In response to two recent letters in last week’s Examiner, "Urbanites Need to Learn What ‘Rural’ Means" and "Move From City to Country Changes More Than Address," I have this to say: I was raised on a farm on Staten Island, N.Y. My grandfather was a very successful farmer. I did not live in a neighborhood where gunshots were heard.
Also, I am intelligent enough to know that crime is everywhere. It is not just a city problem. I never complained about farm equipment, I love the smell of horses, I fill my garden with manure, and I take my 3-year-old to the stables all the time. That is rural character. Rural character is not having the lives of your family placed in danger by a bunch of unsafe strangers with loaded weapons. You should learn how to use a dictionary to find the meanings of words.
I lived at my residence for three years prior to the opening of Bent Creek Game farm. What happened to the local saying of "We were here first"? I did not find in Webster’s Dictionary where rural means armed men coming on my property to within 100 feet of my daughter’s swing set, or unarmed men, or anyone I did not invite. Rural does not mean shotgun pellets flying through the trees behind my house. Real hunters know it is a safety violation to shoot in the direction of dwellings.
I am also a hunter. It is a great sport. Sport is the operative word here. The pheasants are taken out to the fields to await the arrival of "the mighty hunters." Why not just shoot pigeons from your bedroom window, or just buy the birds and go trapshooting instead? Or, go hunt in the wild where it is sport to find and kill for food.
Our issue is the safety practices of Bent Creek. I was told by one of the owners about the man on my property, "well, he signed a paper, so he’s on his own." Well, the liability if something happens does not end with just a signed paper. In my opinion, they do not oversee their customers to ensure the safety of children in the area. They need to get more involved in the safety of their business.
Get your facts straight before you say what it is we are complaining about. Furthermore, before you invite anyone to go back where they came from, my wife was born and raised in New Jersey.
I invite anyone who claims we have no business complaining to bring their small children to come and play in my yard during the hunting and shooting parties are out.
You may not yet realize this, but you are living in a future suburb. I advise you to move away as soon as possible.
Larry Cocozello
Upper Freehold