[extropy-chat] My dad's gun

[randy]

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 15:59:40 -0500, you wrote

>Ten years later my family had moved north to a massive leper colony in the center of the Amazon >jungle.  Two hours boat ride up river was an inland port called Manaus.  


You lived near friggin'  **Manaus**? Holy moly.....that is really the
back end of the Wild Place....



>Snakes were around but “serpentine” was named after them.  They were a waste of bullets.  Animals of >most kinds avoided us.  Tarantulas and such were squashable and most other pests fell foul of a >machete chop.

Hmm.  Now, as a child, I lived in West Texas. My family were sheep
ranchers from way back, so we had several guns.  My dad used a pistol
occasionally to shot rattlesnakes discovered near the house.

We also had a lot of dogs, whose function was in part to serve as
sacrificial snake detectors.  From time to time one would die from
snakebite.


>Some of the older kids hunted for fun.  I tried it once.  As I waited quietly, squatting on the jungle floor, >a small bird landed five meters above me.  Without thought I shot it.  The silence was immediate.  >Then I wept.
>


We mainly shot deer, feral hogs, and an occasional javelina (they
taste ok, if prepared properly).  Also squirrels and rabbits from time
to time. Turkey, too (wild turkey is excellent). Every now and then we
would get a panther (we did not eat those, though I would like to
taste it).


>Today, watching live CNN video I cringe when reckless men fire handguns, rifles and machine guns >into the air.   Isn’t it ironic that those reckless men are celebrating freedom? 

I also find this ritual bizarre.  Oh well, each culture to its own
idiosyncrasies.




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