I am currently reading this book about the five large carnivores of Scandinavia and I am absolutely humbled, both by finding out how little I knew about them, what prejudice I had against them and how people that live in close proximity to them can both love, respect and be angry with them at the same time. I am reading the original release in Swedish.
- What have you encountered in the wild?
- When, where, how?
- What were your initial thoughts, feelings and reactions (physical, psychological, etc.)?
- What do think of them in general? <— this last question applies to everybody, regardless of whether you have seen or met one of these large carnivores or not.
Personally, without having met any one of them, I am humbled, scared, amazed and intrigued by them. I feel for those whose - for instance - livestock are threatened by them, especially if it directly damages business. I also strongly believe that the matter should not be dumbed down to the dichotmy of “ignore those that suffer from them” or “eradicate them”. We are far too intelligent and developed a race to degrade ourselves so.
I feel like you are just arguing for the sake of arguing
Every seasoned camper brings a shotgun with them here, because yes, it’s a surprisingly common issue
Probably true. I wasn’t really trying to but yeah, I have very different attitudes toward deadly weapons than you do.
Perhaps you camp somewhere with deadly wildlife, I don’t know.
Most bears and cougars per square kilometre in the entire world where i live
But people are still what scare me more, based on lived experience
In Canada it’s illegal to use a gun in self defense and I’m not super interested in prison. It’s just the best deterrent I can think of. Cops don’t care.