Post by Scott McCray on Apr 14, 2006 20:39:39 GMT -5
Before Posting this article, I would like to give a little background on the author.
Slim has written and published 7 trapping and snare instruction books and two "story" instructional books about coyotes. He has also created and produced 4 trapping and instructional videos. Keeping up with technology, Slim's latest creation, "New Millennium Trapping" is also available on DVD as well as VHS video. Slim's books, videos and DVDs are available to be purchased from this site and we are sure you'll agree, they are worth every penny of the purchase price.
If you would like to learn more about Slim Pedersen, Please visit his website at www.slimpedersen.net
And I believe that is a REAL COYOTE sitting next to him.
And now on to the article.
MOTHER NATURES PROWESS
Since listening, and reading about all the commotion and havoc the hurricane caused in the south, reminding all of us how vulnerable we are to Mother Nature, who is an unemotional caretaker; my mind wandered to many of the tragic events I have witnessed when Mother Nature takes control. I think Mother Nature’s true reality takes away any and all of the arguments used by the animal rights wackos.
One of the very first articles I wrote for Trapper’s World was about witnessing a male coyote kill one of his own pups as the adult reacted to his own frustrations. The whole incident was not the kind of reality that most nature lovers would like to learn about. I have also written about witnessing a coyote catch and toy with a snake, like a cat would toy with a mouse before killing and eating it. After a lifetime of being fortunate to live a life in constant contact with Mother Nature’s many wonders, I have witnessed many of her cruel sides too. Many of Nature’s unemotional actions stir a flood of emotions in our human temperament.
Many of the things I have been fortunate enough, or unfortunate enough, (depending upon your view of such things), to witness are not things I like to dwell upon for very long most of the time, as it only reminds me of my own vulnerability.
The winter of 1979-1980 in Garfield County Montana started on October 8 with snow and cold that resulted in below zero temperatures for a full six months time, and almost daily additions of snow that was whipped around every day and night by hard cold winds blowing. While I could dwell on the hardships it caused the humans living through the hard winter, witnessing the devastations it created on defenseless wildlife stirred more emotions than I can begin to explain. When the spring thaw finally started to take place, sometime in April, revealing dead deer, antelope, rabbits, badgers, raccoons, birds, mice, and even domestic livestock where man had not been unable to reach them because of the deep hard snow drifts, I experienced feelings about things that I could never begin to describe, as words can not possibly carry the depth of feelings that I was experiencing. Throughout the winter, daily experiences had made me aware about what was happening around me, but witnessing the remains in the spring struck me very hard. I am sure that many of those same feelings are now being felt in many different ways by those in the hurricane zone.
On the opposite side of the scale, living through summer draughts so severe that flowing springs dried completely up, I watched wildlife struggle and die without water or shelter from the extreme heat.
The catastrophic weather events are only part of wildlife’s struggles, as their daily existence is often equally as difficult for the individual animals.
I came upon five little bobcat kittens that did not yet have their eyes open, laying upon a flat sandstone rock, exposed to everything. I have witnessed almost every kind of predator, including hawks, and eagles capture their prey and begin to eat upon the victims before they were dead. I have witnessed animals barely alive, stuck in mucky mud that they could not escape from. I have witnessed more than a few baby animals and birds whose parents had been killed, or had abandoned them for reasons that us humans have no understanding about. I have witnessed animals die from fright. Each and every one of these experiences has always reminded me what a cruel Steward Mother Nature really is, while stirring emotions that make me very uncomfortable. I believe these kinds of emotions make mankind uncomfortable, and are probably the reason we try to shield ourselves from these emotions by hiding these realities from our youth, and avoid such realities in media exchanges as well as the entertainment fields. Unfortunately we tend to avoid these realities in our education system too. We admit that biology is not an exact science, like chemistry and physics, but we never fully explain why it is not an exact science. Perhaps it is unexplainable, as I just realized I am not doing a very good job of it here either.
About the time we begin to fear Mother Nature, she will change her mood, and put us in total awe of her splendors and miracles.
