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I think this whole thing is kind of ironic, e.g. consider John James Audubon: "He shot and killed every bird he painted. Audubon was a noted hunter and taxider
by rcurry 11y ago
I think this whole thing is kind of ironic, e.g. consider John James Audubon:
"He shot and killed every bird he painted. Audubon was a noted hunter and taxidermist, and much of the money he made during his lifetime was from selling animal skins, a practice that in part helped to fund the printing of "Birds of America." But don't assume that he took pleasure from killing the birds he painted: "The moment a bird was dead," he said, "no matter how beautiful it had been in life, the pleasure of possession became blunted for me."
Kill one bird, get targeted by the internet rage mob - kill a few thousand and you get a Google Doodle.
- dang 11y ago> Kill one bird, get targeted by the internet rage mob - kill a few thousand and you get a Google Doodle. That's much too glib. Audobon lived two centuries ago.
- rcurry 11y agoAnd yet, no difference today - nothing wrong with killing an inconsequential specimen for the sake of science. The front plate glass window on my house kills more birds than that researcher, every week. Thump. Thump. Thump. I don't have angry mobs calling for my head over it. I go out, pick them off the porch, and throw them in the trash. And no, I don't take time to sketch them.
- swombat 11y ago> The front plate glass window on my house kills more birds than that researcher, every week. Thump. Thump. Thump. Wtf? What kind of terrible bird-trap of a house do you have? I've never had a bird die by flying against one of my windows, ever, in my whole life.
- rcurry 11y agoWe have berry trees in our front yard, so every year when they ripen up we get hordes of finches and other little birds swooping the buffet. In the fall, we get about one dead bird every other day until the trees have been stripped clean.
- naturalethic 11y agoOf birds and men