If you stumble upon the sight of a man throwing rocks at a city pigeon with a knife in his pocket, do not be alarmed. It's probably Jackson Landers just picking up some lunch.
Landers, the author of Eating Aliens, is a professional hunter specializing in invasive species such as pigeons. He believes eating such species is a more ethical approach to eating animals. Prevention explains:
Millions of these invaders plague every habitat across the U.S.: iguanas decimate native bird populations in Florida by noshing their eggs, while giant Canada geese get sucked into jet engines and wreak havoc in New York. He’s made it his mission to prove that there’s an easy solution to our problem.
Landers said, “I found I was a happier person once I started hunting for food and stopped buying it at the grocery store. You want free-range meat as cruelty-free as possible? That pigeon lives a pretty good life in the wild until someone throws an apple at it.”
And many are in agreement. In 2008, Daniel Haag-Wackernagel, a biologist at the University of Basel, came out in support of the rather unorthodox practice.
"The birds have an enormous reproduction capacity and they’ll just come back," Haag-Wackernagel said. "There is a linear relationship between the bird population and the amount of food available."
Don't fancy a pigeon? Not to worry as the city's ecosystem has plenty to offer. Be sure to check out artist Laura Ginn's multi-course rat feasts. Bon appetit!