Ever Killed an Animal that was not an Insect?

Radrook said:
I never ate moose nor deer, so I have no idea about taste or texture differences. I imagine both are lean meat since both are wild and in good physical shape. Right?
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Part of my issue with hunting is most folks hunt Bucks for horns. The hunting season falls around the rut and the meat becomes very tough and gamy tasting. I only harvest Does, the meat is so much better both in flavor and tenderness. I have grilled venison, and have people say its the best steak they have ever had...
 
Pretty much chased and killed anything that could fly, swim, or crawl in my areas over the past 4 decades.

August, 2024 5pt bull elk - archery.

And I'd like to say the meat is outstanding despite it having horns.

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is:
@Radrook >>>The only animal that was not an insect...

should be:
The only animal that was not an invertebrate...

There is a list of sub-phylum anthropods besides insects. And there is a long list of invertebrates phylum besides anthropods.

Below from fishing during backpack this August. I greatly dislike dispatching fish I catch. However do so because as someone that eats meat at least occasionally, it gives me a better appreciation of that diet necessity versus vast numbers of modern humans that eat significantly greater amounts of meat in their diets daily but never face killing what they eat as all our ancestors did.

Those that dread killing vertebrates, so never, but eat meat especially large amounts, are arguably ethically hypocrites.

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Radrook said:
That's surprising! I would have expected the Moose to taste gamier based how much wilder it looks.
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I think a lot of it is that deer eat several species of tree leaves like cedar and other strong tasting plants. The local deer here will eat cedar and such even when there is grain, soy beans and alfalfa available. Moose will do this too if better food is scarce. They eat a lot of grasses and similar plants from marshes, swamps and small lakes. They literally will put their whole heads under water to find what they like.
 
I had to kill a baby gerbil because it was born deformed. I cried the whole time because my only weapon was a hammer and I didn't want to miss and only hurt it. I didn't think about stepping on it.
 
I am a female but did enjoy fishing. I went with the boys/men deer hunting, quail but I refused to eat those

The best times at the grandparents, lived off the chesapeake bay. Loved to go out on the rock jetties to fish for crab with a string with chicken or bacon for bait. I did eat those. I also went with Grandpa to collect oysters, no way I was eating those. Looked like pure slime. I might try them fried now.

Grandpa made the papers when he managed to catch a 500lb sea turtle. It was shared with everyone in the town. Apparently, this was a big deal back then, a turtle was considered a delicacy and a prime catch..
 
When I was about 7 years old I beat a field mouse to death with one of these. I was out playing in the yard and the little feller surprised me and scared the Hell out of me, so I grabbed the first thing near me and starting beating away. I think the first blow injured him pretty bad because after that he just kept squirming around in the same place squealing. But I kept clobbering him until he quit. Wish I still had it. Not the mouse, the license plate thingy. They are collectable now.

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Murrmurr said:
The deer liked my lawn up in Paradise, CA, too. I'd come home from work and pull in real slow so as not to scare them, usually 5 or 6 of them. I thought it was interesting since there was forest all around my place.
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One possible explanation about the deer liking your lawn.....Less likely hood of a predator being able to sneak up on them, in an open space? Bambi needs all the luck she can get, to survive to adult hood.
 
BeefStu said:
I think a lot of it is that deer eat several species of tree leaves like cedar and other strong tasting plants. The local deer here will eat cedar and such even when there is grain, soy beans and alfalfa available. Moose will do this too if better food is scarce. They eat a lot of grasses and similar plants from marshes, swamps and small lakes. They literally will put their whole heads under water to find what they like.
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I think that you and I both know what "moose pasture " looks like.
 
Yep I lived on a huge farm prior to meeting DH in 1986 , The farm had a 2 km long drive the main road to get to the house , and as I approached the house 3 chickens ( fowls ) dashed across the dirt road in front of me and I accidentally hit one of them
 
JustBonee said:
I wasnā€™t there at the accident, but my husband was very shaken by the whole thing for some time.
The horses put hooves thru the passenger window and my husband was cut around the eyes by glass.
Hate to think that someone could have been sitting on that side.

BTW ..this happened in Ohio @Della ā€¦ ( Geauga Cty -NE, in the country)
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Yikes! Was this during the night?
 
