It seems there is something
rotten going on in the kingdom of Kerry. A ban on hunting female red deer and
curlews has at last been imposed on the former beef and chicken eating people
as their addiction to the more exotic venison and wild poultry became rampant.
It was also seen by many as sexist to just spare the male deer.
The curlew, I am reliably
informed, was not shot to be eaten at all but because it was just singing too
much. Of course one could argue it was the recession that started all this
beef. The minister for Heritage acted quickly when the red deer were nearly
wiped clean from the kingdom completely, and there was only 4% of the curlews
left. (The hunting season for the birds was only 4 weeks)
Yet, both species had survived
thousands of years on them Killarney hills, and saw the Celts, Vikings,
Normans, and the British come and go, and were there before the cry of freedom
became a byword to be allowed to shoot anything or anyone that moved at all.
Now, all that was left standing in the way from their complete extinction was
the freedom loving Kerryman, and the few hunters that came to lend them a hand.
Yes, it needed legislation just to make common sense of it all.
All of this reminded me of
when I asked a fisherman recently did the seagulls impact much on his catch. He
replied with a learned wisdom: ‘Well, they take their share.’
Barry
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