ben smith wrote:I grew up hunting squirrels to learn how to shoot and every single one was eaten- both for the taste and to nail the fact into my head that you never kill something for sport- necessity only and if you do kill something even by accident you recover the edible parts and eat it to show respect for the dead animal. This highlights that the video was not some stupid " look what disgusting thing Ben will eat today" stunt. Like I said before, we tried numerous times to chase the squirrel away to save our lunches and packs (todds got chewed all to hell) and chris killed the squirrel as a last resort. Unfortunately in attempting to keep the video light hearted (and under 20 mins) that story got lost.
your last point is, in my opinion, everything that was wrong with the video. it comes across as frat humour, something zany at the expense of the squirrel. i work in bird colonies and there are plenty of times that i have had to euthanise animals that i mortally injured unintentionally. if i were to post a video of me cutting the head off a bird without the explanation that 1) it was necessary and 2) having to do so was extremely hard on me, how would you interpret the video? it doesnt help that in your video there is clearly a lot of laughing going on as well. i dont think its a stretch for someone to question whats going on there and i also question your complicity with the video when it leaves out any mention of the respect for the animal you tell us you have.
ben smith wrote:I still have a hard time finding todds video offensive (a sentiment which seems to be shared by all but one disgruntled "Bad vegatarian" (what does that even mean? you feel bad after eating meat? you can't quite figure out the nuances of not eating meat? I don't get it...).
it means i do my best to avoid meat but nobody is perfect. sometimes i eat meat to get my energy up, sometimes i have little choice and sometimes its a guilty pleasure. there isnt anything wrong with eating meat other than the mode of production and i try not to support factory produced animal products. regardless, consuming meat isnt what i took issue with.
ben smith wrote:Is it right that a video that todd spent a fair amount of time and energy shooting and editing be censored because someone is a sucker for big watery squirrel eyes?
I think not
i didnt ask fred to remove the video so youll have to bring that up with him. and i hope by now its clear that i dont care if you eat squirrels. it does bother me to see videos pop up on the forum of people eating squirrels and laughing about it. i realise that i see these things quite different from everyone else. we strip rock of lichens, moss, and cliff inhabiting plants, clear landings and belay stations of trees, eat the local fauna, and then argue about the unsightliness of sport bolts and how the take away from the pristine experience of a route. wtf!?! i cant wrap my head around this. i understand these debates in the end arent environmental but thats where im coming from. bottom line, the video lacked your claim of respect for the animal.
ben smith wrote:ps. Nihoa, now that I've figured out who you are, I must say you hid this boiling hatred for me pretty well last time I came up to fredricton
i made a reply in the other thread which must have been deleted before you read it. there i let you know who i was and where i was coming from. there is no boiling hatred and when i said this sort of thing can be expected of you i meant you arent shy of public quirkiness (gnawing raw potatoes and the like). now, with a cooler head and your explanation behind the events, i recognise it as an unfair dig.