Today’s post is a serious one but very important both to me and Remi. If this is not your cup of tea, please don’t simply “unsubscribe” but come back later in the week, there is plenty of Provence to follow…
Ben froze at the sound of the first shot. At the second, he took off at a run. Kipling, our wiry rascal looked up at me with confusion. Amazingly, Ben is still well-trained enough that I was able to get him into a sit just long enough to slip the leash back on him. All around the outskirts of our village, we could hear the loud firecracker pops. Ben’s eyes widened until each one resounded as “fear, fear, fear” and he began to tremble. He strained on the leash as we all headed home at a pace just under a run, to safety in their minds, for today is the opening day of hunting season.
In France, the hunting of most species is highly regulated but you wouldn’t think so today for it would seem as if everyone wanted to use up all of their allotments at once for the number of gunshots ringing out at the 11am start time. So now, I will have to be more precise with not only the when of our walks but most certainly the where, as a man was killed last year just beyond the village by his colleague who mistook him for a deer.
As I sat down to type, my heart still beating fast with adrenaline, a mad rush of images flurried through my mind while I tried to flip file my sentiments on the act of hunting. A sentence began to form: “In the different traditional societies that I have had the good fortune to cover in our travels…” pause…what was it that they did? No actually, most of them did not rely on hunting to survive, meat is often precious, rare and agrarian gains were key to nourishment. But that too is changing, as modern society infringes on their lands, certainly that is the case with the Maasai. We are pushing them to change. And certainly we are the ones that have convinced ourselves of the need for hunting to be a sport.
As I have mentioned repeatedly recently,
Remi, my companion, has been creating a tribute to our incredible wildlife in tribute to the needless slaughter of Cecil the Lion. Now, I should say that from the beginning of Lost in Arles, Remi has not wanted to be a part of this blog directly, so this is of my choosing but I know that quite a few of you have been following along. For those of you that are interested, the end of his six weeks of storytelling has culminated in a fund-raising drive for the
Frankfurt Zoological Society, whose efforts have already saved 26 black rhinos in the Ngorongoro Crater (and have set up the security to protect the entire animal population) and are now focusing on the very high risk zones of the Serengeti National Park. Remi is calling out to the 31,000 members of his feed as well as the 2.3 million members of the feed for The Photo Society, which features the works of photographers that have been published in National Geographic.
I am incredibly proud of his work but especially so in that Remi, being Remi, has tried to raise the debate beyond just the horrific example of Cecil the Lion’s death. I will leave you with his words:
“Last July the killing of Cecil the Lion troubled me deeply. Mankind has definitely become the hyper-predator of planet Earth, who now possess the power to destroy anything we want while changing the global climate as well. And because of this super-power I feel that we have arrived at a turning point in our history and evolution: How can we control our own animality which sleeps in each of us from the dawn of time? It is my feeling that it is the biggest challenge of Mankind ever. To be able to grow together empowered by a vision: Responsible for the planet and respectful to all forms of life. And to do so, our societies should not think about the future as the idea to keep growing anymore, an overdue concept because we have already gone way too far. We should think of the world in terms of creating and keeping Harmony. Harmony versus Growing. The winning concept is the one you choose, yes, you reading here, because everything begins with oneself. From this awareness depends our own survival. On Sunday, pass the word, we will move to action on ig to feed together the Harmony and to balance the bad energy of one of us, a dentist who killed for pleasure.”
For those of you on instagram, you can find more information at @remibenali or @thephotosociety
Any amount, even a dollar, would be welcome and if you are so inclined and it is tax-deductible.
Please feel free to share this post or Remi’s feed on all social media, merci!
There is so much beauty in our world and I am grateful for it.
With my Highest Regards to all of you,
Thank you for being here,
Heather
Remi and I were both deeply saddened to learn that no charges whatsoever will be put against the dentist that killed Cecil. I am speechless is disbelief.
And yes, we are being careful and sticking to open areas close to the village. Ben is petrified by the sound of gunshot, even distant ones, so he is often my alarm. And hunting season has only just begun here. It is very sad indeed…
Please keep Henry and Bob (and yourself!) safe.
With a warm hug,
H
In the unending crunch and travelling that have comprised by last month, I did not get to this most important post until just now, Heather. Thank you so much for composing and posting it and for directing us to Rémi's IG site (which I will shortly visit). Like just about everyone I have encountered, including many African hands, I was crushed by Cecil's death. Having spent a month in East Africa in late 1970, I simply cannot imagine anyone choosing to kill a lion (or any of the magnificent creatures in the wild…and they all are magnificent) unless required to do so by hunger, protection of self or another human being or tribal custom (which I understand is now changing). In fact, I feel about hunting for sport, period. It is nothing short of barbaric, I am ashamed that our or any culture allows it, and I will continue to do all I can to stop it. A huge bravo to you and Rémi for your eloquent, beautiful and brave activism!
I am glad you are being cautious in walking Ben and Kipling during hunting season. Here, during bow hunting season and then firearm hunting season, we cannot hike anywhere hunting is allowed…Henry's golden-orange color makes him to easy a target for hunters' mistakes. Even in our neighborhood or the nearby Forest Park, I have worried that someone will mistake him for a coyote and fire a gun at him. (Fortunately, there don't seem to be any neighbors who own a gun or are inclined to use one in either area, which would be illegal.)
I hope hunting season in your area is over by the time you read this. Again, thank you for speaking out, and so beautifully, against the hunting of animals for sport, Leslie in Oregon
I was trolling back deleting deleting when I came upon your email here with a RED FLAG!I had RED FLAGGED TO READ later and NEVER HAD!I think I did see on INSTAGRAM aboutREMI and his powerful message……..so here I AM to say, leave the animals BE.Hunting for sport is definitely NOT Needed……………….and if people did not have guns THAT MAN would still be alive today in your village!Thats another topic I doNOT GET………..GUNS!
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL POST to a BIG BEAUTIFUL LION!!!!!
You and Kerry seem to be thinking along the same lines here and that, in and of itself, gives me hope Deborah! Gros Bisous and thank you for always being here…
I hope so, Kerry, I hope that you are right…and not that people will be angry for a bit and then forget about it. It is why Remi worked so hard (over 60 hours) on instagram and why I wanted to publish his words here despite knowing that I would lose readers (I have).
Wow, this is such an amazing response Judith, thank you. My very first thought was: "you need to find another real estate agent!" because "sterile and soulless" is just plain rude. And I agree with you about the waste in staging to sell your house – especially as I have seen enough photos of its interior to know how charming and welcoming it is. You will find the right buyer who will appreciate that, I am sure of it. And you know how I feel about the quest for "perfection"! Grrr…our society has gone down the rabbit-hole on that one and is missing out on so much that is beautiful "as is."
Thank you for the compliment about the photos too, I love the word "lush" – and the story about the painter is fascinating!
It certainly makes sense to me, Edgar. We don't need all that we have and our planet is suffering.
Thank you Tracy for passing this along…And I agree with you about thoughtless actions in many different forms…kindness is king and so essential…
That must have been so wonderful to see, Penny!! And oh how I hope they stay safe. There is a duck family that lives in a canal not far from our house and all last year through hunting season I went to check on them…it looks like they wised up and haven't returned this fall!!!
Me either, Laura. Hunting if it is necessary for sustenance – and even then like I mentioned most (not all) of the traditional societies that we have met use only very little – but sport? Go running instead or kayaking or something.