Are you a softie, when it comes to killing almost anything, with the exception of flies or other insects?

[Bricealan]

I have had a somewhat long term problem with pocket gophers really riddling my lawn and flower garden with holes, huge piles of dirt from the tunnels they dig, much like in Caddy Shack. I tied everything to discourage the little bastard, using 'high frequency noise makers' in the ground, flooding their tunnels with the garden hose. even my gardener using 'smoke' to discourage them from their digging damages.

I finally lost patience when he dug under the sidewalk and into my parkway - (called the 'devils strip" back east) He had completely riddled my parkway grass and there seemed to be no end in sight and I continued to be shoveling up several pounds of dirt that he/she had dug up and left above ground.

Against my environmentalist beliefs, I bought a gopher-hawk from Amazon, and set it in the grass into a tunnel I found after probing the ground. Within 40 minutes the trap "sprung" and I was too cowardly to go out and pull the creature out of the ground. I called a lady locally who has a side business doing this and she has a business called The Gophernator" and she said to just 'dig him out with a shovel" I tried, but found the creature was still alive and trying to escape the trap, which he eventually did and supposedly according to my friend, was so badly injured, that he would die under ground, ... in agony.

I now find myself, depressed and was at one point in tears, for having this creature, and for that matter ANY creature, injured and dying in pain. I feel like shit. I did not know what else to do, as I had tried everything !

I could no more do that than injure my pet, terribly and have them crawl under the bed and die in agony.

Has anyone else experienced such trauma over something like this?

[Lliam]

I had guns since I was young and got really good at trap shooting with a shotgun.
In my 30s, some people invited me to go out to The Imperial Valley in California during dove hunting season.
It was really fun picking them off. They fly fast, dodge and weave like little dog fighter aircraft.
On the second day, I went to pick up one that I had shot and it wasn't dead. I felt so bad. All I wanted to do was comfort it and save it.
That's when I decided that I didn't like killing things.

I have no moral problem with hunting for food. For an omnivore, it is more ethical than buying factory farm-raised meat from a grocery store. But I don't enjoy killing.

I don't even kill rattle snakes.
We live on 30 acres in a rural area. There are no other venomous snakes in our region. And the rattlers we have are a smaller, non-aggressive species.

When we find one that has bumbled into our yard, I use a catching stick that has a trigger on one end that closes jaws on the other. I catch the snake, put it in a box, and release it on another part of our property, away from our house.

I always liked snakes and have no grudge against rattlers. They do good work keeping the vermin population under control. They don't mean humans or pets any harm. The last thing they want to do is waste venom on something they don't plan to eat. They only do so in self defense.

We don't use poisons or bug sprays in our yard. I don't even bother wasp nests near our house aside from yellow jackets. Those little fuckers are ass holes. They can go live somewhere else.

If a paper or mud wasp accidentally gets in our house, I catch it and put it outside. I do the same with most spiders.

There are some bugs that I kill, of course.

[Bricealan]

@Lliam Thank you Lliam, I just knew I was not the only one that felt that way. I used to hunt with my dad, and did kill several rabbits and squirrels, UNTIL one day at 16, I killed a fox Cub coming out of its den. I have never been able to forget that, and will never forgive myself for such a terrible, act. Thank you again sir!

[Bricealan]

@Lliam I, too have walked around rattle snakes in the path and would not kill one.

[Lliam]

You're a human being, Bicealan. You have my respect.

[Anonymous]

It seems cruel to use such a trap to kill a gopher and then discover it's only wounded and escaped only to die suffering.


Would you describe yourself as a sadistic person?

[Bricealan]

Did you not read what I wrote? If you did, how could you make such a thoughtless comment?
Your rude and mindless comment is beyond my comprehension ! Dear god sir, read what I wrote before you sound off like that!

[Opinion Owner]

What did i miss, you trapped poor defenceless animal and when it was wounded, you allowed it to die slowly