So a couple days ago, I was looking over what used to be a pretty good looking crop of corn in my back yard (not huge, as this is an urban area) wondering what exactly had eaten everything. I was going to use the corn for a chicken scratch recipe I'm working on and spent most of the summer tending this garden when I could, filling with anger, I looked up in the trees and saw about a dozen squirrels eating the last of it, with 2 more on the ground munching away. I had tried peppermint oil without much luck, and was pretty p.o'ed at this point having lost my entire crop to the tree rats. Decision time...
a.) figure its all my fault anyways (which it probably was), and have better luck next year... get a beer and forget about it.
b.) grab a firearm and turn my back yard into a squirrel kill box, but unfortunately my smallest caliber is 7.62x39 and really not an option at all here.
c.) find the airgun gun I remember buying 10 years ago at walmart but never use and give the first squirrel I see a little zing for paybacks. intent being just to scare him/her off.
Those were the options I came up with in about 3.7 seconds.
Decided to go with option c, would satisify my need for some revenge and maybe teach them a lesson (if such a thing is even possible) Anyways, the long story short... Those cheap pump up pellet rifles at walmart are stronger (more effective) than I thought by far. My first shot, I pumped the gun 4 times @ about 50 feet. Squirrel popcorned right over the fence and ran off at mach 2 into the distance. Not satisifed completely, for my next shot, I lined up on one that was about 75 feet away and for good measure gave the air gun 10 pumps. This was both a mistake and a learning experience for all involved. The pellet hit right behind the shoulder this time. Like before, the squirrel started hauling out of the yard, but dropped like a stone after 5 or 6 seconds. Satisfied that my revenge was complete, I put everything away and started feeling pretty bad about what I had just done. I haven't seen a single squirrel in my yard now in 4 days, not sure if that's because they ate all the corn already, or if they just have a new respect for Daisy. I know I do. I shouldn't get to hung up on killing a squirrel, I knew all along that it was a possibility, just surprised at how seeing something eating food that was intended for my chickens made me that mad. Now I understand how easy it would be for someone to want to blow away every racoon or coyote in the county should they ever lose a chicken to one. Sheesh, this was just corn...
a.) figure its all my fault anyways (which it probably was), and have better luck next year... get a beer and forget about it.
b.) grab a firearm and turn my back yard into a squirrel kill box, but unfortunately my smallest caliber is 7.62x39 and really not an option at all here.
c.) find the airgun gun I remember buying 10 years ago at walmart but never use and give the first squirrel I see a little zing for paybacks. intent being just to scare him/her off.
Those were the options I came up with in about 3.7 seconds.
Decided to go with option c, would satisify my need for some revenge and maybe teach them a lesson (if such a thing is even possible) Anyways, the long story short... Those cheap pump up pellet rifles at walmart are stronger (more effective) than I thought by far. My first shot, I pumped the gun 4 times @ about 50 feet. Squirrel popcorned right over the fence and ran off at mach 2 into the distance. Not satisifed completely, for my next shot, I lined up on one that was about 75 feet away and for good measure gave the air gun 10 pumps. This was both a mistake and a learning experience for all involved. The pellet hit right behind the shoulder this time. Like before, the squirrel started hauling out of the yard, but dropped like a stone after 5 or 6 seconds. Satisfied that my revenge was complete, I put everything away and started feeling pretty bad about what I had just done. I haven't seen a single squirrel in my yard now in 4 days, not sure if that's because they ate all the corn already, or if they just have a new respect for Daisy. I know I do. I shouldn't get to hung up on killing a squirrel, I knew all along that it was a possibility, just surprised at how seeing something eating food that was intended for my chickens made me that mad. Now I understand how easy it would be for someone to want to blow away every racoon or coyote in the county should they ever lose a chicken to one. Sheesh, this was just corn...
