Castratos

Next time you're being lectured to by your European betters or their fellow travelers here in the colonies, remind them of this delightful practice http://www.slate.com/id/2234635/ , in addition to the many wonders of the Third Reich or the Soviet Union (or French Revolution).

I had heard about castratos before but didn't know how widespread the practice was until now. Interesting what happens when you castrate a male of any species. I once saw an African lion that had this treatment done to him (what a great bunch of folks, those cretins who make pets out of predators) and what resulted was what looked like an enormous lioness. It's certainly useful (and necessary) if you're raising cattle, otherwise bulls would spend all day killing each other for the right to breed the cows. Speaking of which, I've been treed by bulls before and it's not a pleasant feeling. Also, about twenty years ago, I was hunting in a makeshift ground blind that was a little less than a yard high. I grew drowsy and lied down in the thing to take a nap. I dozed off and then was dreaming that something was snorting until I actually awoke and looked up directly into the eyes of the largest Simmental bull I had ever seen looking down at me wondering just what in the name of hell this thing was that was encroaching upon his pasture--an unpleasant episode all around and though I didn't wet myself, it could have gone either way. Fortunately, the bull wandered off to molest some grass or take a dump or something. Otherwise, I suggest not trying that trick the next time you're out in the brush somewhere. Lately, I read of some aspiring folk singer in Canada who was attacked and killed by coyotes--in a lot of areas, predators are losing their fear of people. That kind of thing doesn't occur much in areas where knuckle draggers roam the country, armed and not in the slightest hesitant to establish their dominance in the food chain. In that setting, predators tend to give upright walkers a wide berth. Coyotes are a recurring "problem" in my neighborhood and are fond of snatching small pets--dogs and cats, alike. The same people all in arms about legal hunting activities and lifetime members of WWF and PETA then raise holy hell demanding that the offending coyotes by brought to justice for the murder of the cuddly, Fifi. As for me, I don't blame the coyotes--they're doing what they do best. In fact, I've always been fascinated whenever I've seen one (or several) and like hearing their howls when I'm around a campfire. Same for bobcats. I shot the first bobcat I ever saw and have regretted it ever since. In the many years afterward, I've seen a lot of them and have enjoyed watching them quietly make their way along. I don't know where I'm going with this--bobcats are a long way from castratos and I'm not sure either would like the other. Coyotes, maybe.