Post by tmc on Dec 6, 2019 16:01:18 GMT -5
OK, so as I've written recently, there's a fox in the neighborhood suffering terribly from mange. With the snow depth here, I predicted that it would be travelling the plowed roadways instead of trying to make it through the deep snow.
I was right, I've seen it's tracks along the road at the end of my driveway, often quite fresh.
I came in for lunch a couple of hours ago, one of my neighbors called, must've seen my truck in the driveway. She's vehemently (near violent lol) anti-trapping, anti-hunting, anti-fun, anti-social (well maybe not, she's a huge supporter of PETA, [in]Humane Society), anti-me, lol...
Her: Hi, Tim, it's -------, have you got a minute?
Me: Sure, what's up?
Her: Well, I think there's a rabid fox in the area, I've seen it on the road a LOT lately, and -
Me, interrupting: No, -------, it's not rabid, the poor thing has mange.
Her: Has what? Mange? What what - What's "mange?"
So, I took the time to explain to her allllll about it, how (didn't say "my opinion") it's Nature's way of dealing with overpopulation, how it's incredibly contagious, how cruel the suffering is for the victims, how long and painful a death sentence it is, on and on...
Her: OH! MY! GAWD!!!! I had NO idea!!! WHAT DO WE DO?!?!?!
Me: Well, almost nothing in Nature dies of old age. The merciful thing to do is put it down.
Her: You mean like in... kill it, right?
Me: Yes. I know you work for the local Capture-Spay/Neuter-Release, do you have cage traps?
Her: Yes, but - WAIT, YOU'RE NOT SUGGESTING THAT "I" DO IT, are you???
Me: Well, you're seeing it far more than I do, and it's starving, it should be easy to trap, and --
Her, interrupting: Oh no no no no no no...No, not me, no not ever, no way absolutely NO, and besides I don't wanna contaminate the TRAPS! (whispering) Is it, is it,... can people get it?
Me: Oh yes, highly contagious!
Her: Oh forget THAT!!! No, um, welllll…. actually the reason I was calling, see I thought it was rabid, y'know, and so I, well you, um, well I know you have guns and stuff, so I --
Me, interrupting: And YOU, -------, have a CAR.
(awkward silence)
Her: Huh? What's that supposed to mean, of course I have a car, you know it's MILES to town? What are you saying?
Me: Well, do the merciful thing and run it over. A few seconds and it's over, instead of maybe weeks more of suffering, freezing, starving, begging for death, ---
Her, interrupting: Oh my Gawd oh my Gawd oh my GAWD!!! NO!!!! How can you ASK me to DO something like that?!?!?!
Me: Well, what are YOU asking ME to do?
Her: Well yeah but you're USED to it. Oh... oh I am sorry, I am so sorry, that did NOT come out right, I'm so sorry, what I meant was - well, wouldn't shooting it be a lot - well, (whispering, again! lol) less messy?
Me: Messy? Less messy? For who? You, the fox, or me?
Her: Aw come on now, Tim, you KNOW what I mean!
Me: Yes, I know exactly what you mean. So I tell ya what, -------, are you home right now?
Her: Yes, why, are you gonna be shooting? It's ok, go ahead. Do you need it in writing? I say just go ahead, I won't tell. PLEASE. I will not say a word.
(I had asked permission once, long ago, in writing, to be legal so that I could hunt a woodlot part of the orchard only about 450' behind their house, she laughed and ridiculed me then and went on about me being CRAZY just to ask; but hey, I'm the GOOD neighbor, lol)
Me: Oh! Um, NO... I'll be right over, I'll give you my 22 and you can do it when you see it.
Her: What's a twenty-two -- OH NO YOU DON'T!!! NO NO NO YOU DON'T DON'T YOU DARE!!!
Me, laughing: Calm down, -------, I'm only kidding. But don't you think it's a little hypocritical of you to even ask me?
Her: Hypocritical? I'll tell you what's hypocritical, YOU owning a DOG when you kill it's poor little cousins!!! And ANOTHER THING...
So to stop it, and to be a good ambassador for trappers and hunters, we talked. Way too long, but I hope worth the time it took. I think she's had one eye half-opened, but I don't expect that she or any of them will ever come around to seeing trapping and hunting as the BEST tools to promote healthy animal populations. But at least we're on much better terms than before (don't know how long THAT will last, though), and she initiated the conversation, so she more or less HAD to listen to me, so - meh. We'll see. And then I made her cry: My dog died in 2013, and wow, she never knew. SIX YEARS! Oh I am so sorry for him... HIM? HUH? What about - ah nevermind... ...I was almost waiting for her to ask me if I did it. They're on my back about every little thing I do on my own property ("You can't spray the apples when the wind's blowing MY way!!! That's POISON!!!" "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING MOWING WHEN YOU CAN SEE WE'RE HAVING A PARTY HERE!!!" etc.), but never noticing that Max was gone or what the large stone pile at the back of the yard was for...
