How come I can't feel my soul?
According to most religions, the soul is a gas like material that leaves your body when you die. if so, than I know what my soul feels like, since it leaves my body quite often, especially after I eat certain foods.
Is it ethical to keep trophy fish?
I see no ethical problem with keeping a trophy fish, particularly if it's a plentiful or nonnative sportfish like largemouth bass. Or, if you're on a special trip to a faraway place, I can see the allure of keeping a trophy. People keep scads and scads of sportfish for eating, so keeping the real lunker you caught is not the worst thing you can do. And don't forget your license fees pay for upkeep and improvement of the fishery. Your dollars helped to grow that fish. You have the right to keep it as long as you're legal and so is the fish. I keep very few fish. I am a catch-and-release angler partly because I think it's beneficial to the fishery but also partly because putting fish back is EASIER. No stringers, no cleaning -- just pop em back in the water. I do love to eat fish -- when I am camping I will keep an occasional fish to eat, but on daytrips to my home waters I keep very few. On a good day I catch 8 or 10 fish per trip, I fish my home waters 4 to 6 times per month, and I maybe keep one of those fish every 3 months. When I catch a specimen I consider a "trophy," I still don't keep it. Yes, I want to put it back in the gene pool, but more than that, putting it back enables someone else to catch it -- preferably me! I take photos of the good fish I catch, and if I ever want to mount a fish, I think I will probably go the replica route. I would document the fish with measurements and photos and have a resin replica made. I mean let's face it -- a stuffed fish is really just a representation of the fish you caught. It's not THE fish. It's mostly plastic and shellack and other artificial materials. So, why not just get a representation that's ALL artificial materials? I like the idea of having a replica on my wall while the real fish might still be out there growing. A guy here at my office has a beautiful replica of a trophy laker hanging on his wall. It's a great looking model and as far as I can tell, it looks just like the fish in the photos. However, to reiterate, I have no problems with anyone who wants to keep trophy fish or even keep their legal limit to eat them. That's why we manage our fisheries in the United States -- so that each person can access and utilize that resource in the way he or she sees fit. Catch a trophy and can't bear to put it back? Keep it!
I feel like nature is calling me?
I'm 16 years old and I have been very interested in spiritual things lately. I have been researching things such as the third eye/pineal gland, meditation, Earthing, ascension to higher consciousness.. and so on. My mom is the same and we can talk about this stuff for hours. My dad also said he was very spiritual and hippy like growing up. I've also read the book Anastasia (great book by the way) and other books along the spiritual/nature category. Anyways, I feel like I need to reconnect with nature. I have the urge to go sleep outside on the ground under the stars and breath fresh air. I feel disconnected. I also believe humans should live as nature intended. Anyways, I stay up at night thinking about all this. Is it just my human instinct? Or my mind going too far with my interests?
Sometimes life can be deceiving, but when is it better?
It's always better when we're together
Do you like Columbus Zoo or Cincinnati Zoo best?
Ooooh this is hard.. We're members of the Columbus zoo, so my first instinct is to say that I like the Cols zoo best. They have a wonderful manatee exhibit and I really like the gorilla complex as well. It is technically the largest zoo in the US and Jack Hanna (my daughter's hero....seriously) is our director emeritus. So it has those things going for it. But the Cincinnati zoo has a fantastic cheetah exhibit (really one of the best in the country if you ask me) and is very unique as well. I personally thing the layout of the zoo is one of the better I've visited (and trust me, we've been to quite a few). Its geared more towards keeping the flow of traffic moving & making sure you don't keep visiting the same area over & over again which is really nice if you're trying to see it all in one day. We really enjoyed our visit there a few summers ago and plan on going back this summer since they now have a set of cheetah cubs. --------------------------------------... I just have to add that I agree with the poster below me...the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is great as well. The Rain Forest complex is probably the most fascinating zoo building I have ever been in. While we're on the subject, the Toledo zoo is really nice too! If you're into reptiles, they have the coolest reptile house ever! From what I remember, their King Cobra exhibit is on both sides of the walk area with a plexiglass covered walkway so you can see them slithering from one side to the other....very creepy! Ohio is very fortunate to have so many wonderful zoo that have strong suits in very different areas of animal care, breeding, conservation, etc.