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September 02, 2009
Chad Love: RIP, Nameless Rodent
By Chad Love
There's a point in the life of every kid raised around hunting or animals when the anthropomorphized innocence of childhood meets the hard reality of predator and prey.
For farm kids, it might be the reality of growing animals for food. For hunting kids, it's probably the first game animal they kill. And for hunting kids who are not yet quite old enough to hunt the point can be graphically illustrated by housecats and hamsters.
Several nights ago I was awakened by my son nudging me and saying "daddy, my hamster cage is on the floor and the hamster's not in it."
One glance at the upturned and now-open hamster cage, the tiny little bloodstains on the carpet and the smug, "What, me?" look on the face of my wife's cat told me all I needed to know. My son's brand new baby hamster, which he had brought home just that evening, was now on the fast track to our litterbox.
We sat him down and tried to explain to him, in the gentlest way we could, that his hamster had just been eaten by the cat, and why he shouldn't be mad because it was only the cat's nature to do so, and if he felt anger toward anything, it should be toward Mommy and Daddy for not making sure the cage was secure, because you can't blame an animal for doing what comes natural to it.
Now since he was old enough to toddle around behind me my eldest son has watched me bring home and cut up all manner of dead critters. He's watched red-tailed hawks feed on squirrels. He's watched big fish eat smaller fish. The kid is no stranger to how nature works. Until that moment, however all that had been an abstraction. But here, scattered on his bedroom floor, was nature in all its sometimes cruel reality.
My son did what any eight-year-old would do: he cried for his hamster. And then he accepted it. And he grew up a little right there before our eyes.
Now that's the kind of life lesson that can't be taught; it can only be experienced.
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Comments (10)
Great story. This is a lesson that more & more kids seem to be missing out on--especially city & suburban kids.
Yup, perfect example of things that cannot be taught.
Eat or be eaten, thats how it works. you cant try and hide from the awesome reality of nature. it aint no disney movie
That is an awesome story. There are not enough eight year olds that in touch with reality.
Growing up, I was the oldest of a half dozen. Venison was a staple in the family pantry, so at 12, I was added to the venison acquisition roster. On opening morning Dad and I went out and came home by 8:00 am with two nice muley does in the back of the truck. All of the rest of the kids came out to see the excitement...even the youngest two girls. Everybody climbed into the back of the truck, but my four year old little sister took an intense interest in the animals.
She stroked their heads, touched their hooves, ears, eyes, and nose. Her expression was one of timeless fascination. We were not sure what she really thought; happy, sad, indifferent. About that time, she discovered the bullet wound on the rib cage. She recognized the blood, and ran her finger over the area. Her hand stopped, and she felt the wound, deep and ragged. Out of her little mouth, in a tiny pitchy voice, she blurted, "I bet it hurt like hell when you shot that deer!"
rhis is one of those wish it had not happened but it is kind of a good thing that it did and the child learned something from the loss.
This is awesome : 'We sat him down and tried to explain to him, in the gentlest way we could, that his hamster had just been eaten by the cat, and why he shouldn't be mad because it was only the cat's nature to do so, and if he felt anger toward anything, it should be toward Mommy and Daddy for not making sure the cage was secure, because you can't blame an animal for doing what comes natural to it.'
I hope some of the rabid would be wolf shooters out there read this. A lot of the posts on this site has been about how the wolves are decimating the elk herd. Well, here we have it, you can't blame an animal for what comes naturally.
Having said that, I believe that the quota of wolves that the Wildlife services have drawn up is sensible and probably the best thing to ensure that the wolf is back to stay in the lower 48.
Had that happen twice, except fortunately the second time the hampster hid behind some drywall till I could rescue it.
O'Brother, welcome to Parenthood!
This is why the puritans made children pallbearers.
Teodoro
Never thought of it that way
Great story! Reality is what an honest and concern parent will always promote. You did a good job!
Great way of putting it and great lesson for your kid!
Post a Comment
That is an awesome story. There are not enough eight year olds that in touch with reality.
Growing up, I was the oldest of a half dozen. Venison was a staple in the family pantry, so at 12, I was added to the venison acquisition roster. On opening morning Dad and I went out and came home by 8:00 am with two nice muley does in the back of the truck. All of the rest of the kids came out to see the excitement...even the youngest two girls. Everybody climbed into the back of the truck, but my four year old little sister took an intense interest in the animals.
She stroked their heads, touched their hooves, ears, eyes, and nose. Her expression was one of timeless fascination. We were not sure what she really thought; happy, sad, indifferent. About that time, she discovered the bullet wound on the rib cage. She recognized the blood, and ran her finger over the area. Her hand stopped, and she felt the wound, deep and ragged. Out of her little mouth, in a tiny pitchy voice, she blurted, "I bet it hurt like hell when you shot that deer!"
Great story. This is a lesson that more & more kids seem to be missing out on--especially city & suburban kids.
This is awesome : 'We sat him down and tried to explain to him, in the gentlest way we could, that his hamster had just been eaten by the cat, and why he shouldn't be mad because it was only the cat's nature to do so, and if he felt anger toward anything, it should be toward Mommy and Daddy for not making sure the cage was secure, because you can't blame an animal for doing what comes natural to it.'
I hope some of the rabid would be wolf shooters out there read this. A lot of the posts on this site has been about how the wolves are decimating the elk herd. Well, here we have it, you can't blame an animal for what comes naturally.
Having said that, I believe that the quota of wolves that the Wildlife services have drawn up is sensible and probably the best thing to ensure that the wolf is back to stay in the lower 48.
O'Brother, welcome to Parenthood!
This is why the puritans made children pallbearers.
Yup, perfect example of things that cannot be taught.
Eat or be eaten, thats how it works. you cant try and hide from the awesome reality of nature. it aint no disney movie
rhis is one of those wish it had not happened but it is kind of a good thing that it did and the child learned something from the loss.
Had that happen twice, except fortunately the second time the hampster hid behind some drywall till I could rescue it.
Teodoro
Never thought of it that way
Great story! Reality is what an honest and concern parent will always promote. You did a good job!
Great way of putting it and great lesson for your kid!
Post a Comment