Reply #58: Where I live

[Lone_Star_Dem]

People moved in and the natural predators moved out. That left an imbalance in the ecosystem. The poor deers here just go on reproducing until they out number the available food supply. They get painfully thin and even though we try and feed them they are little bigger than large dogs. Every so often they come in and "clear" out the excess. That means they trap them and haul them off to ranches which allow hunting.

Ever since I've lived here I've been torn on this issue.

On the one hand I could never kill one of these creatures that I've fed and taken on as a pet.

On the other I see how hungry they are and know they can't survive w/o relying on supplemental food. That could stop at anytime if the person they rely on were to move or pass away (this is a retirement area).

As I said, I'm torn on this issue.

Now when it comes to say, quail I don't understand it. We have few quail left in the wild and people actually raise them (think incubators and hand raising) to release for hunting. To me if your natural population is almost gone there's NO reason to release ones you've raised just to be killed by thrill seekers. That I don't get.