Circle of Life?

In the aftermath of the shotgun death of a Wampum, PA woman by the 11 year old son of her boyfriend, there was a soundbite from Cornell University Environmental Philosophy professor Jim Tantillo who quipped, "Life exists at the expense of other life. You have to kill in order to live."

Pretty universal, a rule that applies even to vegans who have to uproot plants for consumption. The rule was mentioned in the 2002 book, "The Everlasting Stream", a memoir about rabbit hunting (you non-readers rejoice: there was a 2007 PBS documentary related to the book).

As a Lover-Not-A-Fighter kinda guy, I'm haunted by that quote I read in today's paper. I do fish, kill, and eat all manner of oceanic life, so maybe I'm in denial about the blood on my hands. What I do know is that killing a mammal is, for now, my line in the sand.