Gun at the ready

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Many of my Buddhist friends do not eat meat. They will avoid the killing of a fly or any household pest. And that is fine. That is where their path has led them. I begrudge them not.
Now I certainly don't receive any amount of pleasure in dressing a meat bird for the freezer. It is done in reverence and with the satisfaction of knowing that I have fulfilled an age old path of raising what is eaten. It is not taken for granted. It produces the same sense of thanksgiving as with the eating of a fresh picked tomato or the preparing of fresh corn or broccoli. It just happens to be slow grilled with Jerk seasoning liberally applied.
But the gun is at the ready - and I will kill. A rat that is. A rat has taken up residence under my pallet coop. He has a front entrance and a back one. When the girls are perched on the opposite side the coop he will let himself in and eat their feed, drink their water and for desert dig through the compost bin. Before you know it, word of these luxurious accommodations will spread - as will the rat population.
I tried a trap which he readily out witted. I tried to rig the trap in a fool proof way using the top from off of a beautiful red pepper. It would require a nice tug in order to get this tender and sweet morsel. And then, "SNAP", I would finally have him. What I am remorseful of is that the trap did work - and it worked well. The down side is that it got a rather young skunk. The look on the skunk's face is forever etched upon my mind's eye. That sort of look that a guy would have seconds before a bus smashed him flatter than a pancake. I buried the skunk, trap and all.
I have the gun pumped and loaded and I am at the ready. It has been a very long time since I walked about with a gun in my hands and I take it with me into the yard. I catch the movement of every little twig, leave, squirrel and chipmunk. When I get my chance, and oh, I will get my chance, the rat will be sent off to rat heaven with a pellet along side the grain in his belly.
Of course, there's always Decon, But that seems much too cruel.

Comments

Rick Matz said…
If I ever became a vegetarian, it wouldn't be because I love animals but because I hate plants.
9:32 PM
baroness radon said…
I had to kill an opossum that was raiding my henhouse once (over 30 years ago). I trapped it in a 5 gallon can, and then shot it with a .22 pistol. (Like fish in a barrel.) Later my husband asked me, "Why did you use all 6 bullets?" Crazy trigger-happy woman!

Also, one year because I had bought unsexed chicks, I had to slaughter half of them...grim messy business, but the worst part was chicken lice.

I'm out of chicken farming now, but I would love to have a caged hen or two on my lanai for the eggs. I go through vegetarian periods, but it's not really for spiritual purposes.
3:16 PM
Rick Matz said…
In the current National Geographic magazine, there's an article about rescue chickens; chickens that have been rescued from ... whatever you call them; chicken plantations.
9:57 PM
SHUBHAJIT said…
killing rat with a gun is a tough affair.

i believe everything has life, even vegetables have life so what to fuss.. its about how much we minimize the exploitation.

though it is a proven fact that vegan diet actually creates a positive life force whereas flesh always excite our nerves.
2:28 AM
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