Farewell to the Masked Bandit

We have several predators around Our Maker's Acres Family Farm that give us fits from time to time. Raccoons and opossums will enter the pasture and kill our chickens.  We'll set the cage traps baited with tuna fish and catch them and dispose of them by burying them in the garden.  The vegetables grow tall over their final resting place.  We have 120 baby chicks that will be coming in the mail on February 9th and having predators around that eat the chickens (before we can) is always a concern.

This afternoon I was just leaving work when I got a text from Benjamin that said, "Dad, there is a raccoon up in the pecan tree.  Want me to kill it?"  I told him, "Definitely!"  Big Boy, our Great Pyrenees had treed the masked bandit.  He was high up in the pecan tree.  Benjamin got his new pellet gun that he's been practicing with.  It has a scope on it and Benjamin has sighted it in perfectly. He's also been practicing at 4-H club shooting sports where he shoots skeet with a 12 gauge and targets with a .22 rifle.  He's quite the marksman.

His practice paid off.  With four shots the bandit fell to the ground with a thud - dead!  Here is Benjamin with his raccoon:

One less predator to eat our chickens

Dead Raccoon

After he fell, Big Boy ran up to the coon, grabbed him in his jaws and shook him to make sure he was dead as a door nail.  He was.  He was a nice, fat, dead raccoon that will NOT be around in a couple of weeks to wreak havoc on our chickens and for that I'm glad.  I've always told the boys that when I'm not around, they are the men of the house and it is their responsibility to take care of their Momma and things around the house.  Benjamin did that indeed and I was proud of him.

Tricia told me that Benjamin was a little upset, though.  You see, he's killed birds and squirrels, but never an animal this big.  As vicious as the raccoon is, he's a beautiful creature and Benjamin felt badly about ending his life.  We have a rule that we only kill animals that we are going to eat or animals that are predators.  We never kill just to kill.

I had a talk with him when I got home and told him that I was proud of him for killing the raccoon and proud of him for feeling some sadness for killing him.  I'm happy that he feels compassion and that he doesn't take lightly the taking of a life - even if it is the life of an animal that was no doubt going to slaughter many of our chickens.  In fact, I told him, I'd be concerned if he DIDN'T feel badly about it.

This experience lets me know that every time he picks up his gun and puts some target in the crosshairs of his scope and pulls the trigger, he knows the gravity of the situation and once he pulls the trigger, he can't undo the damage.  Owning a gun is a great responsibility and I'm glad that today, that lesson was reinforced. I'm also glad that Benjamin stepped into his role and took care of the varmint.