Why is this man smiling?
Picture credit: William A. Troyer – US Fish and Wildlife Service
I apologize for this brutal picture, but it explains my rage.
Yes, sorry, two in one morning, both of them were in my email and neither could be ignored.
This story is about a subject that pains me deeply to relay.
I can still hear the words of my first Anthropology Professor many years ago saying that:
“99% of all species of all animals, will, or have already, disappeared from the Earth.”
I NEVER got over that very off-handed, complacent, nearly matter of fact, comment.
It did not seem like he was all that terribly concerned.
But, then, why should he have been, few seem to be any more.
It almost seems like we Humans, have become hardened against, or desensitized to this alarming state of affairs, in the Animal Kingdom.
It is so much easier to pick up a gun and shoot something, than it is to put a seed in the ground and wait for it to grow!
Decimation is a horrifying word.
In the past I have used it many times when writing about the Native Americans.
They too were decimated in many places all over this country by two other ugly words: Manifest Destiny.
But unlike the Native people, animals cannot be assimilated!
Hello people, we are losing animals as fast as they can reproduce these days.
Think I’m kidding?
Look around your own neighborhoods.
Have you, like me, watched over the years, as fewer and fewer of certain animals have disappeared right in your own yard?
It isn’t for just one reason, or in one country, it’s everybody, everywhere, killing everything.
We either kill them directly, or by destroying their Habitats, so that they die anyway.
What ever will we all do, when they are all gone?
This Planet will be an ugly place with no animals.
As Gandhi always said, ” A Nation will be judged by the way it treats its animals.”
Well, in the end, which may be nearer than many may suspect, so will this Planet.
Don’t think we can all get on a shuttle and head for Mars or ???
This is it people.
When we have killed them all, for what ever reason, that’s it.
The answer is right in front of us, but few want to accept it.
The answer is not eating animals anymore.
And yes to the ” Happy Man ” in the picture above, hunting them either.
Sure, for some, for many, this is a tough pill to swallow.
But dear Readers, what else can we do?
Millions of people all over the world do without meat every day and are quite healthy.
In some of the poorer Countries, like for instance, Burma, or Myanmar, I was once told by a resident in an interview, that having a chicken for dinner, is a once a month luxury.
Of course this idea will never sell in states like Texas, where their favorite saying on signs all over the state:
” Beef, it’s what’s for Dinner.”
But for the other millions who know change must be made and very soon.
Couldn’t we all at least try not eating any animals, for what ever reason each of us as individuals may choose?
If we do not, and soon, they will be GONE!
Places to learn more:
Earth lost 50% of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF
World wildlife populations halved in 40 years – report A/a>
Shock report: World has lost 50% of its wildlife in just 40 years
Walking with the Alligators 
Said so well…..:(
My ex-husband once took me to NM. He and his friends went Bear Hunting. We were divorced soon after.
Lol!!! Gone and GONE! Good for you! Can’t imagine.
I love the Ghandi quote
I understand (and share) your rage. You know, Phytagoras said that as long as people eat meat, civilization will be at a very low level of spiritual development… the Earth is a system, it means ev everything is interdependent – If I kill a bear, I kill my self… thank you for being a Nature Keeper 🙂
Thank you for being here!!!!
I saw that WWF report this week too … so, so sad, yet sadly unsurprising, as you say Donna, considering the rate at which humans seem determined to exterminate all other species on this planet. Where were these people when we all did that lesson in school on interdependency of organisms? Why do they just refuse to understand? A damning case of “Greed is the word”!
Could you possibly move here to Florida?
We could use another voice for the animals here~
🙂
Yes, civilization is at a very low level, and sometimes I find it hard to have a healthy rage, without hate.
Exactly! Your perception is perfect Ronald!
This is a sit-up-and-pay-attention post and i like it very much; thank You for sharing this
and making us think and re-evaluate.
My best to you
john
Dear John.
Thank you for your kind understanding of a dire situation and much appreciated support.
God Bless.
Donna
In my area of Kentucky it isn’t only the animals Donna. Our city council has decided to eliminate everything green and growing. Our beautiful Ohio River bank is now covered with concrete, including concrete trees that have replaced the beautiful living trees that adorned the banks for centuries. The air we breathe is now as bad as the air in a city of millions, yet we are a town of 57,000. Not only the animals are dying here, the human animal can no longer live where the air is polluted and the oxygen is depleted. We have concrete trees and concrete buffalo, with metal butterflies, squirrels and birds. Mother Earth as I knew it while growing up is dying and my great grandchildren will play only in a concrete jungle.
