If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another
Sorry Wardmama. I know you sent this in 2 weeks ago. I am so far behind in my email it’s pathetic.
That’s ok - I don’t think I’d take on a lion or bear (unless I can keep the trophy head/hide).
I’m mixed on this wild animal thing - fed a little kitty - she seemed disoriented in the monsoon that day - she then decided under our back deck was even better than the front ramp, so I kept feeding her while trying to find someone to take her (oops, did I tell you she was prego) and then I faced the harsh reality - I took her to the pound. My reward - I took the baby kitty to the Vet on Tues (3 days past Miss Kitty’s incarceration) and he has fleas - a quick extra $100 for flea meds for two - I’m no longer the soft hearted -oh look at the cute _______ - from now on - most are going to that great Wild Animal Preserve in the Sky.
It’s more humane for them - imagine being a wild animal having to scrounge in suburbia for a meal or worse a domestic animal kicked out into the wild - and all around safer for humans and domestic pets.
This is no longer a No Kill Zone.
subsonic .22. In a bolt or lever action rifle these are quieter than a firecracker, and will dispatch little critters at backyard distances. Go for the head shot, either straight down between the ears, or from the side just behind the eye.
Warning!!!! Having sent my share of critters to the other side, if you’re squeamish and don’t want to see “flopping critters” go for the heart/lung area intead of a head shot.
Posted by harleycowboy58
07/30/2009 at 10:43 AM
What are thes critters (im and English ex town boy) groundhogs? what do they do?
Posted by Chris Edwards
07/30/2009 at 05:16 PM
They are big fat furry balls of nasty (great BIG teeth and nails on these bad boys) that build long up to 45 feet long (5 feet deep underground) tunnels and their meals of choice are my fruit (most especially the apples) and vegetables (again most especially the corn). To do this they usually dig under our fence to get into our yard and then do all sorts of mayhem to get to the good eats.
Otherwise - I see nothing useful and or productive about this particular vermin.
Harly - your post reminded me of my years as a kid - killing catfish (we usually caught salmon and trout - but one year a few catfish snuck into the mix) and watching the mouths continue to open and close - long after having been separated from the body.
That is one reason I chose the drowning method for Fatboy - read in Hobby Farming (and this was from a touchy feelly re-locator type) that drowning is the fastest (of course I knew she wasn’t going to go the bullet to the brain pan way) and most humane way. And we put him in the tub, I set the timer for 5 minutes but went to check at 3 and he was in that Corn Patch in the Sky.
It brings up the one fear I have (as in I need to shoot an animal or more importantly a human) as I’ve been in that position. In TX the first time (’84 to ‘86) a huge dog (a Rottie) dragging and even huger chain came into our yard and went crazy on the rabbit cage to get to the rabbit (who wisely went into his burrow under the shed). I got our .22 rifle and as I returned I heard my daughter say - ‘oh look at the doggy’ and knew I had to do something. I sighted him in (right between the eyes) and I could not pull the trigger. I lowered it and hit exactly between his paws.
And that real World experience gives me great fear that I could not pull the trigger if I had to. Maybe I can work through that, killing off the annoyances in my little piece of garden heaven. Who knows. Hopefully, if it is a kill or be killed - I won’t consider hesitating at all.
Wardmama-I recall reading an article about the most humane way to kill baby seals. It turns out the clubing, as they were doing, was the most humane way. Ask somebody that has been knocked out if they felt any pain during unconsciousness. Shooting a critter in the head is humane but it also causes the brain to send out impulses, hence the flopping and it LOOKS LIKE it is in pain. Think frog legs in the frying pan.
Living in the country and being around farmers and hunters I’ve learned that some things no matter how distastful have to be done. I’ve thinned out the herd on ‘coons and ‘possums due to fighting with the livestock. The dog was only seeing food not your pet. You gave him a second chance. Getting rid of critters is a mixed bag of feelings as compared to hunting, but don’t worry about hesitating with a human life at stake. You’ll have no questions.
Posted by harleycowboy58
07/31/2009 at 09:50 AM
back in the ‘80s a friend of mine had a “pet” timber wolf on his Ohio farm--it was our own little Woodstock (good God that 40th anniversary is coming up)--anyway, we fed all the varmints to the wolf. Unfortunately, it dug bigger, multiple burrows in the yard than any groundhog. Walking about at night was a severe risk to ankles and assorted limbs.
Put the bullet 1/3 of the way from the top of the neck, just behind the ear. Pops the spine, no motor transfer.
