Today I went to lunch with a couple of coworkers, to a place where the walls were staring back at me. Fortunately, they'd warned me about the trophies beforehand.
We're not just talking about a deer or two, either. This place had deer, antelope, elk, fish, an entire fox with a duck in its mouth, geese and ducks flying by on the walls and ceiling, a coatimudi fer gossakes, a warthog, mountain goat, something I think was a wild boar (not a javelina, way too big) and even a wolf. I didn't think you could hunt those legally. Maybe it was an antique. They also had a jackalope and one wall plaque with what looks like a deer's butt.
Since I'm not a vegetarian, I don't have a problem with hunting for meat. I'd far rather be a deer, free in a forest, that ends up getting shot than a cow on a factory farm. However, I think putting trophies on walls is a bit twisted. First, if it's the whole animal, then you've killed something purely for decoration. Second, if you've butchered the carcass and taken the meat, do you really want its former owner staring down reproachfully as you eat it?
Though I disapprove, trophies don't spoil my appatite or I wouldn't have gone. And it was interesting identifying all of the animals -- some had signs explaining what they were. Still, I stuck to ordering the battered shrimp. At least there weren't any shellfish watching me eat.
Posted by dichroic at July 15, 2004 02:37 PM