Adventures of Tom the PETV

**"* D* <m*@gmail.com>**

Great essay, Tom.
Martha in rural Muskogee OK where the bunnies, raccoons, etc. drive us to
distraction and multiply like, well, rabbits.

On Dec 4, 2007 4:53 PM, Tom Alexander <tom@growingedge.com> wrote:

> I didn't own a gun until I was over 50. On our rural 4 acre mini-farm
> that we moved onto 12 years ago, we have 85 fruit trees, 110
> blueberry bushes, and much of our summer produce and table flowers;
> we spent $1,200 on a deer fence around the place so we could grow
> things and starve the deer. I was forced to buy a gun after five
> years of battling with the raccoons, trying all kinds of concoctions
> to keep them away.
>
> They are supposed to be "nocturnal" animals but they were roaming our
> property at all hours of the day. They climb the fruit trees to
> sample the fruit just as it is getting ripe to pick and not only
> accomplish that very well but break the branches climbing to get it.
> The love biting into the drip irrigation lines for water, which costs
> me hundreds every year to replace. They sample strawberries for
> dessert after sampling various veggies as their main course. Notice I
> say sample because most times they don't even eat more than a bite.
> Right before shooting them, as you get close to them, they stand up
> very cutely on their hind legs with their front paws up like they are
> surrendering while giving a great target (instead of rings on their
> tails they should have concentric circles on their chests).  I start
> digging a hole in the ground shortly thereafter. We have a raccoon
> cemetery that gets filled up every three or four years when new ones
> start to re-populate the place.
>
> I give the squirrels a reprieve because they don't do the damage the
> raccoons do, other than planting acorns in all the pots and beds. The
> rabbits have an appeal with the Supreme Court but their day on death
> row may be coming soon, at least they don't sample but eat very
> heartily.
>
> I love watching the cute little animals, and I am a vegetarian, more
> for health reasons than ethically putting their lives equal to
> humans, but they are destroying my live veggies that I grow and
> consume for veggie food. I spend a good amount of my hard earned
> money on raising my own food and I bust my ass and back growing, so I
> can eat it, not feed the wild animals.
>
> I am sure some will find this offensive but you are entitled to your
> opinion. And if you want to come out, bust your back and ass to help
> me grow food to feed my family and watch the critters eat it, be my
> guest.
>
> Tom Alexander
> People for the Ethical Treatment of Veggies (PETV)
> tom@growingedge.com
>
>
>
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