Anyways, I thought it was interesting, and humorous, sorry if it bored you but hey, YOU'RE the one that read this far!
- Tim
I was right, I've seen it's tracks along the road at the end of my driveway, often quite fresh.
I came in for lunch a couple of hours ago, one of my neighbors called, must've seen my truck in the driveway. She's vehemently (near violent lol) anti-trapping, anti-hunting, anti-fun, anti-social (well maybe not, she's a huge supporter of PETA, [in]Humane Society), anti-me, lol...
Her: Hi, Tim, it's -------, have you got a minute?
Me: Sure, what's up?
Her: Well, I think there's a rabid fox in the area, I've seen it on the road a LOT lately, and -
Me, interrupting: No, -------, it's not rabid, the poor thing has mange.
Her: Has what? Mange? What what - What's "mange?"
So, I took the time to explain to her allllll about it, how (didn't say "my opinion") it's Nature's way of dealing with overpopulation, how it's incredibly contagious, how cruel the suffering is for the victims, how long and painful a death sentence it is, on and on...
Her: OH! MY! GAWD!!!! I had NO idea!!! WHAT DO WE DO?!?!?!
Me: Well, almost nothing in Nature dies of old age. The merciful thing to do is put it down.
Her: You mean like in... kill it, right?
Me: Yes. I know you work for the local Capture-Spay/Neuter-Release, do you have cage traps?
Her: Yes, but - WAIT, YOU'RE NOT SUGGESTING THAT "I" DO IT, are you???
Me: Well, you're seeing it far more than I do, and it's starving, it should be easy to trap, and --
Her, interrupting: Oh no no no no no no...No, not me, no not ever, no way absolutely NO, and besides I don't wanna contaminate the TRAPS! (whispering) Is it, is it,... can people get it?
Me: Oh yes, highly contagious!
Her: Oh forget THAT!!! No, um, welllll…. actually the reason I was calling, see I thought it was rabid, y'know, and so I, well you, um, well I know you have guns and stuff, so I --
Me, interrupting: And YOU, -------, have a CAR.
(awkward silence)
Her: Huh? What's that supposed to mean, of course I have a car, you know it's MILES to town? What are you saying?
Me: Well, do the merciful thing and run it over. A few seconds and it's over, instead of maybe weeks more of suffering, freezing, starving, begging for death, ---
Her, interrupting: Oh my Gawd oh my Gawd oh my GAWD!!! NO!!!! How can you ASK me to DO something like that?!?!?!
Me: Well, what are YOU asking ME to do?
Her: Well yeah but you're USED to it. Oh... oh I am sorry, I am so sorry, that did NOT come out right, I'm so sorry, what I meant was - well, wouldn't shooting it be a lot - well, (whispering, again! lol) less messy?
Me: Messy? Less messy? For who? You, the fox, or me?
Her: Aw come on now, Tim, you KNOW what I mean!
Me: Yes, I know exactly what you mean. So I tell ya what, -------, are you home right now?
Her: Yes, why, are you gonna be shooting? It's ok, go ahead. Do you need it in writing? I say just go ahead, I won't tell. PLEASE. I will not say a word.
(I had asked permission once, long ago, in writing, to be legal so that I could hunt a woodlot part of the orchard only about 450' behind their house, she laughed and ridiculed me then and went on about me being CRAZY just to ask; but hey, I'm the GOOD neighbor, lol)
Me: Oh! Um, NO... I'll be right over, I'll give you my 22 and you can do it when you see it.
Her: What's a twenty-two -- OH NO YOU DON'T!!! NO NO NO YOU DON'T DON'T YOU DARE!!!
Me, laughing: Calm down, -------, I'm only kidding. But don't you think it's a little hypocritical of you to even ask me?
Her: Hypocritical? I'll tell you what's hypocritical, YOU owning a DOG when you kill it's poor little cousins!!! And ANOTHER THING...
So to stop it, and to be a good ambassador for trappers and hunters, we talked. Way too long, but I hope worth the time it took. I think she's had one eye half-opened, but I don't expect that she or any of them will ever come around to seeing trapping and hunting as the BEST tools to promote healthy animal populations. But at least we're on much better terms than before (don't know how long THAT will last, though), and she initiated the conversation, so she more or less HAD to listen to me, so - meh. We'll see. And then I made her cry: My dog died in 2013, and wow, she never knew. SIX YEARS! Oh I am so sorry for him... HIM? HUH? What about - ah nevermind... ...I was almost waiting for her to ask me if I did it. They're on my back about every little thing I do on my own property ("You can't spray the apples when the wind's blowing MY way!!! That's POISON!!!" "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING MOWING WHEN YOU CAN SEE WE'RE HAVING A PARTY HERE!!!" etc.), but never noticing that Max was gone or what the large stone pile at the back of the yard was for...
Anyways, I thought it was interesting, and humorous, sorry if it bored you but hey, YOU'RE the one that read this far!
- Tim