SAD DAYS FOR SANDHILL CRANES IN KENTUCKY

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Hunters interested in participating in Kentucky's first sandhill crane season can begin applying for permits.


The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources said it will take applications for permits from Nov. 15 through Nov. 30 and hold a drawing Dec. 5 to select up to 400 hunters.


Hunters are allowed to take up to two sandhill cranes and must register them with the department. The hunt will begin Dec. 17 and continue through Jan. 15, 2012, or until hunters take 400 birds.


It will be the first hunting season for sandhill cranes in a state east of the Mississippi in a century. The birds were nearly extinct in the early 1900s because of overhunting, but officials say the populations have rebounded enough to allow a limited hunting season.


For a look at what the cranes are like, please go to Vickie Henderson's blog and see her information and photos. 
 http://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/2011/07/intimate-visits-with-sandhill-crane.html
Vickie kept the petitions going through her blog and all those who read it, back in the summer.  Sadly, we didn't get enough signatures or letter or phone calls to make a difference.

I have uncles in my family who hunt, but aren't deer and turkey enough? 
Can you even eat a sandhill crane?  Is this just for sport?
Because the population, which had gone nearly extinct, is rebounding? 

There are very few areas in the U.S.  (but I admit, there are some in Kentucky) where you have to hunt to eat, to feed your family, to survive. 
What harm are the cranes doing that legislation in Kentucky thinks we need
to "cull" them;
to "take" them;
which means to KILL THEM?