I feel and hear your pain.
Many of my Ancestors came from that area and
I am sure that their hearts would be broken if they could see what we,
the Stewards of this Planet have done.
There will be a terrible price to pay for all concerned, if this course is not reversed.
Well said.
Thank you so much Curt!
It is in fact, contrary to carnivorous assumptions and desires, healthier to adapt a totally plant based diet.
I am going to miss seeing here you more than you know Peter!!!
You have so much to say, you should be here!
I have recanted and asked forgiveness for my selfish foolishness.
What does that mean?
Thank God!!!
Most excellent post. Will we ever evolve as a species? At least we are talking about it. But the old patriarchy is rearing its ugly head and roaring so loudly. I pray it is a death rattle.
Thank you Karen.
Brilliant thinking, as usual~
I like the Ghandi quotes. I think I put that comment in the wrong place the first time.
Thank you so very much!
Reblogged this on CreekWaterWoman and commented:
Gator Lady hit the nail on the head.
How very kind of you to share this, it is a critical issue that few want to talk about.
It’s important to keep the two ways of killing separate in our minds (“we either kill them directly, or [we kill them indirectly] by destroying their habitat.”), because one of them is intended (by hunters) to be temporary and the other is, unfortunately, permanent. The changes that I’ve watched over the years, as fewer and fewer animals have found livable conditions around my suburban home, have been due to loss of habitat. Few people here kill animals directly now, because we’ve all permanently killed their habitat, and thus killed them indirectly–everyone with a roof and a grassy yard, and the number to call pest control at the ready.
Right: “It isn’t for just one reason, or in one country, it’s everybody, everywhere, killing everything [directly and indirectly].” The different causes have different effects; and the problems have different solutions. Hunters aren’t to blame for habitat loss. We all, more or less, take part in that most-permanent form of killing. Vegans and conservationists hopefully somewhat less, but still we leave our lethal footprints.
We are in perfect agreement Scott.
Thank you so much for sharing your thinking here and for who you are.
God Bless.
Reblogged this on Freedom For Cetaceans and commented:
So true Donna, Respect for all living things is key ❤
Thank you, as always Adam, for sharing a vital issue with your readers.
Thank you Donna. Xx
Excellent piece and I couldn’t agree with you more!
Thank you so much.
Bless your kind heart.
Thank you for writing about things that have been grating on my consciousness for a long time now. I also have started to write about the human impact on the planet and wildlife, and it’s great to know that there are others out there who truly care. I look forward to reading more posts from you.
Thank you.
We must never stop, the animals have no one to speak for them but us.
If not us, then who?
Thanks again for a very true and informed Blog. Not all people feel the same as this and will never change. It is a sad world at this time. For many reasons.
Thank you Dear Cousin for coming and commenting on this vital issue.
I truly appreciate your presence here!
I wholeheartedly agree, until we stop eating and exploiting animals nothing much will change. Yes there are more of us who are vegetarian or vegan than there used to be but still the overwhelming majority, at least here in the west, consume meat without a second thought. It s often difficult to eat out, there is usually only one vegetarian meal on the menu if you are lucky and very very rarely a vegan meal. It’s sickening that not one country entirely outlaws hunting, the wanton killing of other species for no other reason than pleasure. Here in the UK our prime minister goes deer stalking and is desperately trying to get the fox hunting ban reinstated. I often feel despair that anything will ever really change. You are right few people care, more interested in the accumulation of wealth and success than anything else . An interesting and thought provoking article. Thank you.
I could not agree with your thinking more!
It is sickening that this is the case all over the world.
What will it take to change people’s hearts?
Must we lose every single animal species before they stop?
That stark image brought tears to my eyes and a pain int my heart. To see such a magnificent creature as that must have been being hauled about is sickening.
I stopped eating any meat about 2 or 3 years ago because I could hear the animals voices. I use the reason that it’s better for reducing climate change not to eat meat. A couple of weeks ago one of my daughters announced to me that she, too, has stopped eating meat for the effect that it has on climate change. I was never prouder of her as that day.
Somewhere we must find a way to convince people to stop the wanton killing of these creatures. I’m not sure, though, that enough people really care.
Thank you for your message, as hard as it was to take.
Thank you Jackie.
We are in complete agreement!
I nearly did not post that horrific picture, as I knew it would hurt others too much.
In the past I have steered clear of them, but I truly needed to make a strong point for this alarming news
and that picture did just that for me and obviously for many of you as well.
Say bravo to your very intelligent daughter for me!