Ingo,
Justified venting!
It's not bad enough that nearly every species on earth is in far worse-than-ever condition because of humans. We also have to move into "their" little remaining turf(the countryside) and and then act like THEY are the problem, and kill them for simply trying to survive.
If such "varmints" are unwanted, they can be most-easily avoided by living in a nice human-packed city and dealing with the problems THAT SPECIES causes.
That some people will take the kids to the zoo and enjoy how "cute" the penned animals are ( quite likely buying peanuts or the like to FEED them), and then go home and begrudge the NATIVE animals we have displaced a few vegetables (or an egg), and ignore the "nature-study" opportunity right in their faces, is indicative of the incredible arrogance of our species.
To go a step beyond "protecting" our garden, pets, etc. with fences, LOCKABLE containers(garbage cans with hasp and lock, ) and so forth to KILLING the "wild" creatures (not for food, or to "protect-our-young", or to avoid being eaten ourselves, but for our "convenience"!) is plainly and simply a denial of the worth of any life other-than-our-own.
The habit of selective-condemnation is an interesting human trait, too.
"Let's put out some food, so birds will come! Look how many are here today, ... better buy more seed. Isn't "nature" beautiful!" vs. "There's a possum/raccoon ( who has "come" to the food we "put-out"), ...lets shoot the ugly thing!"
Will the REAL "superior-species" please stand up!
I have more-than-once been disgusted by the "if I have no-use for it, it has no right to live" mentality. This egotistical and stupid view makes me wonder what the earth and all its eco-systems would be like WITHOUT HUMANS. Do you think it would still be a marvelous life-system, wonderous in-its-own-right, ...or do you think it would be "pointless" without we precious humans to enjoy(destroy?) it? The choice of answer may indicate whether one thinks our rightful place is as a "part-of" creation-as-a-whole, or as the privileged "beneficiaries" for whose use/pleasure everything else exists.
Even if you buy the last (usually religiously-based) view (I don't), what sense does it make to destroy what is ostensibly "provided" for-your-benefit?
I trust that these comments will not be taken as opposition to hunting, or to really NECESSARY predator-control, ...I object to neither.
Speaking for myself and my partner, at our place, we can spare a little food, a few vegetables, and some space and time for our friends. And we consider the wildlife whose world WE share, and who add to our lives by simply being-here, to be our "friends". To be so petty as to "fight" them(much less KILL them!) over what amounts to a few "crumbs from our table", would leave us deservedly ashamed!
I'll finish with a pathetic observation; When I was a kid, butterflies were everywhere (not just in "butterfly houses" at some zoos) chasing/catching/watching them the way I and my friends did when we were kids, is something my grandchildren will NOT experience (and, sadly, won't even know they have missed). The reason there are so few where there once were so many? ... we've (as a culture) replaced the multi-specie "weeds" with OUR choice of flowers, and a nice uniform variety of closely-mown "lawn". And we're not-about to let those "ugly" worms and caterpillers eat any of them. We'll blindly do the "usual" thing, ... Kill them! What "use" are they?
Sometimes, looking back at what "we" have done in the past, it's difficult to be optimistic about what will be done in the future. I know I wouldn't trade the environment of even 50 years ago for what surrounds us today.
It didn't get this way because of our good "stewardship"!
Rant "off".
Larry