by Curt Kovener 
I was saddened and disappointed to learn about a rare whooping crane while on a southerly migration had been shot and killed west of our community. Sad because they seem to be making a comeback and disappointed because those of us who enjoy the outdoors with hunting and fishing got a black eye because of someone’s stupid kid trick.
The timing of the shooting is ironic in that Sandhill Cranes are also making their pilgrimage to the south. The Sandhills are greater in number and have been seen feeding and resting in some of the same bottomland where the whooping crane was found.
But even the Sandhill Cranes need be wary- not in this neck of the woods but as they migrate south over the Bluegrass State.
It seems the Kentucky Legislature last year passed a law establishing a hunting season on Sandhill Cranes. As of January 1 it is now legal to hunt Sandhill Cranes in Kentucky. Supposedly the legislature was told the skinny birds have delicious meat. Of course they surely already know of the delicate succulence of possum.
From my wildness observations, Sandhills routinely fly well out of shotgun range. You can hear them but really have to squint to see them circling. So how do you lure them into gun range? Wearing a Sesame Street Big Bird costume?
While Bluegrass natives may not like it, their legislators’ actions seem to reinforce many of the punch lines of those Kentucky jokes and of a backwards backwoods culture.
But the Kentucky lawmakers do not have the market cornered on foolish laws. Those “you have to do it this way because we know best” Hoosier state elected officials are in a dead heat with the elected Kentucky brain trust.
Just a day after he put it into effect, Governor Daniels quickly retreated from limiting the number of people at the statehouse. He said he did limited just 3,000 people in the statehouse for safety reasons. But maybe someone told him that next month’s Super Bowl will have considerably more people, and that past Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 hold more visitors and with no fatalities or major injuries of visitors. Maybe Daniels concern with safety stems from the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair during his watch.
The governor’s gaff wasn’t the only Hoosier Statehouse head scratcher.
It seems an Indiana legislator wants a law passed requiring the National Anthem to be sung just one way. I haven’t researched what way that is. But since many Hoosiers sing off key, there undoubtedly will be a lot of National Anthem lawbreakers guilty of a misdemeanor at high school basketball games if that ludicrous law makes the books.
Perhaps to continue to race their Kentucky counterparts to the lunatic legislation finish line, Hoosier lawmakers, to counterpunch the Sandhill crane legislation, should establish hunting seasons on Cardinals and Wildcats.
But I suppose when discussing legislatures, we should always remember: “Never argue with an idiot. They will wear you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
