Life is precious

[delfi_waveform]

To the coastal blue jay my friend needlessly killed this weekend, I am sorry for laughing at your fate

Comments

[longbottle]

I think this can be categorized as something that "seemed to be a good idea at the time", as well as "one of many reasons why it's ill-advised to mix firearms and alcohol". And while that appears to be a BB gun in the photo, I believe the sentiment is still valid.

People that hurt animals are a hot button with me. I really don't give two shits if someone is killing other people... I mean, most people are assholes, and there's 6.5 billion more where that one came from. I guess that makes me a sociopath.

[delfi_waveform]

That is a bb gun he is holding. I think it is a restored Daisy air rifle. I do see that it was a bad idea and they should be glad this isn't the seventies and none of the responders are members of PETA (or ELF).

I disagree with the defense that jays are the worst of the birds. Sure their high pitched calls can be annoying, but so are the high pitched squeals of children. If we killed everything that annoyed us, the human species would very quickly go extinct. Also I believe Hitler made a very similar argument for killing the Jews.

Also they removed one more beautiful thing from this world.

[longbottle]

I agree. It's saddening, and I'm not even particularly fond of them myself. You just... don't.

I hope you made the fucker fry it up at eat it after so that it didn't die for nothing.

[delfi_waveform]

I wasn't there. It would not have been as bad to me if he did eat it. You would think firefighters, being charged with protecting life, would not engage in such a cruel act. Did I mention they told me it was not a clean kill?

[longbottle]

Agreed, not eating something you kill only adds to the wastefulness.

I'm not surprised. It's hard to get a clean kill with a BB gun.

[delfi_waveform]

I did a little research on blue jays. They are different from us in that they form life long pair bonds, the male feeds the female while she is incubating the eggs, and the male helps tend to the chicks. Our species can't claim these same traits even though we hold them up as virtues.

[longbottle]

Actually, according to a book on animal sexuality I read, many species of birds "cheat" on their monogamous partners.

Not that I'm defending humans, but I found it interesting.

[delfi_waveform]

It's also not uncommon for them to be gay or bisexual.

Still, they form those bonds for life which is better than we can do.

[longbottle]

This is true of a lot of animals, not just birds.

I should really loan you my copy of that book on animal sexuality. Better is entirely subjective, and a value judgement when none is appropriate. If you like, I can mail it to you and you can borrow it long-term. I found it a very thought-provoking read.

[delfi_waveform]

Is it Sex at Dawn?

[longbottle]

No: Sexual Selections: What We Can and Can't Learn About Sex from Animals

[delfi_waveform]

I think the distinction with animals is that they don't place the same importance on sex as we do. Even with dolphins it does not have the same emotional attachment.

[longbottle]

Part of that is the fault of culture and (big shocker) religion. We used to have a much more natural, healthy view of sex. I think we could learn a lot from the Greeks of antiquity when it comes to sexual mores.