Well I finally have critters running around my yard and the neighbors yards to shoot at again.
So with that in mind this last weekend was a air gunners dream come true.
It all started Saturday morning when I woke up and looked outside to see what the weather was like and what do I see, more squirrels than I can shack a stick at. So I throw on some cloths on, run downstairs, say morning to my kid as I pass through the living room and continue on to the back room where I store my air rifles.
Now comes the first big decision of the day, which air gun to use on the tree rats. Now I only have two air guns but it is still to early for me to start making big decisions. So I figure I will just grab the closest one, which just happens to be my Shadow, grab the tin of Predators and make my way to the back porch. Once on the porch I load the gun and slowly open the screen door, most of the time when I open the door the tree rats all head for the nearest tree to hide until they think it is safe again. This time they were obviously to hungry to care about the six foot tall critter (that would be me) that was sizing them up for a miniature coffin.
I picked out the closest one that 15 to 20 yards away (my tree rats move around a lot) and waited patiently for him to stand still for 5 seconds. After a couple of minutes of waiting my opprotunity had finally arrived and I pulled the trigger. Well unfortunitly I did not get that 5 second window, I only got 4 seconds. Yes I hit him, he jumped and then ran to the nearest tree and went straight up, across a large branch that mingled with the branches of a large Maple tree, "CRAP"!!!! So now I have to walk over the tree an search him out.
My pressence under the tree must have made him uneasy because he ran across another branch that took him to a Oak tree without many leaves. Now I run back to the porch, grab the gun again and start searching for him in the Oak. It did not take long, all I had to do was look for a blood red spot on a gray tree. He was just laying there as flat and as still as he could. I sighted him in again and let another Predator fly. TWACK was the only sound I heard before watching him slowly slide of the tree branch and fall 15+ feet to the ground. Now one would think that two Predator rounds and a 15+ foot fall would do in most small critters........YOU WOULD BE SO VERY WRONG!!! My neighborhood is home to the imfamous NINJA Squirrels, that is right, he still was not dead.
Now I have a ninja squirrel flopping around on the ground trying to figure out which way is up and which way he should run. Obviously by trying to both at the same time he was not going very far very fast. While watching the squirrel accrobatic show playing out in the yard I loaded up another Predator and waited for him to stop bouncing around like a little rubber ball. After about a dozen bounces and back flips he finally layed still long enough to drop yet another round into. Once again I pull the trigger and all I here is TWACK, my round hit home again. As soon as Mr. Squirrel gets hit again (this would be round number three if you have lost count) he commences with the back flips and bounces......again. At this point in time I start to wonder what kind of drugs this critter is on and where can find this special tree with the special nuts, because I need me some of those nuts for my back pain.
Finally Mr. Squirrel (any critter that needs three Predators to bring it down deserves to be address with a proper name) stops moving.....I think it is now dead. I put down gun, grab my dead critter glove and make my way out into the yard to retreive Mr Squirrel. The sight and condition of the squirrel was not a pleasant one, I did indeed hit Mr Squirrel three times (I was starting to wonder). Shot
number one ended up being a left front paw shot, he must have moved as I fired. Shot number 2 and 3 where both head shots, both on the left side as well. Needless to say the left side of his head was not in very good condition and therefore the following picture is of his good side.
And in case anybody is wondering, after this was all over the rest of the squirrels that were in the yard were nowhere to found. Oh well they will be back.....they always come back.
