I Never Enjoyed Killing

I’ve never in my life gotten pleasure out of kiling living things. I can respect and appreciate people who hunt, especially when it is not just for ’sport’ and they actually make venison out of it. Once, when I was about 13, my dad handed me a rifle and told me it was my job to kill the groundhog that was digging holes in our lawn. I was incredibly excited. I waited for that sucker with my eye in the scope. He finally made his appearance. I pulled the trigger, and he immediately started spasming in wild excitement. My father instructed me that it would take another shot to finish him. I aimed, steadied, and pulled the trigger again. The spasming stopped. It was then my job to get rid of the body. I walked over to the dead groundhog and stared in horror at what I had done. I immediately felt sick to my stomach. I cried.

Yesterday I was putting shingles on the roof of the chicken coop when I noticed some wasps moving in to a hive. Two of them were mating, which I found midly interesting. It was like those shows you see on the Discovery Channel. However, I am petrified of flying insects. I found the wasp killer and soaked the hive. I was pleased with myself until I saw their dead bodies dropping from the nest. I felt like a murderer. What had I just done to them? Who said that they didn’t have the right to be there? It’s unfortunate that their lives had to be brought to an end simply because they were an “inconvenience” to me…