Man killed by rattlesnake he was trying to save

May 03, 2018, 10:49 AM

quote:
Originally posted by TigerDore:
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
I'm not a snake advocate. I'm a sentient being advocate. I will not intentionally kill any thing that I cannot eat or wear or that doesn't pose a harm to me or other people, and if I am in a position to make an effort to assist some creature in avoiding a premature death, I will do so. It should go without saying that I would not place myself in jeopardy, like manhandling poisonous snakes, but you get the idea.
When I walk across my driveway, I try to avoid stepping on bugs, believe it or not. In my book, everybody and every thing gets a chance. I'm sure this sounds silly to some of you, but it's the truth. Putting the brakes on a living thing is no small deal to me and I won't be party to such if I can avoid it and if the death serves no purpose.

Life is short enough as it is.

That's a good way to live and I agree with it.

.

yep. if catch a bug in the house, I put it outside where I think it will be happy. works for me

May 03, 2018, 11:01 AM

parabellum

And if I catch a bug and put it out of my house and it is immediately eaten by a bird, so be it, because this would be the natural order of things.

I'm reminded of this story by Joseph Campbell:

A wonderful example is a story I was told about a Buddhist monk whom a friend was following. Now in Tibet, people go to a slaughter-house, buy a lamb that is about to be killed, then give the lamb its freedom, and that is a pious act. Accordingly, this monk, who had a cluster of beautiful girls around him, was going to perform a pious act by freeing five hundred fish.

"And so, with his constellation of beauties, he went from one bait shop to another in Monterey trying to buy five hundred minnows. But bait was in short supply, and the shopkeepers said they were not going to sell him minnows for liberation. Finally, however, he found a shop that would, and he and his entourage, carrying buckets filled with fish, went down to the shore, where they had a ceremony of blessing the fish that were about to be given their freedom. Then they dumped one bucket after another into the ocean. Well, pelicans flocked from every point of the compass, and the little monk ran back and forth, waving his robe, trying to keep the pelicans away.

“Now, what is good for pelicans is bad for fish, and this monk had taken sides. He was not in the middle place. This is to me a very important story. Every now and then, I wake up laughing at that monk and his banquet for the pelicans."

"the middle place"- That's where I try to be.