Killing a Lion is the MOST COWARDLY THING you can do

[davidthegnome]

76. Why do this?

Will she be skinning the lion and using it's fur/pelt/mane/whatever to keep warm? Probably not. She probably won't be eating the meat. Does she intend to earn a profit through selling it's dead body? I just honestly don't understand the purpose of this. I always feel a little sad when I see a moose or a deer on the back of a truck, waiting to be weighed and turned into steaks and burgers... but I understand that at least people will benefit from it in some relatively honest way. What I can't understand is the purpose of killing something just for bragging rights. Kill a lion from many yards away, or perhaps a tiger, cougar, grizzly bear... okay, so you can actually shoot a large target that you're aiming at, that you probably had the jump on. Where is the sport in that?

Living up here in Northern Maine, I understand killing animals for food, or in self defense (an angry bear is a thing of terror, though the black bear rarely bothers humans). I don't understand though, why anyone would kill something just for a trophy. With a gun, from a safe distance. Sport? Seems more like mindless slaughter.

A couple months ago I was on my way home from work, it was a brisk autumn day, the foliage was beautiful, leaves of red, green, orange and yellow filled the forest around the lake where my family lives. As I made it to the lake road, several yards in front of me an enormous moose walked out into the road. I stopped the car and stared at it for a minute. Rolled down the window and shouted, "Hey, quit blocking traffic!". The moose turned and stared at me with a look resembling amused boredom. I swallowed, hoping it didn't decide to charge my little ford focus. It just wandered around the road for a few minutes before finally trotting off into the trees. I shook my head, chuckling, but also a little relieved that I hadn't run into it out on the highway.

The thought of someone shooting that giant from forty yards away fills me with sadness. It was near hunting season, so it's possible that that is exactly what happened. I'm not Dr. Do Little, I talk to the animals, but they don't talk back. Yet I still have a healthy respect and fondness for most of them. I suppose I could hunt for food if I had to, but I consider hunting merely for sport despicable and cowardly.