may strike when startled or attacked, but a snake does not launch an attack. Inasmuch as they eat their prey whole, they probably know instinctively that a human is a bit more than a meal. I assume that they also know that a human is big enough to eat them
I was once walking down a trail on my place at the edge of some sagebrush. I caught a flash of a snake thrashing at my foot. I realized that I had stepped on him. Gross motor skills took over and I was suddenly about two feet away. I looked at the snake to see if he were a rattlesnake. He was. He was poised to strike for a few seconds and then crawled into the sagebrush. His rattles were broken so I had apparently stepped on his tail.
That's how snakes actually behave. I don't imagine that too many people live in houses that have holes in the walls. I confess that I don't keep an eye out for snakes in my kitchen.
Well, actually, we did have "holes in the "wall" Its called a pet door. We always assumed it entered through that, although snakes can slide under door frames, too.
The snake was sidewinding, albeit slowly, towards me. At that point it probably did consider it a confrontation, since I had stamped my feet (in hard soled shoes) on the ceramic tile, which would make a vibration, as well as noise. Believe what you want......
My elderly neighbor in rural AZ had a diamondback get into their house. It was in the laundry room and was rattling up a storm and wouldn't stop. He finally called animal control and they found the snake pissed as hell because it got caught up in a mousetrap. A few people in my area down there would keep a resident bull snake under the house, some going as far to even relocate one under there. They claimed it kept the pack rats and other snakes away and were accustomed to seeing it slither around on a regular basis. I had a rattler that liked to curl up under my outdoor propane fridge down there in cold nights. I agree that rattlers generally like to be left alone but they can get into homes.
I've also had a neighbor when I lived in FL with a water moccasin in her washing machine and she about grabbed it trying to get the clothes out. I have no idea how it got in there. Water moccasins/cottonmouths are extremely nasty and will chase you down if they want to. They seem protective of their area and don't like to be bothered. I know from this from first hand experience. Luckily rattlers seem to have a much more relaxed attitude, probably due to their rattle warning system.
As for killing animals, I think most people can, especially in a survival situation. I've done enough of it to know that I can, however I don't like to or enjoy it. I think a balanced human should feel some sort of sympathy/respect when killing an animal and hopefully utilizes it to it's full potential. I rarely even step on bugs anymore because I'm just waiting for the big foot in the sky to come down and step on me .
I do eat meat, but support healthy farming practices by buying all grass fed beef from a local meat packing plant 10 miles away. I know the guy who owns it and supplies it with most of it's meat and his cows are treated humanely with plenty of room to roam around. I can also get caribou/reindeer and bison meat there .
My snake didn't have a rattle, or wasn't using it, because I didn't hear it. But it was the classic diamondback pattern. It might have shed its rattle and hadn't grown a new one yet.....I'm not a snake expert, but I knew this thing was something better off dead
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I won't even wear snake jewelry! But then, one day....
