I’ll have to begin by warning you… I am a city girl from a small town, but compared to where I am now that may as well be Los Angeles. Today I had a true country experience. I am still in awe.
Perhaps most people wouldn’t use the term “awe” for what I am about to share and yet I feel it’s the most appropriate. Here goes… you’ll be horrified or intrigued…. But nowhere in between.
Here is how it all played it out…
I was in the bathroom, gazing out the window at my garden as I brushed my teeth for the second time that day. I stared in horror as Mama Bunny and her four offspring bounced around my garden sampling a little of this and a little of that. I instantly understood what had happened to all those carrots I planted, never mind the stubs of cauliflower and kale that had previously been unexplained.
Toothpaste dripped from my chin, it was one of those jaw dropping moments.
That poor little garden was under attack, and I was slacking as its protector.
While I didn’t grab the gun myself I urged that an action be taken. I primitively suggested killing, but then resorted to suggesting we build a fence. It’s the country. Out here its eat or be eaten. So I stood on the deck and watched.
I stared at that cute little brown bunny gorging itself on all my newly sprung greens as the rifle was raised and the bunny’s chest sighted. WHAM. Little bunny chest exploded in a spray of red, painting the dirt so to speak.
BUNNY DOWN
One little twitch of what was left of its life and that was it.
I don’t know what I expected. I hate to admit it, but I half expected the shot to miss. I thought the rabbit would run off into the wild while the gun and its bullets pursued in vain, much like most Hollywood films.
It was nothing like that. It was one clean shot right through the heart.
The offspring scattered to all four corners of the yard after the scary shot gun went off.
All except one, he wasn’t too scared, he decided to scamper only a few feet away and watch to see what else would happen. Not sure if he saw the bullet coming his way or not. It was so quick and he was so small it was over in a second.
If you kill it you eat it- that’s the rule. No pointless killing.
I watched in awe and horror as the rabbit was gutted. I have never before in my life seen anything so gruesome and yet so fascinating. The knife slit straight down the underbelly, one hand held the hind legs and the other pulled out the vital organs and intestines. I was shocked. Maybe I still am. A rabbit gutted doesn’t look a whole lot different than a human. I have seen intestines before, strung along the Los Angeles freeway stuck to a car that had been in huge wreck resulting in several fatalities. The little bunny intestines I saw today were much the same. Its eerie.
Of course it also looked a lot like a roasted chicken when I saw the ribcage. It made me realize how small some of our evolutionary differences are, and that is frightening.
After the gutting process which I managed to watch without vomiting, there came the decapitation and skinning. It wasn’t until the bunny’s head had been separated from its body that I realized it still had greens in its mouth. It had died mid-munch. Does that mean it died happy? I know it means death was instant for which I am thankful. Yet I couldn’t help my morbid curiosity, so I took several pictures of the bunny post mortem munch…
The rabbit skinning process is not for the faint. Might not be for me either, but being a city girl I had to prove that I could hold my own out here with these tough country folk/hunters. I was surprised over and over again as I watched the rabbit’s fur peel away from its body. It reminded me of a trip to the museum when I saw the Bodies in Motion science exhibit- all these human corpses skinned and infused with plastic to display the inner workings. I felt like I was seeing that all over again but with a rabbit, again not much different than what I saw in human form at a museum.
The incredibly creepy part came when the rabbit meat was being sectioned off, the decapitated body began to ripple and twitch. It wasn’t involuntary. The headless body looked like it was trying to hop away from the flaying knife. How is that possible?
Watching some of the rabbit’s back meat writhe of its own accord made me think about the meat that scientists made in a petri dish. You guys read about that? Its meat that responds and wiggles to music. Eew. Yet, watching this rabbit flesh gyrate I began to think that meat can respond to stimuli and have a survival instinct of its own accord without a brain.
Not sure I ever thought about that before. Flesh functioning without a brain would have seemed ridiculous, but no longer. How long will it be before our genetically modified food is wiggling around like that? After all the molecules harvested for our GMO food are of animal origin and then injected into plants… evolution always wins and this time it might be very interesting to see what our scientific meddling produces long term.
Now I have to find recipes for rabbit stew….
I understand why people are vegetarians and vegans.
If we all had to kill our own chickens and eat them we’d consume a lot less chicken.
