Varmint eradication

[DadSmith]

If you could borrow a coon hound or two you won't need to shoot it they will kill it for you. It will be much noisier though.

 

[maxwelhse]

One shot, one kill.

Somebody might hear the first shot but not really be sure what it was, especially with everyone's windows closed for winter. They will listen carefully for the sound again and might recognize a second shot. They might also look around so don't stand over your prey with a gun in your hand. Wait a few minutes and go out later to admire your kill and skin it for Thanksgiving dinner.

Exactly this.

I had one that must have been sick or something just hanging out in front of my garage door for an entire day a few years ago and he was pretty much trapping me in the house. He was curled up in the corner between the door and the frame so I couldn't get a decent kill shot on him without risking shooting the house, but I wasn't waiting for him give me rabies whenever I had to leave (I waited all day for him to get going on his own, no dice). Propped open the side door and clipped him in the hind end to get him moving while standing just outside of the house, then quickly finished the job once he did. Retreated back in the house for a couple of hours until I was confident no prying eyes were paying further attention and then I disposed of him.

I'm not pleased I had to take 2 shots, but he painted me into a box. 2 .22s within 30 seconds basically sounds like a couple of fire crackers to people that don't know the difference. People that do know the difference are unlikely to call the cops over a couple of 22 shots.

I am on the catch and release side of things for healthy animals doing no harm, but this guy was wacky and needed dispatched.

 

[OneBadV8]

Exactly, when I found out about the ticks I put them on my no shoot list. Trash pandas still get relocated to TP heaven.

I've also never killed a opossum since I found that out either.

 

[9mmfan]

Subsonic rounds out of a 24" Marlin 39A are close to or equal to a suppressed semi-auto.

This. I got rid of 6 or 8 possums and a couple raccoons this way where I use to live. I think I cleaned the neighborhood out.

 

[TolusD]

Possums are harmless. They may snarl but you can just walk up to them and grab them by the tail and fling them if they're somewhere you don't want them to be. But as people have said, they're better to have around than not. Like rat snakes.

As far as Colibris go, I got a box many years ago when all the Aguila stuff first hit the U.S. market. I'll never forget my first Colibri shot. It was out of a 10/22 and I shot an empty glass YooHoo bottle at about 10 feet. The round bounced off and the bottle wasn't even chipped. There's no way I'd ever fire one of those at something living. It'd just be cruel.

 

[singlestacksig]

Call your local DNR CO, tell him you need to destroy a nuisance animal and are in city limits.. I did it a few times & he just called dispatch and warned them there would be a gun shot.

 

[indyartisan]

I have possums here in the compound.
They never have caused me trouble.
Now the birds getting in the squirrel feeder is another story.
I just don’t know how to stop them.
I have been trying to fatten those squirrels up.

 

[patience0830]

Back of a shovel. One swat, one kill. And the burial tool is close at hand.

 

[Seven High]

Beware of maurading raccoons. I had a problem with one a couple of years ago. I trapped it in a have a heart trap. I released it into a rural park. Instead of just running off, it turned around and bit me, then ran off. I had to get a series of anti rabies injections. No more Mr Nice Guy.

 

[IndyBeerman]

About 8 years ago I let my dogs out and did'nt do a critter check of my fenced in back yard. Within 30 seconds there was all kinds of growling and barking. I rushed out to see a Opossum cornered next to the fence and my garage. I was able to grab both of my dogs by the colar and move them back some, Mr. Opossum made a lunge towards my oldest pup. I raised my foot up and between hm and my pup to stop him from biting her.

He tried to extract a chunk out of my boots. Game on.

I got the pups back in, went into the garage and grabbed a 4 foot section of 2 inch schedule 80 pvc pipe to assist with getting him out of the back yard.

When I got close enough to poke and move him, he raise up and hissed at me. That's all it took, I hit him with a vicious swing that was a cross between a golf and baseball swing. He never knew what hit him, it was a bone crunching hit.

I went back out a hour later to scoop him up with a shovel and deposit him in a brush pile out side my back yard, problem solved.

One time I had racoon the size of a small panda bear invade and take up residence in a maple tree in my yard and was feasting on the bird seed that the late Mrs. IBM was putting out for the birds. I live in a rural subdivision, notified my
neighbors in advance of my intentions, everybody was in favor of disposing of the nuisance. 2 nights later about 11pm I found him in a perfect spot and took him out with a brain pan shot to the head with my scoped 10-22, noise was not a
issue because all knew it was going to happen, and I made sure that before I made the shot there was no chance of stray round hitting anything.

That copper plated .22 hp made a mess of our baby panda size nuisance.

 

[KokomoDave]

The coons around here had a bad go of distemper. They act wacky and need put down pronto so they can't spread it further. I have suppressors so that helps since we got annexed into city limits. Fill with Gel shave cream and no first round pop and minty fresh!!

 

[bwframe]

Airguns... not your Grandma's Red Ryder BB gun anymore!

I'm not knocking anyone letting opossums walk. Live and let live.

Here though, they are varmints. They tear up garden/compost stuff and blaze the trail for worse critters like coons and skunks. They are also a threat to my fresh egg supply, coming from the neighbors.

I seen a really fat opossum almost get hit by a car up the road from me this spring. I warned the neighbor to watch out for his birds from the pregnant momma. 10 days later a "rat" in a stupor showed up, trapped in my half basement. Closer inspection showed 5 siblings drown in my sump pit.

I'm pretty sure that eliminating one or two in the immediate area will not dent the tick eating population much?

 

[ghitch75]

 

[tmschuller]

Possums are harmless. They may snarl but you can just walk up to them and grab them by the tail and fling them if they're somewhere you don't want them to be. But as people have said, they're better to have around than not. Like rat snakes.

As far as Colibris go, I got a box many years ago when all the Aguila stuff first hit the U.S. market. I'll never forget my first Colibri shot. It was out of a 10/22 and I shot an empty glass YooHoo bottle at about 10 feet. The round bounced off and the bottle wasn't even chipped. There's no way I'd ever fire one of those at something living. It'd just be cruel.

Harmless.. not trying to start a fight but there about the worst animal to carry disease to other animals. Yes they clean up in rural areas but are awful in suburban areas.. talk to a large animal vet and see what they say.. personal experience and a lot of money spent from the parasite they carried and 4 of our horses contracted EPM. Long excruciating process of watching a horse die.. I know not most/ all people have to deal with this but many have. All opossums get the same treatment at my house.. heel of my boot or .22 through the noggin

 

[Cameramonkey]

I've also never killed a opossum since I found that out either.

Same.

And if we are OK with killing things because they are ugly, brother, there are QUITE a few of us in here that would end up on wanted posters.

 

[Expat]

I have caught a couple possums in my live traps taht I put out for the coons. I always turn them loose... dumb things don't want to leave the cage until I go back in the house.

 

[Michigan Slim]

My Jack Russell/beagle mix showed her dark side on a opossum not too long ago. The swiftness and violence of it shocked me. That thing was dead before it even registered that it was there.

 

[sgthud]

I have had to eliminate many of them due to the damage they can cause our horses from the diseases they carry.

 

[IndyBeerman]

My Jack Russell/beagle mix showed her dark side on a opossum not too long ago. The swiftness and violence of it shocked me. That thing was dead before it even registered that it was there.

Eons ago before I moved out of my mom's house, we had a Chow that was a Opossum eradicator, she would grab them by the back of their neck with and 2 violent and swift back and forth shakes, she'd drop a dead Opossum to the ground. Them and squirrels was the only things she was territorial about. First time I seen that happen was about 2am in the morning after letting her out because I thought she needed to go, boy was I wrong.