Sparks, this is almost my thoughts exactly even after reading what went on.

Instead of "perhaps" though, I say he plain simply should Not have been throwing sticks so forcefully that it injured the critter... he could have damaged a kid and it's cruelty. I don't care if the squirrels are a nuisance.

However I do think it is a good lesson that you shouldn't a) let an animal suffer and b) be wasteful. ...no matter what age the children are.

Quote Originally Posted by sparks19
I don't see what the big hullabaloo is about.

Perhaps he shouldn't have been throwing sticks but putting an injured animal out of it's misery and then not putting it to waste can be a good lesson. Not to mention that squirrel can be a good meal in a survival situation. I think it would be far worse if he were to just let the animal suffer in front of the children. Instead I think it was turned into a good lesson on how to use what nature provides you and NOT to waste.

Why is it that humans are so unprepared to be a part of the life circle? So what if we're attacked and eaten by say... a bear. So be it. I'd call that an honorable death. (Not like I'm going to go out looking to die that way. Neither does the deer that gets hunted down by the mountain lion.) There is NOTHING wrong with dieing as food for something else. It is just the way things work. If I'm going to be a predator I better darn well be at peace with the thought of something else bigger and hungrier out there ready to eat me for its meal... and I am. (I also have healthy self-preservation instincts.)
Quote Originally Posted by sumbirdy
So...If I died should I be eaten so that I wouldn't have died in vain? I don't see why people think that if an animal dies and is not eaten that animal dies in vain.