Its easy to buy a prepackaged bit of meat, or protein as health enthusiasts may refer to it as, but the truth of the matter is none of us at the grocery store have to endure the killing process.
And it IS A PROCESS.
Its not just the killing, which is what I have learned.
It’s the killing, the gutting, the skinning or plucking, the cutting, the sectioning of body parts and transforming the body into an edible chunk of meat.
After going through all of this I think everyone should have to kill what they eat. At least once. If we did it all the time we might all turn vegan (hahahhaha)….
It would create conscious eating and therefore be better for our bodies. We would then really only eat what we needed and craved. Of course the meat companies (like Tyson) would suffer a major profit loss. It’s easy to eat fried and already dead meat, but to have a hand in the process from life to death… that’s hard. Grocery shopping is too easy. Anything easy is not worth having, it’s the things you work hard for that you learn to value and appreciate.
A true little redneck hunter in the works. I love a woman w/ a big gun or is that big guns. I believe in the beginning cavemen were gatherers so basically you just described the circle of life in a twisted but accurate light. In conclusion: eat or be eaten!
@ bdgrid123,
The circle of life is easy to read about, but harder to fully participate in, or so I’ve learned.
xo- Aurora
Love your post today:] WE did though evolve as hunters and gathers :}}}} XOT
@ Tera Patrick,
))
Thanks Tera! I wasn’t sure how the blog would go over, happy you liked it
xo- Aurora
Been a hunter my entire life but I’ve never had rabbit (or squirrel for that matter…always stuck to aerial game or the larger 4 hooved variants). How was it?
@ mattrob1980,
Not sure yet. Haven’t actually eaten the rabbit stew… I’m a little intimidated, though I will know by tomorrow.
xo- Aurora
A brave piece of writing, I suspect you will have many heated debates with friends and family on the morality of killing and eating animals. I guess the argument is based on whether we have evolved to a point where nutritionally we do not need meat anymore; therefore the killing of another animal for the pleasure of our taste buds is immoral. If we are to morally justify the raising, killing and eating of another animal we must be aware of the full process. You are to be commended on observing the reality of how meat ends up on our plate; at least your bunny was free range, wild and I assume lived a happy life, unlike the many millions of animals who live and die in factory farms. Personally I believe that if you have your own piece of land and you choose to raise and care for animals, you give them a free and healthy life then the ultimate killing and eating of that animal is justified.
Bxox
@ thelonelyroad,
Thank you. Yes, the bunny was wild and free range. Somehow it would be easier to eat it if it already came in a nice package at the grocery store…
Yet experiencing the entire process first hand makes it difficult to eat. Truly forces me to contemplate my food choices and where and how it has all come to be.
xo- Aurora
Woow. Many to think….
A town is very diferent like city, the people live from own work , have animals and pets, trees, gardens… In the city you go to market, more easy!?
I like you point about eat or be eaten, but I like so much kill to eat or protect yourself.
I don’t believe you shooting to little bunny. You’re a killer bunny. XD
WOW. Awesome blog. Not going to see this on any other Porn girls websites.
Keep up the excellent commentary!
I do this everyday. Funny that it made it to your blog. Everything I cook is “fresh.”
@ Frank,
Wow. I could not do this everyday. Kudos to you!
xo- Aurora
i laugh at this seems like everyday activity from where i come from rabbits deer possums yes possums lol try skinning them .i always laugh at you sometimes you are really a country girl glad i did that great custom film to reflect that mmm i still think it would be great on here for members ??
@ morgan28d,
Really? Everyday activity? It stands out in my world. I really have no familiarity with any of this. Its so raw to me.
xo- Aurora
i feel really sad reading that. i like my brother in law’s gardening concept, which is “there’s always enough for everyone”. he doesn’t even use snail poison. a single rabbit on it’s own is one thing, but i could never kill a mum who is still teaching her offspring how to fend for themselves. they wouldn’t have been with her if they still weren’t relying on her milk and education. that was really unnecessary.
@ emsy,
Reading your comment I feel so terrible! I also planted my garden with rabbits in mind. I planted a variety of lettuce
around the perimeter and several rows of lettuce for the creatures to eat. I knew the bunnies would get to my garden, so
I prepared the peace offering. The funny thing is they ate all of the lettuce and then moved on to the rest of the garden.
