catch & release program

We have seen the hunters go by in their boats again. I do not know any hunters personally, but have had many female friends who lauded the November breaks they had as husbands took off with their buddies for hunting camps, or led others in their pursuit of game to fill their freezers.

Our cat, a well-fed sleek little guy, loves to troll the woods for game. Ollie, and his sister, Sady,were bringing home various mice, moles, chipmunks and, lately squirrels. Those little tree-rats of the forest. I was explaining to my husband that Native communities knew about hunting. They would move into an area, live there for 50 years, exhaust the game and move on, leaving the area to regenerate and regrow. It is the cycle of life.

My Ollie goes farther and farther to find his prey. I'd like to convince him to participate in the catch and release program, but he insists on playing with his prey, throwing it up in the air and tenderizing the wee things. But I continue to see new ones moving in. There is a squirrel nest in a near-by tree and the critters have been cruising the bird feeders. The raccoons continue to be patrolling. Their nocturnal antics make us all laugh. The cats do not so much hunt them as have an understanding.

Hunters have been helping the fallow-deer reserve to recapture their missing deer. George and Gulliver returned home, but Ty succumbed to capture myopathy. Such a shame. People have been asked not to interfere. Animal in the wild need to be left alone. In this situation, the reserve should have been notified.