Well I 've been letting this nutter go for 2-3 weeks now because he was a little small. I saw him again yesterday morning and let him go since I had gotten a good size squirrel the day before. I did not spot another one after that all day and it's actually very rare now that I see any at all. I have taken 16 squirrels since September and their #'s are dangerously low.
Today I was looking out a window admiring the small now flakes coming down when I spotted him again feeding on some berries up high on one of the trees on the small hill in the back. I 've been working from home since a lady backed into my car on Monday, waiting for the body shop to finish fixing it. So again I find my self looking out the window. This time I walked away to give him a chance, but 5min. later I got drawn back looking to see if the squirrel had gone away. Nope he 's still pretty much where I saw him the first time. Fighting the urge to get the gun I go make some instant coffee and light a cigarette. I return 5-6min. later and this guy is still out there on an adjacent tree out in the open eating whatever he can scavange off the trees. This time I could not help myself any longer. I reached for the Condor .22 and loaded a Predator. If they can't abide by my 10min. rule to go through my property, then I can't be blamed for my actions :-)
The squirrel was at least 32-33yds out and I figured I 'd aim at his head and if I miss, it's all good, maybe he 'll get away. No such luck. He was facing me for the most part but at a slight angle. I found an opening through the branches, put the crosshairs on his right eye, and as I was squeezing the trigger I thought I saw him move his head but he still got hit and upon impact he jumped up off the branch and fell 35-40ft to the ground on the slope of the hill. Only his tail was moving a little and then nothing. The predator had entered the base of the neck when he moved his head to the right. I then spotted the hole on the tree behind him the Predator made after it went through him. Found him with a pool of blood on the ground, customary of the damage a Predator does when hitting a critter with a lot of energy (35-40fpe in this case). Surprisingly the exit wound half way down his body on the other side near the spine was kind of small and dry, but the Predator did travel through most his organs and half his body because of the angle, but drained him out from the entry wound.
I snapped a pic of a section of the hill in the back mostly to capture the snow flakes because it looked so beatiful but the flakes didn't come out at all and it doesn't look like it's snowing in the pic. Goes to show you how much I know about photography. I just set it for auto and let it do its thing. It would probably help if I had a better camera. My brother's costs 3X more and takes much better pics, but I 'd rather use the $ on some more airguns (hint, hint, hehe).
Well I hope his buddies come to visit sometime wherever he came from. I promise to give them a chance the first 2 times I spot them. The 3d time all bets are off :) On a serious note though, I would feel really bad if I have wiped them all out. I can't wait till deer season is over so I can hit the woods in search of some small game and take my sights off the neighborhood squirrels.
