The mountains of western New Mexico are elk hunting country. There are elk crossing signs on the highways, guys in RealTree camo (all the time), signs for taxidermists, hunting lodges, and all that. It's a sport, a business, a way of life.
There was a large handmade sign near Reserve, NM, saying, “ATTENTION HUNTERS! OUR ELK ARE BEING KILLED BY MEXICAN WOLVES!” (Sorry, I didn't get a photo.)
Well, first of all, they aren’t your elk. You don’t own them. They belong to nature.
Secondly, animals have no nationality. They don’t know about borders. They don’t have passports. They don’t sing anthems and wave flags. Wolves’ country is wherever there’s game.
Thirdly, wolves eat elk and whatever else they can catch. That’s what they do. And elk run from wolves. That’s what they do. That’s how nature works. They’d been doing that for thousands of years before humans and hunters arrived in their world. Hunters are the interlopers, not the wolves. Maybe the wolves should put up a sign that humans are killing their elk. And wolves.
Absolutely right!!!
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