While I am vegan, I’m sure some animal rights activists might disagree with me about certain beliefs I hold. I haven’t eaten meat in almost 50 years, nor do I hunt or would I want to do so. But, that being said, I don’t disagree with certain people making use of hunting skills, if (this is a BIG if) they do so with respect and dignity to the animal. Many indigenous people, or native people from different lands, make good use of their local species, using all of the animal to provide for themselves. They do so with honor and keeping in mind the total ecosystem, unlike the original settlers, who eventually wiped out so many species of this country, and, in doing so wiped out food supplies for all local species, including the humans. Those humans who were aware of the delicate balance between man and the interconnected web of which we are a part, understood that as we stand high on the food chain, we should be careful and cognizant how easily it could be torn apart. And once broken, it often cannot be repaired. So, if one chooses to eat meat, they should do so with reverence and care, remembering the long line of energy that goes into creating the animal.

I met a man today while waiting to have my car repaired. He was a different kind of human when it came to showing the holiness of the creatures that walk this earth with us. So many get killed inadvertently due to our lifestyles, on roads because of traffic as they cross to get back to their dens and hidey holes. Some are large, some are small. It might be a back country road, or a giant highway where many pass, a long ago trail way, that all sort of animals walked, but now is sliced by a concrete divider. Millions are killed each year on our roads, often causing accidents–I was in one myself, avoiding a deer who jumped out in front of my car and dashed to the other side of the road. The deer was fine, as I careened over an embankment and rolled my car a few times and landed on the roof, totaling the car and myself. The recovery was long and painful, and I couldn’t understand why the deer picked me, a sworn vegan? But so it goes.

Luckily, many places now build special walkways for these animals to cross safely. You see them…it’s quite amazing. All sorts going over or under major highways. It seems they forget that they might be a predator, or prey. They simply need to get to the other side. And for the ones that don’t make it, well, there are folks like the man I met. They gather the roadkill, and if it isn’t too destroyed, they create. Some use their taxidermy skills on the animals they find to make art or clothing. If the ecosystem hasn’t done its job too well yet (the scavengers like the turkey vultures or bugs), then these humans play their part to help clean up the environment. See for yourself… It was a freezing day here in New England, but this man wasn’t cold at all! He took a tip from the old settlers and made something to keep himself warm. What do you think? Would you wear it? I was quite impressed. This creature will live forever now thanks to him, and its death wasn’t for nothing.