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Doves are very
gentle natured birds. They do not bite or screech or cause any harm to
other creatures. Doves are mellow, easy to tame & help our
environment by eating seeds from weeds such as Ragweed. Doves are
very lovable & cuddly creatures that enjoy personal attention and
petting. A perfect pet bird for any family. It is difficult to understand
why someone would want to hunt and kill such a peaceful creature.
According to the US Fish and Game and the Wildlife management
institute, the mortality rate for doves in the wild is more than 58% per year for adults and 69% for juveniles. Life span in the wild is
1.5 years for adults. This is pretty sad since doves lifespan in captivity can exceed 20 years.
According to their publications and research, this is indicative of hunting which is responsible for 90% of the deaths and the remaining 10% due to poisons, predators and disease.
Over 70 million doves are
killed by hunters in the U.S. each year. It is this type of sanctioned murder
that wiped out the entire Passenger Pigeon species in 1914. The
beautiful red throated Passenger Pigeons were hunted out of existence just as the
decline of the mourning doves is becoming more apparent each year.
Surely
it is not a challenge to fire a gun at an innocent, trusting, sitting target and is certainly
not something to brag about. There is no
skill involved in killing doves. They are docile, peaceful and
sedentary. They do not understand violence and do not attempt to flee
until it is too late. Perhaps the hunter of Doves would find more challenge in
proving their skills at a target range rather than the shame of killing innocent
creatures which is neither good sportsmanship nor providing any benefit
whatsoever. It is a shameful act of cowardice to kill such a gentle,
harmless creature.
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