Be Brave Not Safe

In a prior post I alluded to the battle we are having with squirrels. Actually, just the gray kind.

They weren’t bothering us until we installed our bird feeder: a predictable outcome to be sure.

I had been moving them on their way with a shot from my BB pistol. But, they would quickly return after receiving the mild sting delivered by such a measly weapon.

Recently, I upgraded our varmint defense to a pump action BB/pellet rifle. Something that would be a little more unforgettable – even lethal (depending on the number of pumps).

I asked Cindy if she’d dare eat the potential game but she would have NOTHING of it, unless of course it was our ONLY option for protein.

You see, for any city folks reading this, people actually do eat squirrels. As a kid, a neighbor of ours was known to indulge in the backyard delicacy from time-to-time. And, Cindy happens to have a cookbook that includes a recipe for rabbit stew, which provides a suggestion for alternative ingredients. That is, it indicates that you can substitute squirrel for rabbit.

Anyway, armed with my newest rifle, we witnessed the “improved” affect it has on our birdseed thieves.

Memories of varmint hunting with my childhood buddies returned…

We didn’t see squirrels for the rest of that day. However, they were back the following day.

Seeing that we don’t want to be eating squirrels (unless it is our only option for protein), given the rule: if you kill it you must eat it, I only apply 5 pumps which serves to deliver quite a severe spank.

They do go away for a while, but soon return.

One day I wasn’t home and Cindy had a chance to guard our bird feeder. Upon seeing “one of” our arch enemies, she grabbed the loaded gun and popped off a shot which scared the varmint away.

But, as usual, it quickly returned to feed.

Cindy promptly grabbed the gun and tried to reload it, to no avail. I had apparently not given her the proper training. So, she opened the slider to the deck and screamed at the top of her lungs which scared the critter away.

But, it now more quickly returned. She again opened the slider with the unloaded gun in hand and started screaming. The squirrel continued devouring our birdseed, as it looked straight at her.

Apparently, it knew that she could do it no harm with words and an unloaded gun. So, it just sat there mocking her. And, eating…

I heard this story upon returning from my trip to town and promptly showed her how to reload the BB gun. We held class away from all windows, so the squirrels don’t yet know she is trained.

We shall see how she does on her next watch, guarding our feeder. This will occur when I take my next business trip to the big city 🙂