Shots taken on Maundy Thursday.
Some more shots of this guy and his barn owl. When I was talking to the guy some weeks ago he said that his ambition was to re-introduce barn owls in the island of Gozo which had become extinct because of hunting – sometimes by farmers in order to preserve their crops. Today, this guy said, there are lots of rats in Gozitan fields because they have no predators to attack them. So that was one of the reasons for reflocking the area with barn owls which can hunt and feed on the rats.
F*** (sorry for that) I am so very angry and disappointed on the outcome of the referendum of yesterday. Hunters won the vote by a small margin of 50.8%. The most worrying part of it is that their hold on politicians will be even stronger now. The leaders of the main political parties (afraid to lose the hunters’ votes in elections) had declared that they were in favour of limited (as it is today) Spring hunting.
Joke: The devout cowboy lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out on the savannah.
Three weeks later, a Owl walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth.
The cowboy couldn't believe his eyes.
He took the precious book out of the Owls mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!"
"Not really," said the Owl. "Your name is written inside the cover."
Thank you so very much for looking and for your wonderful comments and the many fav's which have helped put my picture of yesterday on PP.
the hold that gun owners and hunters have on various politicians around the world angers me - other than for food or to keep pest species under control I do not understand why people would get pleasure from hunting a defenseless animal - I smile when I hear an animal has got one back - oops :)
i often hear shotguns going off when i am out looking for bird pictures and think why would you want to shoot one of these. owl hunting sounds like no sport at all, they aren't very good fliers.
Such an interesting story. The NRA (National Rifle Association) has control over much of our political system in the USA. I am not against owning guns, but gun safety and background checks are a big issue with me....as well as some types of guns that have not business in our society. Politicians are rated by the NRA based on their support for the NRA.
Beautiful shots and a great collage of those nice pic.`s of this lovely owl.
If 50,8 % can tell I don`t agree they have the rights. By a referendum like this one there should be a minimal of +/- 70 % at least.
Lovely shots, Dione. I heard about the vote and the celebrations of the narrow victors. Bill Oddie (comedian and ornithologist) was there from GB. How sad! Animal cruelty in the name of sport! :(
Strong collage and interesting narrative. Given new gun laws (or lack thereof) here, we now have signs on all the university buildings showing a firearm with a line through it. Same at the local grocery story. A constant reminder of how many guns -- handguns, not hunting tools -- are simply out on the street.
Wonderfully detailed shots in this collage - nice lighting and color. I'm afraid that voting trend seems to be world wide - wish we could turn back to having statesmen rather than those motivated mainly by politics taking care of the future direction of our countries.
People who hunt for sport are usually the ones who are less discerning when it comes to shooting. Those who hunt for food are very careful and respectful of this privilege. I have yet to meet someone who hunts for food who abuses the law which allows them to do so. Unfortunately, you can't regulate responsibility. I don't think the solution lies in banning hunting or making it illegal for people to have a weapon for protection. The reasons why there are abuses are complicated because it is not just ill-thinking people who cause the problems- sometimes the abuse is spurred on by what people watch, humanism which teaches man is merely the top of the food-chain and a number of other socio-political ideologies out there. All that being said- and it really doesn't solve anything, does it?- this fellow's concept of reintroducing the barn owl is interesting. It just goes to show how humankind often does not think things through. You remove the owl because it is supposedly affecting your crops, but then the rats have no predator so now your crops are threatened in a different way! When will we learn to leave nature alone? It can take care of itself and it has for thousands of years! Ok, I'll get off my soap box now!! Sorry! Great collage!
Fab montage!
Strange thinking re. owls destroying crops - can't find anything that suggests they do - quite the reverse because of hunting and eating the rats.
Killing creatures for pleasure is incomprehensible and contemptible.
Love the joke!
April 15th, 2015
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If 50,8 % can tell I don`t agree they have the rights. By a referendum like this one there should be a minimal of +/- 70 % at least.
Strange thinking re. owls destroying crops - can't find anything that suggests they do - quite the reverse because of hunting and eating the rats.
Killing creatures for pleasure is incomprehensible and contemptible.
Love the joke!