I’ve gotten into birding over the past half decade. I go more frequently now that I’ve given up pickleball after accidents resulting in two broken wrists.
This morning was a delightful, if chilly, walk in the woods in Southeastern PA. We saw swallows, a wood duck, red tailed hawk, yellow rumped warblers, robins, blue jays, cardinals, cat birds, hairy woodpeckers. Brilliant blue sky, warming sun rising above us as the morning wore on.
Over the years I’ve gotten to know the regulars. Who is good at spotting, at listening, at identifying. We’re not exactly friends, but friendly comrades.
This morning I overheard a woman asking Pat, who is great at spotting - whether he’d had a good hunting season. My stomach tightened. Here we birders are, getting up early in all kinds of weather to catch sight of, or hear the sounds of, birds. Pat is one of the regulars. A generous guy who loves to help us novices see something we’d otherwise miss.
He had answered, ‘well, I have meat in the freezer, so I guess it was a good season’.
I have often wondered whether these folks - and other birders - eat chicken (and other animals), but I focus on chicken for the obvious reason. If I had to guess, they do. I wonder what it is like to see a bird’s leg and breast on your plate? This after you’ve spent the morning looking through brush, on trees, in the water, and in the skies at birds.
They seem to love birds and being in nature. And yet……..and yet, the way the woman casually asked the question, and the way Pat answered, I have to believe there is no thought of the link between killing and eating a deer (which is what I imagine Pat hunts), and gazing at the birds we’re capturing through our binoculars. Is the gap between connection and disconnection great or small? How much would it take to consider the deer, pig, cow, or chicken like the beautiful birds we’re seeing through our binoculars?
I don’t have a judgement, since I was once disconnected from my love of animals and what was on my plate. And yet…….I want to ask questions? I want to learn how they see the animals they eat. I want to know if they’ve ever thought about the animals they choose to eat and those they don’t. At this point I don’t have that kind of relationship with any of them, but I’ll be on the lookup for when an opportunity arises.
Suzanne, this really resonated with me. I’ve had that same kind of quiet internal jolt, where something just doesn’t quite line up. As a vegan, I find myself sitting with that question a lot, the gap between how humans relate to some animals vs others. Like you said, most of us have been on both sides of that disconnection at some point. I really appreciate how you’re staying open for an opportunity to have a conversation. I LOVE that about PAUW and Conversations With a Friendly Vegan. If you ever do get the chance to have that conversation, I’d honestly love to hear how it goes. It feels like one of those spaces where real understanding can happen.