Though they’re often seen as invaders, “alien” animals didn’t choose their current status or situation. Practically without exception, unwanted, unwelcome, “exotic” or “alien” animals were brought to this country by humans or followed some anthropogenic path (on a ship or along a freeway median), usually into some freshly human-degraded habitat.
In the case of the nutria, the now reviled aquatic rodent was brought into this country from South America to live as captives for the fur trade, after trappers had nearly decimated all the indigenous muskrat and beaver. How soon people forget history when they decide to label an animal a “pest” and call for their extermination when said species has successfully adapted to their new surroundings. Instead they use exotic species to justify the continued cruelty of trapping, snaring and sometimes gassing or poisoning.
One self-promoter even wrote a hip pro-hunting book called, “Eating Aliens,” in the vein of idiotic reality TV shows like “Duck Dynasty” or “Swamp People.” I’ve had more folks contact me to purchase the rights to use my nutria photos in their publications than any other species in my files, but I always end up having to turn them down after asking them what their article is going to be about.
I don’t allow my photos to be used in any publication that promotes lethal “control” of some poor animal who is a victim of human expansion. The producers of Swamp “People” found that out when I refused to let them use this nutria photo on their stupid show…
Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2013. All Rights Reserved
Exposing the Big Game 
You rock!
You too!
Hey Jim, I read this today on Free From Harm and thought I’d share it with you. I’m not sure if you subscribe to FFF or not but here it is… so well written. http://freefromharm.org/animal-rights/the-boy-and-the-fox-from-beating-to-eating-animals/
Makes you wonder about a species that considers this “normal” or acceptable behavior.
It certainly does. I could never stand on the sidelines watching or cheering.
Oh Jim….
I read your articles and think, “It’s all just common sense here what he’s suggesting,” and then I look around Florida as they are busily fishing every last thing out of the lagoons and rivers, and now with the advent of introduced species such as pythons and lionfish, they are exhorting each other to kill and eat as many as they can.
It’s all about finding reasons to victimize, that’s what I feel it all comes down to in the end. And where does it end? Are the Homo morlock-iens going to stop once they sucked up every last species they can get their paws onto, and are left with just billions and billions of themselves to feast upon, a la Soyalent Green? Methinks that will be so.
Yes, that’s probably how the Homo-morlockiense will end themselves.
Reblogged this on Carinas space.