Animal heads – or skins – or whole animals as décor aren’t my cup of tea. For hunters it’s a trophy, a source of pride. I get that. I eat meat and I understand how food chains work. I certainly can’t be sanctimonious about it. But I do love to see live animals in the wild. And it’s kind of sad to see them coming out of walls.
I cannot be very sanguine about these trophy animals. I, too, eat domesticated animals (wish I had enough backbone to quit, tho) yet I abhor hunting animals and then displaying the trophies. On a house tour in Mazatlán, México a few years ago, I entered a very large room that was literary covered with rare animal heads. The large table stabilized with elephant legs sickened me. Sometimes being judgmental is okay!!
I’m on Kate’s side – as those trophies that I’ve seen have not been killed for sustenance – but for trophy only – that I find appalling. And the trophy hunters go for the biggest and the best – which weakens the gene pool. I know one trophy hunter that says his group (12-15 hunters) will each shoot 6-8 of a species and then decide on the best of the hunt, leaving the rest on the ground – shameful.
I’ve done some hunting in my life but can no longer justify such activity. It’s really kinda cowardly…the animal has no chance against the weaponry used today. And why kill a defenseless animal? We don’t need the meat for food. And why hang its head on a wall? That seems a grandiose gesture for small people who need someone to say “You’re a great hunter!” 🙂
3 very wise folks , Lowell, Kate, and JoAnn..plus you Kay….have said it all! I remember as a kid in San Diego and being forced to eat my lunch while facing a wall with very badly mounted deer heads. They made me sick. How could I eat my sandwich?
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto,
And ditto.