Don’t have much of a garden left. It was ravaged. It wasn’t just one bunny, it was a number of them. I feel awful about it.
And on the same note am fascinated by the entire process. I am not a hunter, so to be there from beginning to end and truly witness
the act of turning an animal into edible meat was a learning process… its an education I will never forget.
xo- Aurora
oh dear, now i feel terrible! sorry – i didn’t mean to upset you. sometimes tone can be hard in type. you have such a kind, beautiful heart, i wasn’t judging you at all. i love the way you take care of animals – who else raises a baby racoon by hand? i respect your honesty in writing this and i have had similiar experience with animals – i didn’t want to see what was going to happen but i couldn’t NOT watch. it was really confronting but educational. and in a way, it needs to be seen – we’re so disconnected – we NEED to see that we’ve taken a life in order to eat. i’m just a softie with baby animals – drives my family mad and they say i’m too sentimental. my tone wasn’t judgemental at all, just me expressing what i would have done. i’ve said the same thing to my sister and my nephew when they have killed a rabbit. i love that you tried to make them their own little food section, that’s adorable. your philosophy of no senseless killing is great and you’ll enjoy the stew if you can get past the associations. sorry if i came across differently to how i intended x
@ emsy,
No worries. I didn’t take anything harshly, I put a lot of myself out there so to speak.
I write what I feel. I am constantly sharing, if I thought twice about what I posted I would
probably not post half of my rambling blogs- lol.
I welcome all comments, good or bad, I appreciate the honesty that comes back to me in comments.
As always look forward to hearing more from you
xo- Aurora
aw well i’m really glad you share what you do and i’m glad you didn’t feel judged. i really like how you’re ceaselessly learning and testing your own boundaries. you’re a true explorer. i’m really sentimental about animals – when it rains here, worms wash out onto the road, then the sun comes out and they die. i constantly miss the train to work cos i stop and re-bury them in the dirt. everyone thinks i’m mad for doing it lol so i recognise i can be sentimental. my sister is the total opposite to me and we have some passionate discussions about it lol she is endlessly practical while i am a bit…how to put it tactfully…dreamy and impractical. how did you go with eating the stew?
Liked the post and I learned many years ago killing anything is not easy.I know how you felt for I have had the same feeling.I stopped hunting many years ago because it was to painful.
@ Bill,
So you stopped hunting but you do you still eat meat? Curious of course
For me one of the discoveries in all of this was for the first time ever processing exactly how an animal turns into “meat.” Its so much easier to buy meat in a plastic package from a grocery store… but should it be easy?
I don’t think it should be so easy to purchase meat. I feel like when we participate in the act of killing our own meat we take responsibility.
Grocery shopping for already neatly packaged meat takes a lot of the guilt away from the eating of it and I don’t know how I feel about that just yet.
On the fence about it really.
xo- Aurora
It is one of the realities that we deal with that everything that lives will die. This reality is one of the things we are taught to deal with in buddhist lessons and we learn first had as martial artists. The bunny was destroying your work, not out of malicious intent, but just instinct. He will nourish you when you eat his meat and it. If it had not been you it could very well have been a hawk or eagle. You did the best you could because you killed quickly, without malice, and effectively so that the suffering was minimized. But its not something we like to contemplate much… I lost my mom just recently and the fast death that was necessary for the rabbit was in many ways much more humane than what my mother had to suffer through…. I suppose the lesson (if there is one) in this is that we must accept that things die and learn how to deal with it with dignity. Your blog hopefully makes us think about just this. Thank you.
Hm. I’ve never killed an animal. I have trouble with killing insects even. I usually just trap them in CD cake boxes or simply grab them and evict them taking great care not to pull their antennae off or one of their numerous legs. Which is strange. My grandfather was a hunter, hunted wolves. I just can’t do it on purpose. Then again, I never did find myself in a situation you’ve described. Interesting tale.
Sorry I am a few hours late, as I am from Germany. I am no vegetarian (or even vegan) myself, but nonetheless I personally am sure our children should find out about food in their schools. And by that I mean all the food, which includes of course meat and how it is raised, cared, killed and processed. I have no children of my own, but I am the uncle of four and my youngest nephew needed someone adult to accompany him and his class into a slaugtherhouse. The parents were of course asked before, if they are willing to let their children go there to witness the process of how Cows and Pigs become beef and pork. As far as I know all parents agreed to that. And I must say I personally was a bit more shooked than the children themselfs. Even so I knew perfectly well what I was about to see, it is something different to witness it yourself. Most of the children were quite curious about the process and how the animals feel. Many complain that children nowadays don’t know how a real carrot looks like or how a bean plant looks, but they rarely notice that our children know nothing about meat, too.
