The Cecil Affect
International
I've been going through our videos from the trip to Namibia last year, thought I'd share this short clip. Taken on our game drive at Erindi Game Preserve. Now, this lady I have no doubt is very nice. I assume she's married, has kids, maybe even grandkids, so I'm not about to call her names or belittle her for her question. It's just humorous and even the other riders on board got a laugh out of it. I call it "the Cecil affect"
My bull is named “ Spider”
My deer is named “ Goliath “
Oh! The Greenies named a lion “ Cecil” ! How silly.
I wish I could attach a little comic strip to go along with my post. I guess I just think guys naming their quarry is just as ridiculous.
Naming animals is not ridiculous in the least. We all do it in some form or fashion. Some of us choose to just say, "that big 8 point" vs. calling him "Fat Albert.".
By the way...you guys that name your deer with cool names can steal Fat Albert if you like.
I have no problem with people naming animals actually, helps identify them more easily at deer camp, etc. And I see no issue with them naming the lion 'Cecil' It's when they start trying to associate human characteristics and traits to an animal, especially an apex predator in the wild, that it gets silly. Call him Cecil all you want, just don't invite him over for dinner, unless you want to be on the menu. And by the way, none of their lions/leopards at Erindi have human names.
Never have and never will! my best, Paul
Apparently some here don’t know the Cecil story or the fallout that ensued and all the damage to hunting that resulted. Naming wildlife like you name a pet humanizes said wildlife and makes it much easier for the anti hunting contingent to garner support from the witless, naive populace that supports their causes with monetary stimulus. When another legal lion hunt occurred on Umbabat the anti hunters quickly dubbed the animal “Skye” so that it took on a disneyesque persona and made it much easier for idiots to sympathize with their warped cause. I cannot believe that the naming of wildlife ever caught on within the hunting ranks. Giving a wild animal a name makes it an individual separate from the herd and not part of the collective member of a species. Antis have been humanizing wildlife as part of their tact forever.
Well said, Ken. All my animals are named "Potential Dinner."
Meet "Louie" (he had a Louisville Slugger on the side of his head) :^D
Joking...we didn't name him, until AFTER he was dead!
The unwitting masses, groomed to a predetermined outcome by the media. I wonder how many of the squirrels in that ladies yard have names?
I don't generally name animals, except for dogs and cats, (cats don't know their names anyway :-), but between us guys on the lease it does help when describing particular bucks. The tall tined eight point we call "tall eight". Original ain't it ? One buck with a 90 on his G2 we call "Crook". It's not quite the same as "Cecil" though.
Ken, Is that wide Cape named " Moneymaker"?
I named a buck this year for the first time in a long time. His name.... browtines!
I don't name stands and I don't name critters. Though, once I hung a handle on dead bear: The Sumo Bear. My buddy killed it and it just fit. He named himself, really.
I should force myself to name stands for efficiency when hunting with others. It would save quite a bit of time explaining hunting plans.
After reading Kens response, I'd have to modify my answer. I agree with Ken and my first mistake was when I mention that we 'name' the deer on at the lease. That was true and false. We don't give them human names, but we do give them names to reflect their description. "Wide 8", "welfare buck" because he's always eating the free corn, or the "split G2" in the south pasture, etc. None of them get a human name. So I was incorrect and not clear on my initial comments. And Ken certainly has a front row seat over there and this hits a lot closer to home for him, so I defer to him, and beg his forgiveness for my ignorance at making a light hearted and flagrant attempt at humor in my comments of the original post. Her comments in the video are a reflection, maybe not across the board, of how the average citizen views wildlife. They are all "cute and cuddly." I tell people all the time, you want to see a cute and cuddly zebra? Go to YouTube and search 'zebra kills' and see how many videos pop up of a stallion killing foals that aren't his offspring.
my friends know if i name a buck he's more than likely on death row.
Giving a name to an animal is flat out ridiculous! Just one more example of how the technology of trail cams is hurting the hunting industry.
Learned a long time ago on the farm you don't normally name stuff.... especially stuff you might be killin' and eatin' later on. Having said that.... unless you use SOME descriptive words to describe who, what or where you are talking about nobody know WTH you are talking about. Nice to keep the words down to minimum.... not that that's my strong suit.... more than a couple is a phrase.... closing in on a sentence.... etc.
Except for things you want to come when you call em, (cats not withstanding.....) I see no use for anthropomorphized (making human?) names. Even then normally not, my current birddogs are Sassy and Skittles. A cat we had for what seemed like 30 years was named.... cat..... guessing there is a psychology behind naming non-human things human names..... but I'm no psychologist and.... don't really care.
Having said that..... words are just words, name animals, cars, trucks, bows, etc. human names if you like, no big deal. FWIW I know guys that name their, um, body parts....... knock yourselves out..... not gonna analyse that with YOUR ten foot pole.....
For me names happen when a descriptor gets used over and over and sort of becomes the name. I imagine that's how towns like moose jaw, etc get named. And since that's the way I do it, that's the way everyone should do it.
I name all my animals "Ded".
It's probably a little easier to toss a moniker on a critter when you see them often, or live amongst them. I get tired of repeatedly telling my wife I saw "the nice 8 point; the one with longer brow tines but less mass, and has the limp". Maybe I need a coding system for deer?
.
We were in Chitina, AK last summer which is about as far removed from a comfortable suburban life as you can get. I'd wager 100% of the residents eat wild-caught fish and moose or caribou. One of the hungry-looking residents asked us if we'd seen Jerry.
"Nope....haven't seen the guy."
"There he is. Look in the yard behind that house. He hangs around here a lot. We're letting him get big....."
I have never named an animal and never will. Just doesn't seem right to me. I just like to put an arrow or a piece of lead through their chest and call them "Dead"
Hey wait a minute Kevin...
Jerry
I live around 50 - 60 wild, I mean feral, horses and the libtards who feed them also have them all named. That’s a good enough reason for me not to name animals. That said I’ve been known to name sheep I’ve hunted descriptive monikers like “Mass Man”, “Twister” and “Grandpa”. Hunted a big mule deer buck we called “Only If” because he would’ve been a 200”+ buck if both sides where the same. Can’t remember ever calling an animal George or Jack though...
I’ve named every animal I’ve shot the same name, Dinner.
