THE HUNTING SEASON.
Today ushers in the season of the sportsman’s delight. From now on for the next few weeks the popping of guns will be heard throughout the land, and the wild life of field and wood will spend its days in bewildered trepidation.
Thus man returns to the primal instinct that drove him forth to forage for his daily provender in the era before agriculture and stock yards began to supply his needs in a scientific manner.
It must seem strange to the birds and beasts, this sudden explosion of humanity. Could they reason, what would be their judgment of beings who find pleasure in inflicting pain and death on inoffensive creatures? In their own struggle for existence they have their tragedies, but these are based upon the necessities of nature. Man’s invasion of their haunts with snare and gun is too often wanton.
As civilization progresses the hunting passion will disappear. Already we are learning to value the birds for their usefulness as destroyers of harmful insects, and coming to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the life that belongs to the little wild animals in our woods. The camera is superseding the shotgun; intelligent study and understanding are taking the place of senseless destruction. The invention of gun powder was an epoch-making event, but the world will be happier when we have outgrown its use.—Louisville Herald.