Phil:
The way I see it, WE are encroaching upon THEIR territory, so it's only right that they fight back in whatever manner they can.
Given that logic, I assume if your apartment were over run with cockroaches, spiders and rats you would leave them alone, live with and view it as you encroaching upon THEIR territory. More power to you if that's your way.
I live in the woods, and maybe you can relate my property to being the size of a postage stamp placed on two acres of land. In the middle of many hundreds of acres, I have ten acres and the animals have free roam of all of it without peril,
except for the three acres that I actually maintain as my "territory". This is where my house, chicken coop, pasture, yard, gardens, outbuildings and pets are located.
Woodland animals are not welcome here.
Given all the great outdoors to roam and forage in, small varmints in particular are not invited to encroach on what I deem my "territory". Raccoons kill chickens, raid and tear up gardens, tear walls out, dig into anywhere they want to be including your roof or basement. Except for killing chickens, squirrels do the same. Armadillos, which we have a scourge of, dig 6" ankle breaker holes unmercifully all over the yard and pasture. A foraging dillo or two can dig up a yard or pasture and make it look like a land mine in one short night.
Beavers as we have already discussed can chew down many thousands of dollars in timber in short order and dam up waterways that support aquatic life, and wells and livestock are dependent on. All except possum can carry rabies. Possum and coons carry an assortment of devastating diseases in their feces and urine which kill livestock. Possum have a low body temp that does not support rabies well, but can carry leprosy. We are faced with an assortment of very venomous snakes that also kill livestock, raid chicken coops for hatchlings and eggs, kill dogs and cats as well as large livestock with venomous bites.
I am not about killing animals for sport or target practice. We harvest one or two deer for food once a year during hunting season. I have no trophy deer heads hanging in my home. The varmints that are caught wreaking havoc on my "territory" will be dispatched without remorse. It will be done as humanely as possibly, by shooting if necessary, but they have to go.
Some of you will recall my ongoing battle with racoons this spring. I live trapped and relocated 13 of them. Had I allowed them to take over, by now I would be walking on their backs to get across the yard. They would likely be waving out the windows and hanging from the rafters by now.
Those of us that are faced with raiding varmints that have to be dealt with are not animal haters, or repressed serial killers. It takes a different kind of person to live in woodlands and deal with the wildlife. We are happy to exist along side of nature. It's part of why we live where we do, and for the most part, co-existing is what we do. But, we cannot allow destructive creatures to take over our existence, safety and financial well being.
It's easy and maybe natural for people that have never lived in such a situation to Ewww!!, Ooohh!!, and be shocked. I doubt most of them have ever had livestock die from EPM, livestock or people with broken legs from holes dug, domestic animals preyed upon, homes suffer thousands of dollars of varmint damage, yards and gardens destroyed that a lot of backbreaking work and money was invested into, or a possibly rabid, emaciated coyote stroll down their driveway in broad daylight. I have, and believe me he was not relocated.
The human species has just as much right to exist in their environment as any other animal, and when push comes to shove in nature, the strong survive.
In this case, the weak and vulnerable are animals that encroach upon human territory, and have become dependent whether by laziness in foraging for harder food, sickness or injury, just as we would likely be the weak if we encroached upon a mountain lion or bear's territory.
mg:
