Posted by kat on August 10, 2001 at 08:37:12:
In Reply to: Re: On breast feeding, tropical fish and horses. posted by John on August 09, 2001 at 07:37:35:
Yeah!that's it! Pleco-somethin-or-other
: On a subject more related to fish, I recently found myself refusing to fish with my family because they were using live bait. That has never happened to me. If any of you know me well, you may know what I mean, but I totally surprised myself. I just couldn't yank that little fish out of the water and pierce his back with a hook only to dangle him in front of a bigger fish until he died. It just kept reminding me of crucifixtion or some other sort of public painful execution. I couldn't even use the live shrimp, which are basically like crickets from the ocean. I was totally loathe to inflict that pain. This may seem stupid to most of you since alot of you are pretty progressive in your views of animal rights and all, but remember that I am a naturalist, and I come from long lines of outdoorsmen who hunt and fish. I accept and understand the harshness of the natural world. And bait fishing was never an issue for me. I guess I"m just gaining a deeper understanding of life and its connectivity. I'm heading the way of John Muir and Thoreau. I'm starting to actually feel moral conviction about the sanctity of even the lowest level of nervous system development. I didn't plan this, it's just happening. I'm learning to live with a reverence for all that is given up for me to survive.
I kinda understand John, not that I am an outdoors woman or anything , but I don't see anything wrong with hunting and fishing. I think you have to have that respect always in your mind for the creatures. Maybe your feelings surfaced because deep down you knew it was just for sport not survival. Of course you have to remind yourself that everytime you eat meat that an animal WAS slaughtered. Not so you feel bad but so that you retain that respect for life. Someday we probably will not even eat plants anymore. : )
A long time ago when I was just a youngin' I was out in the woods with my brother catching lizards and I had a net this time(I think it was the kind used for fishing). Well, I was after this particularly attractive skink with rainbow colors and I was trying out the net. It scurried across the ground and I slammed my net down to catch it, only I was off center and I smashed the lizard and killed it unintentionally. I simply wept. I was so distraught over what I had done.
I still catch lizards occasionally, but I never used a net again!