Radrook said:
I also used to fish at Newark New Jersey's Branchbrook Park's lake, but stopped when a fish swallowed a small hook and I could not pull it out. I kept imagining the unnecessary agony I had inflicted, and that was it.
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Me too! I caught a small perch in Lake George when I was about 11, and my dad couldn't get the hook out of the side of its mouth. We had to toss it back in the water. My fatherā€”rather meanly, I thoughtā€”teased me abou this poor fish with a hook stuck in its mouth. It wasn't funny; I'm 56 now and I still hate to think of it. šŸ˜£

Other than that, I've only killed pest-type creaturesā€”mice and volesā€”with traps. We also once struck a deer with our car and killed it, and one time a bird flew into my car grille as I was driving, and that died, too. (Now that I think of it, my father meanly teased me about that, too. He had to use hedge clippers to pry it out.)
 
KSav said:
Me too! I caught a small perch in Lake George when I was about 11, and my dad couldn't get the hook out of the side of its mouth. We had to toss it back in the water. My fatherā€”rather meanly, I thoughtā€”teased me abou this poor fish with a hook stuck in its mouth. It wasn't funny; I'm 56 now and I still hate to think of it. šŸ˜£

Other than that, I've only killed pest-type creaturesā€”mice and volesā€”with traps. We also once struck a deer with our car and killed it, and one time a bird flew into my car grille as I was driving, and that died, too. (Now that I think of it, my father meanly teased me about that, too. He had to use hedge clippers to pry it out.)
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Well, I was totally alone when it happened to me. I clearly remember the light splashing of raindrops forming small concentric circles on the dark lake surface just before the floater repeatedly dipped, indicating a bite. Happily, I began reeling it in. That's when I noticed that, the hook was stuck deep in its throat and found that it only ripped flesh and dug in deeper as I tugged to get it out.

No, I didn't dare to release it back into the lake in that infernal agonizing condition. Can't really clearly recall for some reason, but seem to vaguely remember putting it out of its agony by bashing its head in with a large rock.

Those dark, staring, lidless eyes, and what I imagine must have been a silent screaming from its gaping mouth, is what haunts me most.
 
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I guess technically I have. In the 53 years that I've lived here, I had to set mouse traps twice. I remember hearing one squeeling and feeling sorry for it. I didn't dispose of either. My son did that for me. I hope the last time was the last time.
 
jimintoronto said:
One possible explanation about the deer liking your lawn.....Less likely hood of a predator being able to sneak up on them, in an open space? Bambi needs all the luck she can get, to survive to adult hood.
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That makes sense. They liked eating my daughter's irises, too. I can't tell you how many times I secretly replaced them, but I was on a first-name basis with the people at the store that sold them, And they made sure they kept plenty of the white ones in stock.
 
40 years ago I had a couple of canaries which lived inside in a cage.
I put them outside for some fresh air and sunshine. Forgot about them. They remained outside all night and it was about zero degrees. In the morning I was devastated to find them no longer living.
 
Owned a home in Missouri that had a man-made pond. Occasionally, a muskrat would decide to make it his home. Not an option because muskrats tend to permanently damage pond dams -- so I would get out my .22 rifle and dispatch said muskrat. Great Northern water snakes -- these weren't venomous, but as we had dogs, the snake could inflict a nasty bite on the dog. So my shotgun took care of the snake.
 
My one cat handles the outdoor mouse population, and unfortunately brings me one several times a week. Once I saw the same cat having a Mexican stand-off with a small snake. I tried to dissuade the snake with a broom, but it kept returning, so I was forced to kill the snake with the broom. The cat probably could have bested the snake in mortal combat, but I didnā€™t want to take that chanceā€¦ šŸ
 
Bretrick said:
40 years ago I had a couple of canaries which lived inside in a cage.
I put them outside for some fresh air and sunshine. Forgot about them. They remained outside all night and it was about zero degrees. In the morning I was devastated to find them no longer living.
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I accidentally did the same thing with two my pet turtles. Found them frozen solid in their enclosure right next to the open widow which let in the frigid winter air.
Eupher said:
Owned a home in Missouri that had a man-made pond. Occasionally, a muskrat would decide to make it his home. Not an option because muskrats tend to permanently damage pond dams -- so I would get out my .22 rifle and dispatch said muskrat. Great Northern water snakes -- these weren't venomous, but as we had dogs, the snake could inflict a nasty bite on the dog. So my shotgun took care of the snake.
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You like to pull the trigger eh? :LOL:
 
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