Studies, as we will see, indicate that hunting animals produces in human beings endorphins, serotonin and testosterone, chemicals that inoculate the hunter against hardship. They surge and flow through the blood as the hunter – or hunters (it is more pleasurable to hunt in a group, in a pack) – closes in on the prey. The chemicals ease the pain; they produce pleasure – even euphoria. And then the moment comes when the game is snared, or cut or killed. A moment of completion, elation, triumph. This does not, I emphasise, mean it is a good thing, or acceptable – I have for years represented
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