Therefor I think we should show our children that meat doesn’t grow in plastic wrap, but that they were one day cows, pigs, chickens and rabbits. Of course this is not necessary under a certain age, my nephew was 14 during that visit and I think thats a good age to once see the whole process of how our meat comes into the supermarket.
So kudos to you and somehow bon appetite even so it might be hard when you have seen your meat scamper in your garden before.
P.S.: Sorry for any misspellings and errors in the syntax, english is not my motherlanguage.
It’s true about effort = value. it’s so easy for us to get water and food, we take it for granted and forget there’s a process. if we had to kill our own meat and grow all our own vegetables, we would take more care, agreed.
You sure know how to get our juices flowing in more ways than one.
Very courageous of you to post this and while I’m an animal lover, I have to agree with much of what you said.
But, it was just last week that I watched a six-point buck deer eat the leaves off the lower branches of my apple tree.
Watching that magnificent animal from a distance of 10 feet for about 15 minutes before he walked away gave me more satisfaction than I could ever get from shooting it, if I was a hunter.
Just a guy in Brazil, not the biggest fan of porn… once read about you in a sports column (bill simmons), google your name and got mesmerized, not by the scenes, but by your face, couldnt think of anything else for a week. Started reading your blog, your tweets, sweet and sour, got even more mesmerized, if i were a bit more irresponsible, i’d go to us just to meet you. But this post, goddamn, im a vegetarian, try not to be judgmental, but this was disgusting. It was not an apology of killing, on the contrary in some way, but i cant read you anymore. Just a guy in Brazil and you shouldnt give a fuck about my opinion, but i felt like writing, dont know why.
yes everyday activity come visit down under of course there are the good things like the wine the scenery the people you have a tour guide
@ morgan28d,
Yes, I’ve had some excellent wine from down under
Sure would love to visit one day!
xo- Aurora
Hi, first time i felt like writing, just like our brazilian friend. I would’nt say i’ve never heard about you or never see your scenes. I’m actually a fan but i tilted when reading once a Vegas chronicles site where your actual or former boyfriend wrote a paper about you, your relation and basically how Vegas is socioligicaly so unique in the states. I’m still surprised when reading vegan oriented stuffs. It’s always so fair and naive at the same time. Especially in USA where, as for many things, extremes can exist side by side. Talking about agro industry, you guys are in hell and actually impose you model all over the world. talking about eco responsability and being vegan, you’re also kind of world champ, even, and it’s a pity, most of bio vegan american consumers are actually from (upper) middle class. Anyway, I was raised part of my childhood in country and killing an animal for its meat seems to me very natural. It’s not disgusting, it’s reality as you said everyone should be conscious of. I, of course, respect vegan point of view, wether it’s pseudo philosophical or basically about health concerns. I just wanted to say : before being revolted by animal condition or how it’s horrible to eat living beings, we should all improve about our ecological conscience and knowledge. because very well knowed companies, food tradmarks and restaurants chains are actually at the end of the chaine of a planetary desaster orchestrated by rich northern countries. We can’t put a bullet in the head of Monsanto or Tyson board members but we can choose to stop consumming transformed suggar, meat and grease degrading on industrial scall health of most of the US population… mostly the poors… then giving billions dollars to health insurance industry… I’m not shocked by a dead rabbit corpse, as long as it’s naturally raised and killed without being awfully stressed. I’m shocked by the third of earth population who losts a crucial battle of consciences, not seing the global picture which lead us very fast to a world ecological collapse… the worse in the picture is that you all probably know about real already existing solutions. As i’m a kind of pessimistic, i suppose it won’t make any difference. you can’t fight interests that litteraly own the 4 last generations of american political leaders. I won’t move without a brutal and violent transition… i suppose some would call it historical fatality…
@ max,
Wow. So many excellent points you make.
It is tragic to know that our politicians here are owned by Monsanto.