Witnessing the land come to life in the spring with new grass growth, as well as flowers blooming, while birds sing and flit about everywhere as new insects are hatched from tiny eggs that somehow survived the severe winter, always stirs feelings of new beginning and new hope. Emotions that are much more enjoyable, and equally as pleasurable but certainly different are stirred by witnessing, deer feeding along in meadows, or watching a predator hunt, be it a wolf trotting tirelessly, a coyote or fox seeking a mouse in a meadow, or a hawk or eagle soaring on the wind currents, or even watching hundreds of ants scramble around an anthill. Simple small pleasures, yet feelings that must be experienced to be fully comprehended, since no amount of words can every completely relate the experiences.
As trappers, most of us have experienced many of these unexplainable emotions. However I also believe there is something deep in the human soul that craves these emotional experiences. I believe that is the reason that every large concrete jungle called a city has large parks within the city. I believe the reason people in cities own pets, dogs, cats, birds, and even reptiles, is an effort to relieve the craving for contact with nature.
At this point in time, I think it is important that trappers understand that people who do not have the opportunity to experience nature, are actually craving this experience, and that they are shielded from reality because of our human fear of the emotions felt by some of reality that is not an emotion we can handle easily. We expect people to understand why we trap and relieve our own craving for the contact with nature, but tend to react in a negative manner when challenged. We do not take the time to understand where the opposition is coming from or why, just as they react rather than make an effort to understand where we are.
Mankind controls the earth because of what we do to survive with nature. What we do for our own survival controls where wildlife can live, what food supply they have available, and even the air that they breathe. That gives us all a tremendous responsibility to also be responsible to and for wildlife. As trappers, perhaps our greater mission is to help people shielded from nature’s reality understand that too. It is not always very easy to understand how death is as important to life as life itself is, but it is a daily reality in the real world. We shield ourselves from this side of reality, but we crave the contact with that kind of reality. The protection groups who crave nature’s contact take out their frustrations on hunters and trappers who in turn react to the threats. Perhaps it is time we start to educate each other, as well as the general public, about nature’s reality instead of react negatively to threats.
Perhaps it is our responsibility to educate the general public so they too can begin to understand their own cravings for contact with nature’s reality. Maybe the negative press and all their politically motivated reporting of happenings in the hurricane zone is giving people a touch of nature’s reality at this time, as well as reminding us trappers that we need to open the shield of reality to the general public too.
Slim has written and published 7 trapping and snare instruction books and two "story" instructional books about coyotes. He has also created and produced 4 trapping and instructional videos. Keeping up with technology, Slim's latest creation, "New Millennium Trapping" is also available on DVD as well as VHS video. Slim's books, videos and DVDs are available to be purchased from this site and we are sure you'll agree, they are worth every penny of the purchase price.
If you would like to learn more about Slim Pedersen, Please visit his website at www.slimpedersen.net
And I believe that is a REAL COYOTE sitting next to him.
And now on to the article.
MOTHER NATURES PROWESS
Since listening, and reading about all the commotion and havoc the hurricane caused in the south, reminding all of us how vulnerable we are to Mother Nature, who is an unemotional caretaker; my mind wandered to many of the tragic events I have witnessed when Mother Nature takes control. I think Mother Nature’s true reality takes away any and all of the arguments used by the animal rights wackos.
One of the very first articles I wrote for Trapper’s World was about witnessing a male coyote kill one of his own pups as the adult reacted to his own frustrations. The whole incident was not the kind of reality that most nature lovers would like to learn about. I have also written about witnessing a coyote catch and toy with a snake, like a cat would toy with a mouse before killing and eating it. After a lifetime of being fortunate to live a life in constant contact with Mother Nature’s many wonders, I have witnessed many of her cruel sides too. Many of Nature’s unemotional actions stir a flood of emotions in our human temperament.
Many of the things I have been fortunate enough, or unfortunate enough, (depending upon your view of such things), to witness are not things I like to dwell upon for very long most of the time, as it only reminds me of my own vulnerability.
