CECIL

Photo: Luca Galuzzi

I bumped today's scheduled post after witnessing all the faux moral outrage over the killing of Cecil the Lion.  Why do I call it faux moral outrage?  Really? Do you need to ask?  A people who kill 11 billion chickens a year are morally outraged over the death of one lion?  Okay, he was kind of cute, but undoubtedly they're talking about it right now over a Michelob at the Outback Steakhouse.  Puhlease!

I have no moral reservations about hunting, have done so in the past and will probably do so in the future.  I don't trophy hunt, I'd rather take a cow than a bull (Elk for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about), a doe than a buck.  That's a personal preference, they taste better and I have no desire to have a head hanging on my wall.  I don't begrudge those that do, but I'd rather take a picture of a majestic Bull Elk than a shot at it.

I know what I am, an opportunistic omnivore, I'll eat anything I can get my hands on. Like the lion, I have my place in the food chain, both as predator and prey.  I've been stalked by mountain lions, stared down a bear, and I was even attacked by a magpie once.  Haven't had to kill any of them yet,  the bear came close although he decided after a few minutes I wasn't worth the time and aggravation.

Sure I can live on nuts and fruit and other green stuff, but I still have that evolutionary genetically programmed desire to sink my teeth into a nice juicy steak.  I can respect vegetarians, more power to you, but I wouldn't feed myself a diet of nuts and berries any more than I would feed a lion a diet of nuts and berries, it's something neither of us has evolved to. 

If Dr. Palmer violated the law, prosecute him for that violation, in accordance with the law, not as some outraged mob of peasants with pitchforks and torches.  I have seen numerous comments from people calling for him to be killed, tortured, skinned, beheaded, hunted; calls for his house and business to be destroyed, he and his family disenfranchised... attainder of blood, and all that.  The president of PETA even wants him hanged.  Meanwhile listen to this as you marinate in all your self-righteous glory  over burgers and brats on the BBQ this weekend, this one's for Cecil.

And if you have any doubts about who and what Cecil was... watch this, but I warn you it's graphic. It's 9 lionesses eating a water buffalo alive.

Despite what you may have been told by Walt Disney, these are not lions, they're cartoons.

Anthropomorphize at your own risk.

P.S If you're interested in hearing the original tune behind The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Click Here