Oh for goodness sakes....

**ManDownUnder** · 11th May 2006, 16:36

Originally Posted by Pixie

The whole "Humane" thing is a load of shit,from a physiological viewpoint.
Generally,severe injury,such as being torn apart by wild animals is painless.As long as the victim dies of the injuries within 10 minutes or so.
People who have been shot report the feeling to be like a dull impact .
The same for being stabbed.
I have had a leg crushed between a car and a bike,and the pain ,initially was not that bad.
Pain is a message to remove a creature from the cause of that pain.
If the damage is so severe that getting away is pointless, the brain doesn't process the messages.

I'd never thought of it like that, and you have a good point.

My "Humane Killing" definition revolves around 3 things:
1) A certain death. "Having a whack" at something is far from certain. You hit it and it runs away pained and suffering... that's the undesirable approach I'm talking about.

Pin the little bugger down (which they did) and giving it good hard smack with a solid instrument (which they did) and the liklihood of it dying increases dramatically.

2) A quick death. What's the point is making death linger? If there's a quick way of dispatching something it should be used. It also minimises the possibility of escape, and the prospect of option 1 (above) kicking in.

3) A painless death. Your post certainly made me think about that one - an angle I'd never considered before. I have to admit my general philosophy hasn't changed at all, but your points are certainly something to think about.

I'll still be trying for a head shot instead of a gut shot, and I'll make sure the hammer is adequate to dispatch possums upon first contact.

MDU

**Storm** · 11th May 2006, 17:07

Good possum = dead possum.
Nuff said

**SARGE** · 11th May 2006, 17:53

Originally Posted by SimJen

Yep, all schools should teach the art of shooting....probably be more useful in some countries

my gym teacher had 2 .45's and a 30.06 in his office...

i grew up in a " gun-culture" we learned at a very early age about gun safety and how to use them..i had pistols and semi-auto assault style rifles displayed in my lounge back home .. my kid knew not to touch them or even open the cabinet..

different strokes i guess

**Mr. Peanut** · 11th May 2006, 17:59

Pretty soon teachers arn't even gonna be able to look at the kids, they'll be constarined to sitting in a little wooden box with a microphone, and forced to wear a burka when leaving or entering the school.

FFS teachers are people too, kids are gonna enter the real world at some point, and all of this PC bullshit isn't gonna change that fact.

**mstriumph** · 11th May 2006, 18:08

Originally Posted by Colapop

No no it's prostrate. After you get it you end up prostrate - in a box!

is there an echo in here?

....... anyway, that's 'supine'?

**mstriumph** · 11th May 2006, 18:29

what disturbs me is not the killing but the total group participation & lack of dissention

seems to me it equates with fox-hunting in england

yes foxes are vermin and yes, definately need killing ............ but wat i objected to as a child was sicko folks gettin all done up in pretty pink coats and taking the kiddies along and making a fun day out of tearing them to bits with a pack of dogs [the foxes - not the kiddies]

one of my schoolmates came to school with blood still smeared over her face where she had been 'blooded' the weekend before [old english social custom .... don't ask] and had refused to have it washed off

...i stuck her head down the loo and flushed

i was about 7

i haven't changed - i support pest control

re-reading this, honesty makes me admit that there are some PEOPLE i would enjoy hitting repeatedly with a hammer - with or without an audience cheering me on .....

**TonyB** · 11th May 2006, 18:40

So, they hit it repeatedly on the head with a hammer. At the very least it would have been rendered unconcious by the first blow. After that it wouldn't have known a thing. Possums are notoriously hard to kill. I would have thought giving it a couple more whacks to make sure it was dead was actually being humane. Maybe I don't have all the facts, but I can't see a problem with what they did.

As for the group parcipitation- possums are also extremly strong (I've had one stand up and start walking when I was using my body weight to pin it down) and they can move pretty darn quick- they wouldn't have had time to get everyone out of the room

**scumdog** · 11th May 2006, 19:32

Originally Posted by SARGE

my gym teacher had 2 .45's and a 30.06 in his office...

i grew up in a " gun-culture" we learned at a very early age about gun safety and how to use them..i had pistols and semi-auto assault style rifles displayed in my lounge back home .. my kid knew not to touch them or even open the cabinet..

different strokes i guess

Sounds like the upbringing I had - soft-cock hippies are the ruination of society!
(and a lot eat fish 'not meat' and wear leather).
But I love thier 'peacenik' ideas - shame the criminals in this country don't)

**Skyryder** · 11th May 2006, 19:37

Teacher should have killed the possum. Not the kids. If he/she could not do it then set it free.

Skyryder

**TonyB** · 11th May 2006, 20:09

These were year 13 kids. So that makes them 17/ 18 years old I guess. In the past, 18 year old Kiwi kids have gone off to war and had to kill a whole lot more than just possums.

**nadroj** · 11th May 2006, 20:42

Originally Posted by XxKiTtiExX

Reminds me of the kids at school.. Kicking a little mouse... Then standing back laughing at it while watching it try and crawl with broken legs and stuff...Sure.. A possum is a HUGE pest.. But I won't even hit them with my car after seeing a cat that "didn't quite" die after someone hit it..Call me pathetic.. But the thought makes me sick... There were other ways they could have gone about killing the possum...I don't feel the teacher should have encouraged the killing of the possum... each to their own opinion though..

After you have swerved to avoid a possum on the road & ploughed into a power pole you will realise the lesser of two evils & prefer the one that doesn't hurt you as much both physically & in the pocket.

**mstriumph** · 11th May 2006, 21:11

Originally Posted by TonyB

These were year 13 kids. So that makes them 17/ 18 years old I guess. In the past, 18 year old Kiwi kids have gone off to war and had to kill a whole lot more than just possums.

i'll think you've got a valid arguement once they start arming the possums .....
until then, i'm with kitti on this

**Colapop** · 11th May 2006, 21:20

Originally Posted by mstriumph

is there an echo in here?

....... anyway, that's 'supine'?

Hello hello hello hello no there's no echo.
BTW
"Prostrate - To cause to lie flat"
"Supine - # Lying on the back or having the face upward."
Dictionary.com so it must be right...

**Paul in NZ** · 11th May 2006, 21:33

Sigh..

A few years back, I went back to one of my fave valleys in a very remote part of the West Coast... The damage done by the possums was a genuine shock... The rata had been decimated and near where I used to camp, a massive tree had died of starvation from possum damage and crashed down taking centuries of forest with it.

Kill the little fuckers - I don't care how you do it.... Teaching these kids to kill possums is a good thing..

**Big Dave** · 11th May 2006, 21:51

Originally Posted by scumdog

Sounds like the upbringing I had - soft-cock hippies are the ruination of society!
(and a lot eat fish 'not meat' and wear leather).
But I love thier 'peacenik' ideas - shame the criminals in this country don't)

"Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

George Orwell