The winter of 1979-1980 in Garfield County Montana started on October 8 with snow and cold that resulted in below zero temperatures for a full six months time, and almost daily additions of snow that was whipped around every day and night by hard cold winds blowing. While I could dwell on the hardships it caused the humans living through the hard winter, witnessing the devastations it created on defenseless wildlife stirred more emotions than I can begin to explain. When the spring thaw finally started to take place, sometime in April, revealing dead deer, antelope, rabbits, badgers, raccoons, birds, mice, and even domestic livestock where man had not been unable to reach them because of the deep hard snow drifts, I experienced feelings about things that I could never begin to describe, as words can not possibly carry the depth of feelings that I was experiencing. Throughout the winter, daily experiences had made me aware about what was happening around me, but witnessing the remains in the spring struck me very hard. I am sure that many of those same feelings are now being felt in many different ways by those in the hurricane zone.
On the opposite side of the scale, living through summer draughts so severe that flowing springs dried completely up, I watched wildlife struggle and die without water or shelter from the extreme heat.
The catastrophic weather events are only part of wildlife’s struggles, as their daily existence is often equally as difficult for the individual animals.
I came upon five little bobcat kittens that did not yet have their eyes open, laying upon a flat sandstone rock, exposed to everything. I have witnessed almost every kind of predator, including hawks, and eagles capture their prey and begin to eat upon the victims before they were dead. I have witnessed animals barely alive, stuck in mucky mud that they could not escape from. I have witnessed more than a few baby animals and birds whose parents had been killed, or had abandoned them for reasons that us humans have no understanding about. I have witnessed animals die from fright. Each and every one of these experiences has always reminded me what a cruel Steward Mother Nature really is, while stirring emotions that make me very uncomfortable. I believe these kinds of emotions make mankind uncomfortable, and are probably the reason we try to shield ourselves from these emotions by hiding these realities from our youth, and avoid such realities in media exchanges as well as the entertainment fields. Unfortunately we tend to avoid these realities in our education system too. We admit that biology is not an exact science, like chemistry and physics, but we never fully explain why it is not an exact science. Perhaps it is unexplainable, as I just realized I am not doing a very good job of it here either.
About the time we begin to fear Mother Nature, she will change her mood, and put us in total awe of her splendors and miracles.
Witnessing the land come to life in the spring with new grass growth, as well as flowers blooming, while birds sing and flit about everywhere as new insects are hatched from tiny eggs that somehow survived the severe winter, always stirs feelings of new beginning and new hope. Emotions that are much more enjoyable, and equally as pleasurable but certainly different are stirred by witnessing, deer feeding along in meadows, or watching a predator hunt, be it a wolf trotting tirelessly, a coyote or fox seeking a mouse in a meadow, or a hawk or eagle soaring on the wind currents, or even watching hundreds of ants scramble around an anthill. Simple small pleasures, yet feelings that must be experienced to be fully comprehended, since no amount of words can every completely relate the experiences.
As trappers, most of us have experienced many of these unexplainable emotions. However I also believe there is something deep in the human soul that craves these emotional experiences. I believe that is the reason that every large concrete jungle called a city has large parks within the city. I believe the reason people in cities own pets, dogs, cats, birds, and even reptiles, is an effort to relieve the craving for contact with nature.
At this point in time, I think it is important that trappers understand that people who do not have the opportunity to experience nature, are actually craving this experience, and that they are shielded from reality because of our human fear of the emotions felt by some of reality that is not an emotion we can handle easily. We expect people to understand why we trap and relieve our own craving for the contact with nature, but tend to react in a negative manner when challenged. We do not take the time to understand where the opposition is coming from or why, just as they react rather than make an effort to understand where we are.
Mankind controls the earth because of what we do to survive with nature. What we do for our own survival controls where wildlife can live, what food supply they have available, and even the air that they breathe. That gives us all a tremendous responsibility to also be responsible to and for wildlife. As trappers, perhaps our greater mission is to help people shielded from nature’s reality understand that too. It is not always very easy to understand how death is as important to life as life itself is, but it is a daily reality in the real world. We shield ourselves from this side of reality, but we crave the contact with that kind of reality. The protection groups who crave nature’s contact take out their frustrations on hunters and trappers who in turn react to the threats. Perhaps it is time we start to educate each other, as well as the general public, about nature’s reality instead of react negatively to threats.
Perhaps it is our responsibility to educate the general public so they too can begin to understand their own cravings for contact with nature’s reality. Maybe the negative press and all their politically motivated reporting of happenings in the hurricane zone is giving people a touch of nature’s reality at this time, as well as reminding us trappers that we need to open the shield of reality to the general public too.