Its awful to know that all of our food will be genetically modified and no longer natural,
all artificially created and all because of politics. Sad really.
There is such a huge disconnection between what is best for our people and country as opposed to
what is best for politicians and the corporations that fund them.
xo- Aurora
I enjoyed your revelation. But you ought not do so again. Why? I’ll play devil’s advocate here.
I’m absolutely sure cottontail rabbits are considered small game in your state and therefor protected by game laws. Although you didn’t squeeze the trigger yourself, you were an accessory to poaching. How many other game laws were broken? Perhaps it was shot out of season? Almost sure it was shot within the safety zone boundary of a residence. And baiting with lettuce/carrots is also illegal. Do you see how much trouble you could be in?
What’s next? Coyotes that prey on your rabbits? Deer/bear eating at your garden too? I’m sure they’re all protected to some extent by game laws. Do as you wish. Just keep it out of print.
@ Davy,
First allow me to quote this from my state governments website about the shooting of rabbit’s–>>
“Shooting may be used where local laws permit the discharge of firearms.
Hunting can be a useful method for landowners to control rabbit numbers.”
Obviously what was done was perfectly legal. Fair game so to speak. Perhaps where you live this would be illegal.
I am in the middle of the country and well within legal rights, but I do appreciate your concern for legalities.
The thing about rabbits is that they are overpopulated, same with deer. However for deer there is a hunting season etc.
Deer are so tasty and make such excellent trophies that without the use of a hunting season we wouldn’t leave enough to
repopulate. Sure you are aware of that though.
Do I believe in hunting and eating what you kill? YES. I do not however condone hunting for the sake or joy of killing alone.
This is something that we have all forgotten, we have forgotten how to survive and live off the land.
Most grocery shop with a numb attitude towards what they are actually purchasing.
The point of this blog was to share what our food looks like outside of a grocery store. We should all have to kill and eat
an animal at least once to put us back in touch with reality.
Because the reality is thus: we don’t get it… we don’t grasp the concept of what we are eating. We eat “meat” without
having to go through the process of understanding exactly where it came from and how it came to be on our plate.
There is such a severe disconnection between us and our food that we eat a lot of what we don’t need and as a result
corporations are controlling what we feed generation after generation.
Oh… and one more thing. BAITING??? Seriously??? I am growing a garden. And I purposefully planted extra so the bunny could eat the perimeter and leave the innards of my garden alone. Which is what I was taught to do by seasoned gardeners around here. This particular bunny wasn’t satisfied with what he was given, he got greedy and went for the inner garden. It was eating all of my crops. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to dominate and survive.
I am a tree loving hippie with a realistic take on life. Maybe that hard for you to accept, sometimes brutal honesty is hard to swallow most people can’t.
And what’s this about killing bigger and bigger species? Don’t be facetious. Obviously there was a reason to kill the rabbit, and because ti was shot we did the right thing and didn’t waste it. Do you not admire the way the Native Americans lived off the land? Didn’t waste and didn’t kill without a cause.
There is honor in that. Unlike giant meat companies and the inhumane savage way they treat the animals you probably eat. Unless you are a vegetarian… are you?
Coyotes do not destroy anything I have no reason to harm that, or a bear, etc. They won’t be eating my garden. Its just rabbits. And yes if a deer comes to eat my garden and its deer season you know whats going to happen? I am going to have a freezer full of deer meat, that’s what. Venison is amazing. My favorite in fact. Wild fair game.
I care about the circle of life and where my food comes from. Do you?
xo- Aurora
I did not mean to get you peeved. Mea Culpa.
Obviously I wrongly assumed your domicile to be California and not ‘middle of the country.’ My experience here in Penn’s Woods, north of Philly, is that the state owns and protects all animals, not the property owner. Cottontails are considered small game and have a hunting season, generally between October and the middle of January. Killing one out of season would be considered poaching and against the law. Even if the dumb animal made the mistake of eating the ‘wrong’ lettuce.
“Hunting can be a useful method for landowners to control rabbit numbers.” I don’t mean to piss you off any further, dear lady. But I would say ‘hunting’ in this context means the state-sanctioned way of harvesting a game animal. I doubt rabbit season occurs in summer in your neck of the woods. Be that as it may.
