성숙한 판단

공원을 산책하다 두 마리의 코요테로부터 공격을 받고 병원에 실려가 목숨을 잃은 가수의 이야기를 전해드린바 있습니다.

이 일이 있고 나서 코요테를 없애야 한다는 여론이 일지 않을까 염려했습니다. 그렇지 않아도 위험을 느끼는 사람들이 많은데 이런 생기니 코요테를 보이는 대로 죽여야 한다는 주장이 고개를 들지 않을까 걱정했습니다. 어린 자녀가 있거나 집에서 개나 고양이를 키우는 사람들은 특히 위협을 느끼곤 하지요.

그제 코요테에게 죽임을 당한 여가수 테일러 미첼의 엄마 에밀리 미첼이 딸의 죽음으로 인하여 코요테를 죽이는 일이 없기를 바란다고 부탁하고 나섰습니다. 인간들이 코요테의 땅을 가로챘으며 이 땅은 그들의 땅이라고 이야기 하고 있습니다. 자연이 야생동물의 것이라고 말하는 그들이 여유 있고 정직하며 성숙한 사람이라는 생각이 듭니다.

우리의 정서로는 당연히 사람을 물어 죽게 했으니 사람을 물어 죽음에 이르게 한 코요테는 당연히 죽여야 한다고 판단 할 것입니다. 인근의 코요테까지 다 죽여야 한다는 여론이 일겠지요.

대체로 이곳 사람들은 여가수의 죽음은 안타까운 일이지만 코요테를 죽여야 한다는 데는 동의하지 않는 듯합니다. 그들의 땅을 인간이 가로챘다고 생각하는 이곳 사람들의 인식에 공감하며 그들의 정직함에 감탄하게 됩니다.

딸의 죽음을 안타까워하면서도 딸을 죽게한 야생동물이지만 살려주었으면 한다는 엄마의 모습을 보면서 성숙함의 전형을 보는 듯합니다.

<Singer would let coyotes live: Mom>

The Toronto mother of Taylor Mitchell, a young folksinger who was killed by coyotes in Nova Scotia, says her daughter was a passionate environmentalist who would have opposed the killing of the two animals responsible for the attack.

Emily Mitchell issued a statement yesterday on the shocking death of her 19-year-old daughter in Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

"When the decision had been made to kill the pack of coyotes, I clearly heard Taylor's voice say, 'Please don't, this is their space,' " Mitchell said.

"She wouldn't have wanted their demise, especially as a result of her own."

Mitchell said media accounts of her daughter's death noted that the young woman was hiking alone in the remote park Tuesday afternoon when she was mauled.

She described her daughter as "a seasoned naturalist" who was experienced at camping.

"She loved the woods and had a deep affinity for their beauty and serenity," Mitchell said. "Tragically, it was her time to be taken from us so soon."

Taylor Mitchell was on a tour of Atlantic Canada when she went for a hike on the park's Skyline Trail.

Two nearby hikers and a Parks Canada worker called 911 as Mitchell was being mauled and an RCMP officer arrived to shoot one of the animals, apparently wounding it. Both managed to flee.

Mitchell died the next day.

Her mother expressed thanks for the outpouring of condolences from her daughter's friends and fans, and also thanked the hikers, police and doctors and nurses who tried to save her life.

Armed Parks Canada officers continued to search yesterday for the coyotes responsible for the attack but an official said a widespread kill of animals wouldn't occur.

Chip Bird, a park superintendent, said officers were looking only for animals acting abnormally.

He said the carcass of the coyote shot during the mauling had been found and was sent away for examination.

(Source : The Toronto Sun Friday October 30, 2009 page 23)