The sickening sound of a rifle
A flock of Canada geese, an eagle soaring overhead, little birds at my feeder — they all bring the terror back, the horrible sight of a magnificent snow goose falling to the ground, falling from the white cloud only 100 feet or so overhead.
I’d only heard about the migration through the rich Skagit Valley. I’d never been fortunate enough to witness it firsthand. Driving with friends through Mount Vernon and La Conner, through those verdant fields this past Sunday, I was absolutely thrilled at the sight of these magnificent birds, snow geese and swans, hundreds, thousands on the ground, and some rising as a cloud to some unseen trigger.
Then, shocked, sickened, outraged to hear pops, rifle shots, see dogs running with white bundles dangling from their jaws, the “hunter” loosely aiming his rifle into the flock and the results. Across the street, a lone individual, rifle carried casually at his side, walked across the field toward a white flock on the ground.
Sport? Survival? Barbarism? Do your communities really support this action? I can only hope that your families are nourished by the flesh of these totally defenseless and unsuspecting creatures.
Jane Millar
Woodinville
