Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I do not hunt not know anyone that does but was recently in England on vacation.
We visited an area that once had fox hunting. I learned a valuable lesson on the evils of banning hunting.
I was against fox hunting myself because found it cruel . I didnt see the big picture and I was dead wrong.
The land used for hunting is PRIVATE land . The private land owners receive money for allowing hunting (in England anyway imagine same in America).
This money pays their land tax and gives them a reason not to sell this land off to builders.
We visited an old pub across a huge area that is being cleared it was once a wild area used for hunting but due to the banning of fox hunting in this particular area the owners sold the land to builders.
So now no fox hunting true but no fox either not to mention countless other animals .
I just felt like saying this because I know lots of animal folks hate hunting. They should than give the private land owners the money they would make from hunters but that wont happen.
Luis

There are plenty of reasons to keep at least some form of limited hunting in most areas, especially in the US. One of them is that it is beneficial to the state, hunters will pay more money to hunt non-endangered animals than wildlife watchers ever will, and adding to local economies while doing so. Another is that in certain cases like snow geese, whitetail deer, and coyotes; biologists estimate that there are more of these animals in existence today than there ever was.

For instance because of farming in the USA, it has allowed the snow geese population to explode, however when the birds migrate back up north where the main food source is naturally occuring grasses, they eat themselves out of areas very quickly. They eventually move on to other areas devastating the terrain everywhere they go. Unfortunetly for other waterfowl and grass eating animals many of them succumb to hunger because they cannot compete with geese' ravenous appetites. Also they lack of grasses in these areas all but eliminate any chance of nesting in these areas and also expose animals to predation.

Portion of the tundra after a few million snow geese spent a little time there. The 2 areas with grass were fenced off and covered so the birds couldn't get to it. Even so the 5lb snow geese pushed the fences in almost knocking them down.

I am suprised that organizations like PETA are so against hunting . If you look at the big picture it is sometimes needed for the survival of the species .