Bear Grylls just killed a Boa!!

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

Yes, he is doing it for ratings.... I guess I don't see it as a bad thing.

Do you feel the same about fishing TV shows where they keep the fish they catch? What about hunting shows? Do you think the same thing there? To me they are all the same. They are entertaining AND educational. Way better then most of the crap on TV now a days, that is for sure.

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My dad was a survivalist. He would head into the bush with next to nothing and emerge 4 months later intact. We didn`t call it survivalism, we called it camping. We are old school that way.

And we were taught to tread very lightly and only use what you need when you need it.

So this baboon killing a boa, vs. a fisherman pulling a fish out of a lake. I would not compare the two. Same with a hunting show. Is the hunter teaching me how to hunt, or is he running around in the bush with spray on sweat pretending to be on his last breath?

One thing I love about forums, if someone says I agree with this or that... then there needs to be a list of do you agree with this, this, this and this?

Bruce

Yeah, I'm gonna agree with a lot of what was said. I used to really like watching MvW but I knew that there was WAY more going on behind the scenes that we didn't see, just based on the fact that he has anywhere from 1-4 people with him at all times and I guarantee you those people are not out there starving and dying of dehydration. It's funny in the episode where he's stuck in the Sahara he says like 4 times "well we just had another member of the crew picked up by helicopter due to him having heat-stroke" or dehydration. Wonder how many he had left?

I do like Survivorman more because he does showcase some real survival tips and IMO he's in more situations that a normal person would be likely to get in to. I mean, I don't see myself getting stuck in Belize or trying to cross the Sahara like on MvW but Les Stroud does more where he's stuck in the actual wilderness in the mid-west, in Alaska and elsewhere where normal people actually go. NOT like Bear where he's got a helicopter on standby to drop of some Dominos.

As a complete aside... Bear named his kids Marmaduke and Huckleberry... seriously.

Methinks that elephant dung he is sucking for water also occupies the space between his ears.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by DutchHerp

Bear Grylls is fake, so why kill apex predators? There is absolutely no reason and it's just morally wrong.

Also, when Grylls eats grubs he makes it extra slimy.
When Les Stroud, Survivorman, eats a grub, he says they don't taste so bad.

I hate Bear Grylls, he's a phony.

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Just curious as to why to a lot of you, the predator is more important than another animals life? Did the rabbit need to be killed? Did the "lower" reptiles need to be killed? None of it needed to happen. One animals life is not more important than another. Just like no humans life is more important than another. It reminds me of another thread where someone said that he liked all animals except rats, so he thought them dying was great. But how would he feel watching a kingsnake keeper feed a corn or a baby ball python to a large king snake? It seems we are only offended when animals we like are killed. Me, I think instead of snakes and lizards he should be dropped down in Oz and kill feral cats.....kill and eat lots and lots of cats.

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Originally Posted by stormwulf133

Just curious as to why to a lot of you, the predator is more important than another animals life? Did the rabbit need to be killed? Did the "lower" reptiles need to be killed? None of it needed to happen. One animals life is not more important than another. Just like no humans life is more important than another. It reminds me of another thread where someone said that he liked all animals except rats, so he thought them dying was great. But how would he feel watching a kingsnake keeper feed a corn or a baby ball python to a large king snake? It seems we are only offended when animals we like are killed. Me, I think instead of snakes and lizards he should be dropped down in Oz and kill feral cats.....kill and eat lots and lots of cats.

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It all goes back to a fairly new theory called Mesopredator release hypothesis.

Basically in short it says the decline of top predators in an ecosystem results in increased populations of mesopredators (medium-sized predators) such as raccoons, skunks, snakes, cats, foxes etc.

So, by killing off top predators, because top predators come in small numbers, then you damage the entire ecosystem.

The theory favors a top-down type of population control. Top predators kill off x number of prey, and keep the smaller, but more abundant middle predators under control, as well as the prey animals. But if the top predators start dying off, then middle predators start to gain in numbers, and in turn the prey animal population starts to dwindle. An ecosystem is all about balance. If it becomes unbalanced, then really bad things tend to happen.

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Originally Posted by Typical_08

It all goes back to a fairly new theory called Mesopredator release hypothesis.

Basically in short it says the decline of top predators in an ecosystem results in increased populations of mesopredators (medium-sized predators) such as raccoons, skunks, snakes, cats, foxes etc.

So, by killing off top predators, because top predators come in small numbers, then you damage the entire ecosystem.

The theory favors a top-down type of population control. Top predators kill off x number of prey, and keep the smaller, but more abundant middle predators under control, as well as the prey animals. But if the top predators start dying off, then middle predators start to gain in numbers, and in turn the prey animal population starts to dwindle. An ecosystem is all about balance. If it becomes unbalanced, then really bad things tend to happen.

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Exactly what I was gonna say. I don't value other animals' lives over others. It's just that apex predators have such a huge important to the health of the ecosystem that the death of an apex predator will probably affect their environment more than the death of a mesopredator.

I think apex predators should be left alone.

Pretty much. I spend a lot of time in the woods, and I am a hunter, and I have hunted everything from swamp rat to Brown bear. But as I grew older my way of thinking has changed some. Anymore the only way I am killing a top predator is if it is trying to kill me, or there absolutely is nothing else to eat (there is almost always something else to eat). Remember that Humans are also Apex predators.

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Originally Posted by Typical_08

Pretty much. I spend a lot of time in the woods, and I am a hunter, and I have hunted everything from swamp rat to Brown bear. But as I grew older my way of thinking has changed some. Anymore the only way I am killing a top predator is if it is trying to kill me, or there absolutely is nothing else to eat (there is almost always something else to eat). Remember that Humans are also Apex predators.

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I personally dislike hunting but I think it's AWESOME that you don't hunt the apex predators anymore. Lots of people don't realize that it's a bad thing to do.
:gj:

It is not for everyone. But it is something I have enjoyed since I was a child, and it does cut down on our grocery bill a good bit.

And honestly, most of the animals in the U.S. that you can legally hunt that are apex predators taste like poo anyway.

while i don't find anything wrong with killing a boa, i will say that i much prefer survivorman... he reminds me of my dad - a true outdoorsman with a lot to admire. his camera skills, survival skills, and - his harmonica skills, haha.