I know I m going to get my head bitten off but here goes anyway

Grammaretto I used to be able to use slug pellets to kill unwanted slugs and snails, but can't bring myself to do it any more ? So now I go into the back garden at night time with a torch and collect any I can find (which can be anything up to 10 a night!) and set them free in the front garden, where there are no flowers just shrubs. Silly, I know, but the older I get, the more sentimental and sensitive I get, the only thing I can kill now are flies! How anyone can kill an animal for pleasure is beyond me, and yes, I am a hypocrite, as I do eat a small amount of meat, however, I won't eat game, duck and definitely not veal.

I often do something similar with slugs & snails Curlywhirly. Haven't eaten veal since I learned what it was, or any meat for 30 years. But I am a hypocrite too as I can't do without eggs and cheese and convince myself that bad farming practices in poorer countries make alternatives to meat just as bad.
Why do we hate some animals and adore others?
We call them pests and vermin or invasive species whereas we should look at them as all creatures great and small.

Poor grey squirrels. They have a right to live too.
We could round them up and ship them back to America.
(But not Sammy, he stays here.)

I was in a local park where the grey squirrels are proving a complete menace. They destroy vegetation and take eggs from bird's nests and the people visiting feed them which also attracts rats. The people who supervise are at a loss as to what they can do with them. Let's set up shoots and charge a fortune for them. Maybe we can persuade top restaurants to serve squirrel pie.

Maybe we can persuade top restaurants to serve squirrel pie.

That's not an unreasonable suggestion at all. My ex buys squirrel meat from a farm shop in Bakewell. He says it's very nice in a casserole. He's not exactly known for his epicurean taste but there must be a market for it.

Sammy's gone into hiding.

That's cos he heard the casserole dish lid being rattled!

Squirrel is delicious, although not much meat on them- after all they eat mainly nuts and we tend to only eat animals that are herbivores (I know chickens will eat slugs and worms and pigs will eat almost anything). Not much meat on a squirrel though. Taste not unlike rabbit.

We all have our opinions on killing and eating of animals.

I don’t eat meat. But I accept that others choose to. I don’t hunt fish or shoot but I accept that others choose to. I don’t like my garden hedgehogs eating frogs and baby birds but accept that they do! Live and let live!

I distrust people who kill for fun.