Senseless... and Illegal

Today, I went hiking with several of my children at our favorite local wildlife sanctuary, owned by Audubon of Florida. Sporting a 2-mile long trail, it is open to hikers and bikers from sunup to sundown. It is really a beautiful place--a riverine swamp with hardwood trees covered in various species of Tillandsia (and even a few Epidendrum magnoliae to boot). I was, in fact, making a short jog off the main trail to check up on one of these plants. It had several seedpods and one new flower, but nothing photogenic enough to capture in pixels.

Suddenly, I hear my children are yelling "Dad, a deer!". I came over quickly, expecting to see a live deer somehow browsing fearlessly nearby despite the yells from the children. Alas, it was not so...there before our eyes was a deer carcass, not even 24 hours dead, with a huge gash in the top of its head...it was the obvious work of poachers who wanted nothing more than the poor creature's antlers to hang up on their wall like some grisly prize. I was sickened and angered by what lay before me and what my children had to endure seeing this particular day.

Now, I am a happy omnivore and enjoy a good slab of meat on my plate, so I have no qualms with killing an animal for the purpose of eating it...but this...this was the senseless taking of a life just for a few inches of anatomy attached to its head. Further, the signs posted at the entrance and along the trail in this sanctuary make it abundantly clear that hunting is illegal in this area, so guests of this sanctuary jog, hike, and bike through the area with a sense of safety, not expecting to meet Bubba and Jim Bob with their guns pointed at them...and I seriously doubt that these were the responsible types of "hunters" who wait for a clear kill shot before shooting, so as not to wound the animal only but ensure a humane end to its life. In short, these idiots are putting human lives at risk for the purpose of their "sport", hiding in a no-hunting zone wildlife sanctuary and shooting at anything that moves.

I reported this incident to the Florida poaching hotline (aka the FWS wildlife alert hotline), along with geocoordinates from my handy GPS, at 888-404-3922. Apparently, poaching in Central Florida is becoming quite rampant, as is evidenced by this story. If you see a similar incident, please report it to the local authorities. While the senseless criminals got away with it this time, perhaps next time they won't.

Color me angry...
---Prem