Killing a game animal because of crop destruction is only allowed to commercial farmers where I come from. And only after proper inspection and government legalities have been taken care of. Shooting first and asking questions later will only get you in trouble should the authorities find out, like by a spiteful neighbor.
I’m not a tree hugging hippie. I’m not a vegan. What I am is a Penn State educated farmer who is also a hunter…beef was replaced in my diet by venison a long time ago. Like most everything else in life, like them or not, I’ve learned to play by the rules.
As I stated, I’m not trying to tell you to stop shooting garden varmints out of season. Just don’t tell the world about it lest it get you in trouble.
“Do you not admire the way the Native Americans lived off the land?” I sure do! And I’m certain I’d starve to death if I only had to use their primitive hunting tools. I know the Lenni Lenape tribe hunted my property from the arrowheads I’ve found while tilling fields.
Have you eaten the Wascally Wabbit yet?
@ davy,
I have in fact since your post looked into whether or not shooting the rabbit where I am is legal, etc.
Turns out it is. Due my extremely rural location and the current overpopulation of rabbits I am legally allowed
to shoot at them. So I am in fact playing by the rules.
You may be surprised to know that just one county over the folks there have permission from the game warden to
shoot at deer on their property despite the fact that the hunting season is not yet open. Apparently the
deer there are overpopulated which is why this special circumstance exists currently.
So we are in fact “playing by the rules” as you say.
However the rules change, based on location, circumstance, season, etc.
What kind of farmer are you? I am right smack in the middle of a variety of farmers and am on a farm myself.
Smart choice replacing venison with beef. Much healthier.
xo- Aurora
Crop rotation of corn and soybeans. No livestock.
I never gave health a second thought.
I happen to like the taste of venison and since I can fill my freezer with the cost of one bullet, so much the better. I had a chance to sample a few native antelope of Namibia a few years ago while on safari and, truth be told, I thought Burchells Zebra tasted best although they were all yummy.
But if every American decided that wild game was to their liking and shunned packaged meats, how long would it take until all our game animals were decimated?
@ davy,
So do you give health a second thought now?
How are your crops doing considering the drought?
Every farmer I know is having a poor time making use of what this drought has down
xo- Aurora
Don’t know why but there’s no reply box to click under your last question to me.
No, I don’t worry about my health or give it a second thought…that’s what I pay my family doc, eye doc and dentist for. I implement healthy practices such as eating omega rich albacore tuna I catch off the coast of New Jersey. I grow my own grapes for red wine. I eat a baby aspirin every day to keep my blood thin. I love pork but know full well that eating bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches slathered in mayo isn’t good.
I firmly believe that good genes has a lot to do with a long life. And not being sedentary.
We had a cool, wet Spring in my neck of Penn’s Woods. So planting was delayed for a few weeks. The droughty weather we had at the end of June, beginning of July certainly stunted growth but we’ve had enough rain lately from thunderstorms to keep this growing season in the ‘normal’ mode. Corn is tasseling right now.
My heart always goes out to farmers in the midwest…if it isn’t floods, it’s drought. The only thing that tempers my compassion is I was led to believe most farms there are of the corporate variety, not small family farms like I own.
@ davy,
Wow, you make your own wine? What kind? What kind of grapes do you grow for it?
I’m familiar with vineyards having grown up on the central coast of California.
So the drought has not affected you much then?
xo- Aurora
No one will ever confuse my 6 Baco Noir vines with the acres and acres of Sonoma wineries! I vint a dry, red wine similar to Merlot but without the oak. I also grow a few elderberry bushes for wine. But if things go like last year, the birds will eat everything as they ripen in early September. I might have to invest in some netting. It’s illegal to shoot these, either cowbirds or catbirds, not sure which. Electric fencing won’t help. Not sure how I would poison a bird?
I don’t mean to be callus, but what drought? Not round these parts. But sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, I’ll end up paying higher prices just like everyone else because of the terrible growing conditions in the midwest. Everyone will eventually pay the piper; me included. Thanks a lot, Mother Nature!
@ davy,
No drought over there? Wow. That’s great news.
We have finally had a few storms so the dust no longer rises in the air as it was once.
Reminded me of a dust bowl.
Have you tried netting before? What else have you done to keep the birds away from your produce?
Always been curious- do scarecrows really work?
xo- Aurora
Never needed nets before. And I may not this year either. Japanese beetles did a number on the grape leaves last year. That exposed the grape clusters to hungry birds. So far this year the leaves are still providing a dense canopy that prevents the birds from seeing the fruit.
