Youth Has To Have It's Fling

I hunted hares and rabbits back in my teenage years
And for the suffering of wild things I did not have any tears
But the years have made me mellow we all mellow with age
And now i pity the little bird i see locked in a cage.

But you take the bird out of the cage and in the wilds set him free
The wild born birds will kill him as he does not have a territory
They would harass him and peck at him and cause him ache and pain
And he'd feel happy to be back safe in his cage again.

Some are quite cruel to animals though they don't see it that way
And crimes against innocent creatures are committed every day
But in some instances what is cruel or not cruel is not for me to say
For the slaying of the smaller bird how can one blame the bird of prey.

In the wilds of the wild kingdom the strongest always rule
And the creature that must kill to live cannot be classified as cruel
Lions are not herbivores they solely live on meat
They hunt and kill the wildebeest to live they have to eat.

I hunted fox and badger cruel sports i did enjoy
But that was many years ago when i was a school-boy
The years have left me mellow i now frown on such a thing
But like a wise one once said youth has to have it's fling.