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.

I love rural America

Following Thanksgiving I observed several events which made me grateful for the opportunity to grow up and raise my kids in the rural South.  I grew up on a 5 acre patch of piney woods in Louisiana that had a heavily wooded "backyard."  You could disappear back there and let your imagination run wild and have numerous adventures in the Great Outdoors.  It happened when I was a kid and it happens now.  There's no Internet connectivity in the woods, but it doesn't seem to matter to my sons and nephews who now frequent the woods where I played as a boy.

Just last week on the same trails where my brother and I recklessly drove a Honda Z50 mini bike, my sons and nephews drove.  Only they are in a greener mode of transportation - an electric golf cart. My brother and I were sneaking up on them with some unopened pine cones to pelt them with, but we were discovered.  We aren't as stealthy as we used to be.  The golf cart is quiet and thus it is hard to sneak up on the occupants of the vehicle when you are having a pine cone war.  Another downside to the golf cart is the fact that it is not a good all-terrain vehicle.

Nay, the golf cart was manufactured for more genteel pursuits on carefully manicured golf courses for occupants far better dressed (and civilized).  The trails, after a rain, become muddy.  Too muddy for the golf cart, but if you don't TRY to cross the boggy area, you won't know for certain if the area is impassable.  We can go ahead and confirm that this area is impassable now.  Russ and my brother and I happened upon the stranded motorists, developing a plan to get the golf cart unmired from the mud.

Bogged Down

If you notice in the picture above, Benjamin is holding a saw.  The young entrepreneurs had located some lighter pine and were sawing it up to sell to people to use as fireplace kindling and were on their way to get the kindling when they sunk the golf cart.  We tried to help the young businessmen out by pushing, but were unsuccessful.  They did manage to spin out and (hilariously) coat Russ with mud, though, so the afternoon wasn't a total waste.  The golf cart had to stay in the mud until Dad brought a chain and the Kubota to pull it out.

We also had a bonfire in the backyard on Thanksgiving night when we lit up the burn pile that contains sticks and limbs that fell from the trees over the past year. This fire could be spotted from the International Space Station.  This is something that would not be allowed by the Homeowner's Association in a suburban neighborhood.  The fire lit up the area and warmed us up.

It only takes a spark to get a fire going

Then, the other afternoon when I pulled in the driveway from work, the neighbor boy who is friends with Benjamin came running across the yard.  "Mr. Kyle, you wanna see my new gun?"  "Sure," I said.  It was a Ruger .177 Pellet Rifle with a scope.  It was heavy, well built and had a scope.  "$99 at Wal Mart!" he said.  "Can Benjamin and I go hunting?"  "You bet," I told him and the boys took off to creep along a stretch of trees on a fence row, searching for critters.

In no more than 10 minutes I hear some jubilant yelling and peek out just in time to see Benjamin and the neighbor boy running across the back yard of the other neighbor holding a big, bushy-tailed Fox Squirrel that they had killed.  They brought it next door where it was promptly skinned, bagged, and frozen.  What excitement!  The next day I knew what I had to do.  I had to make a trip to Wal Mart to purchase a pellet rifle.  Benjamin and I marked off 25 yards and began sighting in the scope and zero it.

Sighting in the new scope

Once we have the scope sighted in, I want to issue a warning to all squirrels in the Parish.  You better pack your suitcases because two hunters are comin' to get you! 

Lookout tree rats!

I enjoy living in a rural environment where you can have farm animals, grow your own food, and have adventures outdoors, while making memories that you'll carry with you into adulthood.