Certainly crows are too intelligent for their
behavior to be modified by the Wizard of Oz style of scarecrow. I doubt it affects other birds either. No movement equals no scare effect.
However, I have found something that did work.
Picture this…~an 8″ diameter band of Mylar with ~4′long by 1/4″ wide streamers of shimmering
Mylar which flutters in the slightest breeze.
I mounted it to the top of an 8′ spring steel rod
which lets it pivot with wind direction.
It’s multi-colored, it’s shiny and it moves. I know for for a fact that birds and deer avoid it.
I’ve seen similar products advertized as ‘bird scare flash tape.’ You’d need a bunch of them to provide coverage on the scale of your multiple garden beds.
Gosh, you’d think I was chatting with Martha Stewart rather than the iconic adult actress Aurora Snow!
How lucky am I?
@ davy,
LOL. Sounds pretty clever. I’ll have to try that
xo- Aurora
To answer your question.I eat very little meat.I have seen how animals are slaughtered in comercial locations and it is not prerty.I undderstand how you feel but meat is a primary source of proteen for most of us,just something to concider.Wish there was a better way.I am on your side in this.Stay well.
@ Bill,
Thanks! Always appreciate input
xo- Aurora
I’ve actually seen a second time FOOD Inc. last week and i can’t remember the name of this wonderfull farmer (from kentucky ?) prooving the absolute truth and obviousness of traditionnal farming. Every pupil in the country should go at leats once in a tradionnal farm to see and understand what is food, from growing a natural veg to killing an animal for its meat.
@ max,
Agreed. Everyone should understand where their food comes from or
at least have an opportunity to see it for themselves.
xo- Aurora
I am vegan for exactly the reasons you delineate. It always felt disproportionately wrong to me, even as a child aged 6, that something should die just so I have a meal. I e came to veganism late in life (19 months ago) after decades of (the foolish half way house that is) vegetarianism. I won’t bother with the ethical issues here, they are amply covered, but may I just say that I am startled by (A) how much easier and cheaper veganism is than I expected- I thought giving up dairy would be a huge wrench- it isn’t (B) the upswing my health has taken is literally life-changing. Within a month I went from severe asthmatic to hardly asthmatic at all. Within 6 month I’d gone from 40″ to 36″ waist. And I have no digestive problems, ever.
Basically after what I experienced I think everyone should go vegan for a month just to find out.
Thank you and – as Father Kurt would say- “so it goes” bunny rabbits.
@ Clark Gwent,
I admire the vegan way.
I enjoy a lot of vegan dishes and did go vegan for 30 days as a personal challenge.
It was successful but at the end I really missed cheese too much, goat cheese in particular.
Plus I love venison.
So while I do not eat a lot of meat or animal products they do exist in my diet.
However I have discovered almond cheese, kelp noodles, pea and brown rice proteins,
and tempeh. All of which have been added to my current diet.
So how long have you been a vegan?
xo- Aurora
Hey Aurora
I took the plunge and became vegan as new years resolution 2011 after decades of crap junkfood vegetariansm, etc. When I became vegetarian it was decades ago when it was real hard to find veggie catering (eg having to have “not dogs”- hot dogs with sauce & onions but without sausage)I thought I would have to go through a similar arduous process again and had been putting it off (having figgered vegetarianism for being a foolish half way house.)As it happens now we have internet and similar resources and it was easy. I have never eaten better nor felt better in my life. I could kick myself!
xxxx
(one for each cheek)
@ Clark Gwent,
That’s incredible. I have a good friend who is vegan and have myself been vegan for here and there though have an awful time committing to it completely.
Sure do love vegan food though
xo- Aurora
Even if the theorical principles of veganism are pretty cool, it appears to me that it can’t be sustainable on large scales and that any organised human activity, even the most ethical, will at one point affect environnement. Being a total vegan is not a realistic concept except living naked in the woods eating only veg. I think veganism can bring some answers but not all answers as we need without any doubt to exploit nature. but is has to be in a sustainable way. If we’re talking about efficiency in how to change meat consumers habits, i suppose we’ll have more chance to convince them to eat meat let’s say not more than 3 times a week, more than not eat meat at all. Also to have a chance to consume better quality meat (even if it’s more expensive). That is actually my diet and i must say it has great effects on my food budget, my health, eco impact and probably the most important : great improvement of the quality and the taste of what i eat. I’ve choosed my style : more than 4 Mcdo freaky Steaks a week, i eat an aubrac or charolais bio peace of Rib coast once a week…
I am not a vegetarian but I know that there are some that will be offended about this. I myself would have difficulty killing an animal unless it threatened me, however if the store ran out of food I would easily become a hunter. Brave article.
