Aaron, I believe there's a book in you.
Thanks...
I've been playing with the idea as of late. Suppose it'd be based on the factors, both pre-determined and learned behaviors , that shape us into being hunters. Why it's not a hobby or a past time ,but a need .
The idea came about one winter morning when I awoke early to the sound of our cats meowing plantively . They needed something was the sound they were making. Similar to the call they make when in their carriers and on the way to the vet. I opened my eyes and noticed both crouched on the window sill, heads erect and tails swishing ....watching the snow birds that frequent the shrub right outside my window . I thought to myself " Here are two well-fed, well-cared for cats who, right now, want through that window so bad it's driving them insane." The only answer was .... because they had to .
After that observation ,I began paying more attention to other animals, in particular my dogs. I recalled the numerous times I returned home to find Fisher and Tenille sitting on their haunches staring up into our backyard oak waiting for the squirrel they knew was up there. Or the times they'd catch and kill one just for the satisfaction of it, as I have never seen them eat one.
Hell, two nights ago, I released Arliss and Tut into the backyard before I left for work . Probably around 10 o' clock or so. No sooner did I let them out into the backyard when both locked eyes onto the far back corner of my yard, behind the kennel pad and barn ..... ZOOOOM .... they were gone. I went and grabbed my flashlight and walked back there, just knowing they had engaged something . As I walked toward them , they came trotting up with that self-assured , smug look that only an excited dog can do. "You will love this ,Boss ", is what the look seems to say. Sure enough . Right behind my shop was a very dead, very large boar coon. Obviously, they killed it in very short order as I never heard a ruckus in the least. No barks,no growls, yips of pain....nothing. Upon showing it to me they trotted right back to the back door to be let back in to relax in their kennels. Chase and kill were over . Time to rest until next time.
Point is, dogs and cats have been domesticated for probably 4,000-5,000 years. Man kind has only ceased being a hunter/ gatherer/subsistence farmer in the past 100-200 years or so.Hell, a hundred years ago it would have been unwise for a white man to ride through where my house now sits. And yet, their are some who believe we should be able to just turn off our prey drive like it never existed .
I believe that would be akin to having a cat that is content to just watch a mouse scurry across the floor without so much as giving it a sideways glance . And their are some ,I hear, that will do just that . But they are damn few.Certainly not our fat Persian and Calico.
So that is the basic premise I am going to start on. I intend use my own experiences, those of friends and acquaintences, and historical archives as the basis.
It's something born into us. I'm sure all of us can relate to nights spent sleepless with anticipation of the following days hunt. It's just there, deep in us.
I also intend to explore it as a right of passage ritual. Rituals that are noticeably absent in our society in this day in age. Look at our rates of youth violence and other crime.
To equate this to the animal world ... several years ago their was a curious case of young,very dangerous bull elephants in , I wanna say, South Africa in a National Park. These bands of young marauders were becoming incredibly dangerous to the point that the Park quit giving tours. Even further , the population of white rhinos begin to drastically drop as the bulls began to target the rhinos. It was then that someone clued into the fact that all of these bulls had been orphaned during culling operations in other near-by parks.
They were then transplanted to other parks where they were essentially raised without any kind of guidance. So the Park brought in several large ,mature Bulls to take over the bachelor groups of teens .Bulls showed, made them earn their place and showed them the ropes.Problem solved.
I believe the two are inter-connected... rites of passage and acceptance into adult society as a peer after a sort of apprenticeship cycle culminating in one running a successful hunt of their own as well as answering a call in us to immerse into the wild places as a participant. One in the same.
they remind me of the greyhounds they race here in south florida.
Arliss is the long haired gent . Tut has the two-tone short coat.
I just think you'll run out of steam with this subject because it is best felt and experienced rather than talked about. Hemingway wrote something to this effect. You being a hunter will lose focus writing about this subject because you'd be catering to those who don't know.
