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Va. man charged with killing hawk to help squirrel

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jrknothead
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14 Feb 2009, 11:46 am

Va. man charged with killing hawk to help squirrel

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VIENNA, Va. – For a Virginia doctor, squirrels are a man's best friend, too. Thomas Shepler, a hand surgeon, shot a hawk to death in his backyard when he said the bird was eyeing a young squirrel that he and his wife had helped raise.

Shepler, 65, said the hawk had previously killed an adult squirrel near his suburban Washington home in Vienna. When the doctor tried to chase away the bird over the weekend by yelling and throwing a crowbar at it, the hawk didn't leave the area.

So Shepler got a shotgun and killed it.

A police officer heard the shot Saturday and Shepler was arrested. He was charged with discharging a firearm in public and cruelty to animals.

Shepler says he cares about animals and is feeling a lot of anxiety and embarrassment over the shooting.

___


This is interesting... kinda puts the whole question into a new perspective...



ShadesOfMe
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14 Feb 2009, 12:16 pm

Hmm...I think the most wise decision would be to have brought the squirrel inside... If they helped raise it, then it must be somewhat tame...



ruennsheng
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14 Feb 2009, 11:24 pm

Unfortunately, it's a good deed turned bad when it comes to killing or shooting a hawk... Poor thang.



Raptor
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15 Feb 2009, 2:14 pm

:roll:
He must be pretty simple minded and unwilling to accept that the squirrel is part of the food chain.
Hawks have to eat, too.



UndercoverAlien
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15 Feb 2009, 2:22 pm

Raptor wrote:
:roll:
He must be pretty simple minded and unwilling to accept that the squirrel is part of the food chain.
Hawks have to eat, too.

whe're part of the food chain too, does that anwser your question? i thought so ...

i find this the most stupid charge ever, for one animals get killed in a grousom way for dinner in factorys and if a guy shoots a stupid bird to protect his PET then the cop isn't doing his job... the only bad thing about this is that he might have scared people nearby with the sound of the gun



Raptor
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15 Feb 2009, 3:04 pm

I'm not even sure what your point is.

UndercoverAlien wrote;

Quote:
whe're part of the food chain too, does that anwser your question? i thought so ...


I didn't ask a question.

Quote:
i find this the most stupid charge ever, for one animals get killed in a grousom way for dinner in factorys and if a guy shoots a stupid bird to protect his PET then the cop isn't doing his job... the only bad thing about this is that he might have scared people nearby with the sound of the gun


He shot the hawk to keep it from eating the squirrel even though he should have known that squirrels and other rodents are part of a hawk's natural diet.
The man did not shoot the hawk to eat it himself.
When I was a kid we took in an orphaned squirrel and raised it. After we turned him loose he came back to visit all the time. One day he stopped coming back so we just assumed he'd been eaten by something and we got over it quick enough. s**t happens.

It's usually illegal to shoot hawks, and also usually illegal to discharge a firearm in a residential area for legitimate safety reasons.
I can't see where the cop was at fault.

:roll:



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16 Feb 2009, 5:47 am

soppy old git, doesn't he know a squirrel is just a tree rat, and if it's grey it's considered vermin in most parts.



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16 Feb 2009, 8:29 am

Hawks are protected under state law.


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Raptor
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17 Feb 2009, 2:00 pm

If it would have been a rabid dog or another animal posing a serious and immediate threat then he would have been justified and morally obligated to shoot it.



digger1
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17 Feb 2009, 2:34 pm

Raptor wrote:
:roll:
He must be pretty simple minded and unwilling to accept that the squirrel is part of the food chain.
Hawks have to eat, too.


I wonder what would happen if a hawk or a squirrel came to stop me from slaughtering a bull? Heh, I'd wind up having steak, hawk and squirrel for dinner!



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21 Feb 2009, 10:38 am

Raptor wrote:
I'm not even sure what your point is.

UndercoverAlien wrote;
Quote:
whe're part of the food chain too, does that anwser your question? i thought so ...


I didn't ask a question.

Quote:
i find this the most stupid charge ever, for one animals get killed in a grousom way for dinner in factorys and if a guy shoots a stupid bird to protect his PET then the cop isn't doing his job... the only bad thing about this is that he might have scared people nearby with the sound of the gun


He shot the hawk to keep it from eating the squirrel even though he should have known that squirrels and other rodents are part of a hawk's natural diet.
The man did not shoot the hawk to eat it himself.
When I was a kid we took in an orphaned squirrel and raised it. After we turned him loose he came back to visit all the time. One day he stopped coming back so we just assumed he'd been eaten by something and we got over it quick enough. sh** happens.

It's usually illegal to shoot hawks, and also usually illegal to discharge a firearm in a residential area for legitimate safety reasons.
I can't see where the cop was at fault.

:roll:

it means foodchain is no reason for killing, its the same us humans. Whe are also part of the food chain of lots and lots of animals but that doesn't meen whe HAVE to been eaten by a lion... You shouldn't look as dead as a "fact"...

what would you have done if the a hawk was about to eat that squirl you where talking about? your missing the point seems like you don't wanna see the point



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21 Feb 2009, 6:29 pm

UndercoverAlien wrote;

Quote:
it means foodchain is no reason for killing, its the same us humans. Whe are also part of the food chain of lots and lots of animals but that doesn't meen whe HAVE to been eaten by a lion... You shouldn't look as dead as a "fact"...


Duh......... hawks eat rodents and other small critters, they do not go to the grocery store for food. The food chain is neither right or wrong, it just is and cannot be changed.

Quote:
what would you have done if the a hawk was about to eat that squirl you where talking about? your missing the point seems like you don't wanna see the point


If a hawk killed and ate the squirrel we had then that would just be tuff titty and we'd get over it sooner or later. The squirrel's suffering wouldnt have lasted for long, that's for sure.
Again, it's the food chain and the food chain just is, always has been, and always will be.
It's not cruelty, reason, or waste it's just survival in a pure no-BS form.