@ Jimmy Drama,
Thank you. I know it was brave or stupid to post this, but either way I prefer to just
put it all out there. I wasn’t trying to offend anyone though I am sure I have inadvertently.
I was trying to make a point about our food and how disconnected we are from it.
xo – Aurora
Yes you offended me baby, i want some of that rabbit stew baby, lol,what do i have to do now go out and shoot one ? damn,silly wabbits lol.
@ lukiebro3,
LOL. Rabbit stew wasn’t half bad!
xo- Aurora
I used to eat rabbit,wild game, etc as a kid alot my grand pop used to hunt alot, and he and my grandmom had a huge garden, we all had to pitch in in the summer time, lotsa picking green beans, lima beans, corn,tomatos etc etc lol in the hot summer sun hard work for sure, also had to help plucking geese etc ,the worse was watching them gut the animals etc right there in the kitchen lil crazy but thats what went on then came a good meal though,good ole grandparents miss them alot.xo.
@ lukiebro3,
Yes, the gutting is the worst part! Yuck
xo- Aurora
nhahh, what´s up , doc ? – said the rabbit. lol Good points you made, Aurora. To capture some of the food one will consume should be one of the most healty and self-understantind things… Perhapps, more contact with the true natural life is what a lot of persons would need.
( the exact oposite of what happened in Denver, by some alienated with guns… and the sad coincidence with your dear, dear name… kiss you. God bless America!)
@ Edgardo,
Its that connection that I worry we have all lost, a break from the reality of what we are
eating and where its really come from etc. Its important to be aware of whats going on…
xo- Aurora
So how are you anyway baby ? besides being super busy lol,miss your smiling beautiful face here on the east coast lol, just had to get that in lol,since this might be as close as i get to really talkin to ya lol ,but its still great ,xo.
@ lukiebro3,
Doing well. Just busy and you?
xo- Aurora
What is this doing on a porn site? Learn your target audience toots.
@ John Mangen,
Thanks for the advice, but exactly who are you to be giving it?
The point of the blogs are that they are free. Its a forum where I can
write about anything I want to share and how and when. Its about being more than
a fuck doll. If you want free fucking I’m sure you know where to find it.
Goodluck.
xo- Aurora
doing good also, much better now that your here lol,xo.
Wow no need to be rude and aggressive. I was giving the advice to you. This is a porn site, not a blog. But I guess you don’t realise that. Charming mouth you’ve got on you there, “fuck doll” and “free fucking”. I didn’t swear at you. You’re clearly alot rougher than you pretend to be. Gross.
@ John Mangen,
You were absolutely rude and offensive in your comments. Your disdain was clear.
Feel free to reread. I was not swearing at you merely making a point which I am
sure you got
p.s. this is a porn website and my blogging area… which I did realize since I created it and run it, but I guess you didn’t realize that?
xo- Aurora
Damn baby, very cool come back ,right on target lol ,lol just having fun here as part of the audience lol , no offense to anyone,xo.
@ lukiebro3,
Thanks! Appreciate the support as always
xo- Aurora
LOL !
Youre bad Aurora !
Hi Aurora, I’m happy to meet you on your blog. I think it doesn’t matter if you eat meal or you’re on total vegan way of eating. I’m learning and teaching the TAO way of life in Martial Arts (Kung Fu) and I think it’s important to respect the same way all lives, human, animal and vegetable. In Italy (it’s a today newspaper notice) we waste about 3,6 millions tons of not gone bad food in a year. It’s really shocking, cause there are too many people who die of hunger in the word. So I thank and respect all lives that died for me, for give me my food. Animal or vegetable are the same, it’s more important I don’t waste them in the garbage-box, should be the worst thing. Sorry if I don’t write a good english, hope you understand me the same way.
XOXO and love. Claudio.