I want my dog to act like a dog but it does seem tough on the squirrels. Coming to dog-owning in midlife, I have been surprised to find how many people in this nation of animal-lovers only really love animals when they behave like small furry humans – hygienic, chaste, polite. I've started trying to intervene, but it's not always easy he sees them from hundreds of yards away and moves much, much quicker than I can.īesides, what I like about dogs is that, however domesticated they may seem, they have wild hearts to stop Tim hunting – if that's possible – would mean suppressing something essential. But others – friends, park rangers, passing strangers – have told me off for "letting" Tim kill. Dog-owners sympathise: it's what their dogs want to do. Some people approve of Tim's activities: grey squirrels are rats, they say, and immigrants at that (the law takes the same view, putting its weight behind protection of native reds). The bad part is straight after: I want to grab the corpse with a poo bag and shove it in a bin before any children spot what's happening, but he won't let go, worrying it, nuzzling it. The kill itself is usually quick and unbloody. But I'm not indifferent to the squirrels' pain, and the social stigma is beginning to wear me down. The chase is thrilling and I am, plainly, proud of my dog's athleticism and skill. He will stay like this for upwards of five minutes, waiting for the squirrel to forget he is there and blunder that inch too close. When he sees a squirrel he freezes and after a few seconds begins to vibrate, sometimes so intensely that the edges of his ears blur, like humming-birds' wings. So his success suggests that he is the most bloodthirsty, or the most focused. Well, he's a whippet, but he's by no means the fastest whippet in the park. No other local dog even comes close (I did hear of a pair of whippets nearby who were supposed to be more effective, but their owner assured me that the stories were much exaggerated). In our part of urban east London Tim's record is exceptional: at 18 months he has caught and killed 10 grey squirrels – in one 10-day period he managed three. follow me on a mornings squirrel hunting with reynoldsoutdoors3055 we set out to flush some squirrels from there dreys in order to shoot them with the catap. Eli & I broke out the ole squirrel catapult / launcher a couple weeks ago.weve launched over 100 times and havent roped a bucket yet.itll happen. Unless you don't mind, in which case isn't he fantastic? Slingshots or catapults are ‘toys’ and only classed as offensive weapons by ill use or bad location. Yes, that would be Tim, and before you say anything, I'm sorry and ashamed. I also use an air rifle, but the Sako is faster to load when I put CB long ammunition. 22 rimfire rifle with reduced-velocity rounds, as the ranges are less than 20 yards. In such situations, I load my bolt-action Sako Finnfire. The mechanical engineers latest video features ' Backyard Squirrel Maze 2.0 ,' an intense obstacle course built for squirrels as a deterrent to stealing food from a bird feeder. "Is he the one who kills squirrels?" Yes. If you are shooting squirrels in the trees, safety and stopping power must to be considered when choosing ammunition. The "sling shot " I used was a falcon folding hunter with standard tubing.A few weeks ago a new dog-owner in our park, hearing me call my whippet, recognised the name. The thought of that thing working it's way up my leg still sends shivers up my spine. If I had thought I wouldn't have done that. Oh that squirrel I harvested, I knocked out of the tree with one shot and ran it down and stomped it to death. Marbles are for use on critters less tough than squirrels. They seem to have the best penetration of all the shot I've used. These balls weigh between the 3/8" and 1/2" steelies at just slightly larger diameter than the 1/4" inch steelies. The 1/4 " penetrated through the rear leg bone and was lodged next to the skin on the inside of the leg. The 3/8 left a very dark bruise about the size of a quarter. The 1/2" left faint bruising about the size of a silver dollar. I happened to be carrying 1/4 ", 3/8" and 1/2 " steelies that day. The squirrel I cornered in a fence row cedar. I did when I was a bit younger take a duck and a squirrel. Been a while since I took anything with a "sling shot".
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