I am a predator. I seek out, capture and kill with regularity. I have no hesitation about taking another life.
For example, I often use a clever device to hook fish through the mouth, and then I draw them into my grasp, cut their heads off, and slice out their internal organs. Other times, I use a shotgun to blast harmless birds out of the sky. Again, I decapitate them and carve them apart. Occasionally, I even employ a high-powered rifle to assasinate another mammal. I have eaten chickens, rabbits and pigs which I previously raised as pets, and I have not the least amount of remorse about eating a hamburger (unless it is from a fast-food chain).
But I draw the line. A few months ago, I was eating snapping-turtle at a friend's house (tastes like chicken) when he described for me one of the shells from a turtle he recently had caught. The giant shell contained, embedded in the side, a stone arrow tip. You figure this thing had to be at least 100-120 years old. This incident was brought to mind yesterday when I was reading the Baton Rouge newspaper website.
Birthday girl served 22-pound lobster. The linked story indicates that a gluttonous 28 year old woman consumed a lobster that was estimated to be 110 years old.
Again, I'm not against eating lobster (except at $40 a tail). I'm not even opposed to eating snapping turtle. But, I can't help but feeling that a creature who lived that long should just be left alone. I'm thinking about instituting a rule that I won't eat anyone who is over 40 years old.
