Hunting times

Fishing is an ancient practice that dates back at least to the Paleolithic period which began about 40,000 years ago Isotopic analysis of the skeletal remains of Tianyuan man, a 40,000 year old modern human from eastern Asia, has shown that he regularly consumed freshwater fish Archaeology features such as shell middens, discarded fish bones and cave paintings show that sea foods were important for survival and consumed in significant quantities. During this period, most people lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and were, of necessity, constantly on the move. However, where there are early examples of permanent settlements (though not necessarily permanently occupied) such as those at Lepenski Vir, they are almost always associated with fishing as a major source of food.

 

Egyptians bringing in fish, and splitting for salting.

 

The ancient river Nile was full of fish; fresh and dried fish were a staple food for much of the population The Egyptians had implements and methods for fishing and these are illustrated in tomb scenes, drawings, and papyrus documents. Some representations hint at fishing being pursued as a pastime. In India, the Pandyas, a classical Dravidian Tamil kingdom, were known for the pearl fishery as early as the 1st century BC. Their seaport Tuticorin was known for deep sea pearl fishing. The paravas, a Tamil caste centred in Tuticorin, developed a rich community because of their pearl trade, navigation knowledge and fisheries. Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. However, Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work to have survived to the modern day. Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics. The Greco-Roman sea god Neptune is depicted as wielding a fishing trident. The Moche people of ancient Peru depicted fisherman in their ceramics.

One of the world’s longest trading histories is the trade of dry cod from the Lofoten area of Norway to the southern parts of Europe, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The trade in cod started during the Viking period or before, has been going on for more than 1000 years and is still important.

People need to live and work in the coutryside to provide themselves with a life and also provide a place for the city dwellers to enjoy on trips. Without the hard working country workers/dwellers our rural areas would become a museum.

Deer in our rural areas need to be shot in order to control the population.  Man has slowly removed all the deers natural predators which leaves a large deer population and insufficient food for them.  If the deer population was not kept under control they would simply starve at the times of the year when there is the least amount of food is on the ground.  It is better to harvest the deer and allow the others to thrive than allow them to starve to death and be found in burns and gullies.

Woodland deer are on the rise which means that they are travelling further for their food, which in turns causes them to stray more onto roads.  Traffic collisions with deer is on the increase, European countries have an even bigger problem and human fatalities from road accidents with animals are on the rise.  One idea put forward was to fence all the roads, apart from the massive cost this would cause, red deer for example, can jump in excess of 2.5 metres whilst Roe deer can crawl under very small gaps – this would just not solve the problem.  Plus if the deer population keeps rising it will unsettle the natural balance of the worlds Flora and Fauna.  Man is responsible for managing populations and in some cases this means culling a species in order to control or harvest surpluses and protect others.

Most parts of the UK countryside is nolonger a natural habitat, man cleared away most of the original forests in England, Scotland and Wales for many industrial uses including farming, ship building, charcoal etc.  many of the landscapes/woods are manmade and were initially planted for the use of gameshooting.  Without gameshooting, many of the woods and copses simply would not exist.  Without these, the wildlife and insects that frequent them would not exist in the numbers in which they do.  In the north of England and the Highland there is Heather moorlands that exist only because of the grouse shooting and when you consider that grouse moors support a massive amount of fauna and flora, this can only be a good thing.

Many hunters are also avid wildlife watchers and conservationists, they are involved with many conservation projects which benefit our wildlife, can the anti-hunters say the same?

 Some Country house estates earn an amazing amount of money by organising hunts and allowing their land to be used for the slaughter of wildlife and game-birds in the name of sport, not only by UK hunters but also by hunters coming in from abroad.  UK hunt companies sell ‘sporting’ packages to international visitors, even providing information on importing guns and how to get their ‘kill’ home.  However there is nothing ‘sporting’ about killing a defenceless animal or bird with a shotgun or high-powered rifle.

 For their visitors enjoyment, the deer populations are kept artificially high.  When these hunt organisers talk about a ‘trophy’ they are actually talking about chopping of a stags head and mounting it on a wooden plaque to hang on a wall, so when the coward has social gatherings, they can explain what a great hunter they are, they will no doubt forget to explain that the deer was in an area it had no way of escaping from.  For the ‘hunter’ who prefers to shoot into the sky, they breed gamebirds like hens, only to release them into the wild to be blown out of the sky.

 Hunting with dogs is probably the best know of all hunting.  If you are given the name ‘hunting’ the main thing that comes to mind is the exhausted fox trying to escape the men and women on horseback surrounded by a pack of excitable blood thirsty dogs.  Any idea that hunting with dogs was crucial to the survival of the countryside was utter tosh, there are many more ways of ridding the countryside of pests in a humane way which does  not include torturing wild animals  Thankfully, due to many organisations including Advocates for Animals, League Against Cruel Sports, International Fund for Animal Welfare, the National Anti-Hunt Campaign it was banned in Scotland on February 2002 and throughout the UK in February 2005, although a hunt is still allowed which lets dogs chase deer and foxes in the practice of flushing out the animal.  Mistakes are still made and the animal is sometimes still caught and torn apart which although is illegal, is still thought of as being ‘sport’ by the people who should have shot the animal to put it out of its misery.  Animal rights campaigners are still trying hard to get prosecutions with the use of video evidence.

 How you can help

 Be courageously and openly critical of hunting and of those who hunt.

Boycott pubs with hunting themes and those who host hunting meets – If you are unsure, then ask at the bar – don’t be shy about showing your dislike of their connection with hunting and LEAVE!

If you have concern for the fate of wildlife you should consider the following actions:

Avoid visiting areas renowned for hunting – don’t help them financially!

Avoid visiting the “nature and wildlife reserves” of those who kill.

Write to your local tourist board and ask them to stop supporting hunting establishments.

Do not stay at an estate as an un-hunting guest, when you know that they run hunting holidays.

Boycott hotels that are linked with hunting

Write to your MP or MSP to complain about the killing of wildlife by conservation organisations and hunting estates, asking them to support a withdrawal of grant aid from those who kill, and to re-introduce non-domestic rates on hunting estates

Avoid spending money in shops that sell country and hunting clothing.

Withdraw your support as a member of any conservation organisation that kills wildlife, and encourage others to do the same.

Don’t join or donate to any conservation organisation unless they have an non-killing policy and do not use chemical weedkillers.

Boycott restaurants that serve venison or game.

Avoid visiting the “nature and wildlife reserves” of those who kill.

Write to your local newspaper condemning hunting.

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