Book: Death of a Naturalist
Quotes of Book: Death of a Naturalist
I was six when I first saw kittens drown.Dan Taggart pitched them, 'the scraggy wee shits',Into a bucket; a frail metal sound, Soft paws scraping like mad. But their tiny dinWas soon soused. They were slung on the snoutOf the pump and the water pumped in. 'Sure isn't it better for them now?' Dan said.Like wet gloves they bobbed and shone till he sluicedThem out on the dunghill, glossy and dead. Suddenly frightened, for days I sadly hungRound the yard, watching the three sogged remainsTurn mealy and crisp as old summer dung Until I forgot them. But the fear came backWhen Dan trapped big rats, snared rabbits, shot crowsOr, with a sickening tug, pulled old hens' necks. Still, living displaces false sentimentsAnd now, when shrill pups are prodded to drown,I just shrug, 'Bloody pups'. It makes sense: 'Prevention of cruelty' talk cuts ice in townWhere they consider death unnatural,But on well-run farms pests have to be kept down. book-quote
