Posted by John on August 10, 2001 at 13:56:17:
In Reply to: Re: On breast feeding, tropical fish and horses. posted by kat on August 10, 2001 at 08:37:12:
: 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!
I'm not very good at catching them for the same reason. I don't want to crush them, so don't hold tight enough and they slip out. I'm getting better, it just takes practice.
This brings up a completely different subject but still about lizards. Have you ever realized that people tend to kill of big animals because they are scared of them? I love big animals. Can you imagine how different life would be if those lizards were like 20 feet long? I thought of this one day when I was a lifeguard and a cold lizard sitting in the sun let me touch him. I had my eyes down at his level and it hit me how strange, cool, different it would be if they were that big. Traffic would be very different to say the least. It would be hard to have them crossing the road all the time.
...And wow, seguay! to kything that Bill mentioned. Once my brother and me were walking down a road with dense bay swamp on both sides. We heard a noise in the woods, and we both got the same distinct image of a lizard that big bounding out of the trees landing in front of us on the road, and promtly scurrying across to the other side. We stood there drop jawed and laughing a tthe image, and the fact that we both had it at the same time.