One unexpected benefit of my travel was that I actually saw this story on CNN whilst trapped in an airport. I would have missed it otherwise, since I don’t watch much TV. I was going to write more about this, but Madhu at Reconciliation Ecology did such an great job, I’ll link to that post.
The background:
Pro Golfer was trying to film an instructional video. Migratory raptor made the mistake of nesting on the course, and trying to defend her nest. So, he shot at it with a golf ball.
Over. 10. Times.
Until he “accidentally” hit the bird and killed it.
Madhu dug up some additional info about the golf course not responding to an earlier offer by Audubon to move the nest–which would have presumably saved the bird’s life.
Of course, had the golfer not been an ass, that would have saved the bird too.
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Accident?! Oh, BS! Can’t they prosecute him for that?
This actually happened in December, and is in the news now because he’s been charged–with a misdemeanor.
I don’t think there was anything accidental about it.
I have always hated golf courses because, IMO, they are a tremendous waste of space (those and cemeteries), and also because I attended Oakland U for my BSc, where they thought it would be a great idea to ruin half of the natural campus by building a second golf course, thinking that it would bring in twice as much money to the uni (in fact it did not).
I sort of don’t like golfers by association. So this guy, as a bird murderer, has two strikes against him.
John, I agree. (Hence the quotation marks around “accidental”.)
As more information comes out, it becomes clear his only regret is for being *caught*.
I think it’s just a reflection of our whole attitude about things. Instead of taking the reasonable way, and having the Audubon Society move the bird (which would have “coddled” it and been the “cowardly” thing), the solution is to kill it for doing nothing more than what would be natural for anyone–bird or human–in a similar situation.
Make the bird symbolize a middle-easterner and I think you’ve got the perfect metaphor for our foreign and immigration policies.
I’ve never figured out why golfers are such delicate flowers that a bird’s song or a camera shutter’s click can throw them into a tizzy.
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[...] Golfer kills migratory raptor - “Pro Golfer was trying to film an instructional video. Migratory raptor made the mistake of nesting on the course, and trying to defend her nest. So, he shot at it with a golf ball. Over. 10. Times.” Check here for a more comprehensive story. [...]
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