Of Big Fish and Porcupines

I think that most of the really big fish that are caught are eaten by somebody. If the sportsman doesn't want all of it, he may be able to sell or give away the surplus. There is a ready market for ocean fish like tuna and marlin. Although most states won't let you sell freshwater fish unless you have a commercial fishing license, you can always find somebody who will take them for free. Fresh fish is quite perishable and must be processed in a timely manner but, once it's in the freezer, it will last for a year or more. I'm sure that there are irresponsible sportsmen who don't bother to take care of their catch, but they aren't true sportsmen. The same goes for those big game animals they hunt in places like Africa. Responsible guides usually know some hungry villagers who will be glad to have the meat. Of course there are irresponsible guides, but the same could be said about any profession.

Porcupines do indeed climb trees, but I have never heard of one dropping down to attack anybody. They are sluggish, non-aggressive animals, which is why they need all those quills to protect themselves. They do damage some timber by eating the bark, which is why they climb trees in the first place. Probably the worst thing a porcupine can do is stick your dog full of quills, but that's the dog's fault. After a few encounters, some dogs learn to avoid porcupines and some dogs do not. The ones that do not don't last long. You can tell that your dog is not long for this world if each encounter is worse than the previous one. If the dog picks up less quills each time, then there is hope for it. Also, if most of the quills are stuck in the hind quarters, it shows that the dog is learning. If most of the quills are in the dog's face and inside it's mouth, it's only a matter of time before the dog will either kill itself or have to be put down.

Many jobs have certainly been lost to automation, but they were mostly low paying jobs anyway. Somebody has to make those machines, and somebody has to operate them, and those jobs generally pay better, although there are less of them. There is a TV show on the Science Channel called "How it's Made". When they demonstrate a manufacturing process, there is usually some part of it that is still done by hand, and it's not always the high tech part. Either there are some jobs that just don't lend themselves to automation, or the machine that can do it costs more than it's worth.