On Sep 5, 8:34?am, tsi-yu wrote:
They are all semi tame. Not much sport
in shooting caged bambis.

Make that BAM(!)-bye.

More and more people can live a lifetime without actually encountering
any wildlife.

It's like the hatchery-trout fishery they have every spring up this
way.
They spend $millions breeding trout in state hatcheries, where for a
year or two the fish are taught to associate people with food. Even a
fish (one of the dumbest animals around) eventually learns that
responding to a certain stimulus (the presence of people) by eating
anything the people throw into the pond will result in high times and
easy livin'. They stuff these trained fish into tanker trucks and will
dump thousands upon thousands of them into a variety of lakes -many of
which are *not* really suitable trout habitat). Opening Day of fishing
season comes around, and it's elbow-to-elbow along the shorelines of
these recently stocked lakes. The Game Department usually opens the
season on a Sunday, so some of the fish haven't been fed for several
days prior and they sign the piscatoral version of the Hallelujah
Chorus when people/food appear. Little old ladies, five year old kids,
and everybody in between hauls in the poor confused fish as fast as
they can cast a hook. The fish bite worms, flies, marshmallows,
spoons, chunks of rubber or plastic, you name it. Among the highly
effective products is "Power Bait", formulated to smell and taste
exactly like the stuff the fish were trained to eat at the hatchery.
People walk around bragging about taking a "limit" of little 6-8 inch
fish. The upside is that it introduces a lot of people to fishing, and
kids in particular need to actually catch a fish in the first outing
or two or they are likely to lose enthusiasm for it. I know of serious
fishermen who deliberately *avoid* the annual madness and look for
more challenging conditions.

The feeding operation is a good observation. There didn't seem to be
any empathy expressed by the people for the deer, just training them
to depend on people for food. Send the rough tough hunter out into the
woods in his BMW SUV- but forget about the "deer call". Tell him to
start a fire, cook some bacon, and make a noise like a sandwich. The
highly conditioned "game" will walk up to within a couple of feet
looking for a handout. Even a once-a-year hunter will have a tough
time missing from 4-6 feet away.