[rocketcity]

Howdy,
For the past ten years I have been having excellent results & more fun that words can describe keeping my yard free of feral pests, right in the middle of town. I use a 25 caliber Beeman Kodiak pellet rifle & Beeman Crow Magnum hollow point pellets. The pellets expand to a little over .4" at impact, resulting in instant death, & no exit wound. I keep the muzzle about a foot from an open window & there is almost no noise outside. The gun has been tuned & is much smoother than it was "out of the box". I had a really bad problem with blackbirds, until I found out that they had a leader that flew in first & checked for threats for a minute or so then the flock would land. He was really smart & would see me walking around in my house & fly off. I finally set the trap, had my back garage door slightly open, & when I saw him land, I crawled through the house & into the garage, put the crosshairs on him & pulled the trigger. I think he heard the trigger,or something & moved slightly & I only wounded him, I reloaded & missed the second shot as he was running around my back yard unable to fly, reloaded again, & killed him with the third shot. Then for about 6 months his flock dive bombed my Accord with bird s__t. It made about a foot long streaks, & didn't ever hit the wife's Bronco. Every where I would go people would ask me where I parked my car, as it was almost completely covered with bird s__t. Finally the blackbirds decided to leave my car alone, & ever since I killed their leader they have stayed out of my yard. Now tomorrow they will probably be back, but thats OK, as I am now parking my Accord in the garage.

Bring it on blackbirds,

Rocketcity

[MCgunner]

Black birds aren't feral. Depending on species, they could be protected.

[rocketcity]

Howdy,
I am by no means a bird expert, but just going by the number of blackbirds (starlings) around here, I can't imagine any way that they would fall under any protected species laws. My defination of feral is unwanted. I am a redneck hillbilly, & speak a slightly different dialect of English than most of the USA. I guess that I should have said starling instead of blackbird, but they are black & birds. My wife & I have a large bird feeder that we keep full of food for other less common birds, which I would under no means ever kill.
Confederate General Jubial Early was my distant great grandfather, & some of his family moved west with a guy named Boone.

I am a Redneck Hillbilly,

Rocketcity

[The Tourist]

unwanted...I am a redneck hillbilly

Yikes, then don't come to the Peoples' Ruplik of Madison!

Merciful heavens! You'll be taxed to death, every word will be parsed for hate speech and you will be accused of single-handedly starting every war back the Persian/Armenian Rug War.

I believe there's a County-bounty/no-bag-limit on Sons of the South, so be careful of aging hippies with pellet guns.

And stay out of townie bars. That is unless you really enjoy the romantic kinship of cousins on Viagra, fertility drugs and tap beers...

[langenc]

Im surprised they didnt elect a new leader.

[WayneConrad]

I've struggled to find a way that city, county and state law would allow me to hunt the bloody pigeons that plague me here in Phoenix city limits, but there's no loophole I can find.

One of the vermin knocked over a brick I had placed upon a pillar to discourage nesting up there. An accidental deadfall. The next morning, when I found the dead pigeon, was a happy day. I can't be charged for an accident, now, can I?

[barnetmill]

My problems are squirrels, possums, and racoons that eat off of my fruit trees. It is really not safe to use a .22 on my place and I also just do not have the time to try and pick them off with a pellet rifle. For the squirrels poison is the way to go. I am planning to setup squirrel feeders that are out of public view. This is cheap and requires very little labor but may be illegal.

[The Tourist]

In all seriousness, most of us are looking at this the wrong way.

I had a neighbor that truly had a beautiful garden. This suburban area is actually divided farm land, and we had our share of rabbits. I had so many on my property that I began to recognize individuals.

My neighbor lamented that no matter what he did (fences, hanging tin plates for noise, constant vigilance) that he always lost a lot of food.

I simply asked him if his garden produced wasted or substandard growth. He admitted it did, and he plucked this material off so that the good vegetables would get all of the nutrients.

I told him to throw the damaged/unwanted stuff on the outside of the fence.

Yeah, he attracted every rabbit in the county. But the babies also started to come out of hiding after a bit, and we actually started to laugh about their antics.

Living things have to eat. They want to survive. Kill 'em, poison 'em, scare 'em and they find a way to live.

If this country was taken over I dare say we would make "Red Dawn" look like a romantic comedy. It's just things trying to stay alive. Find another way.

[tasco 74]

i've been kinda toying with the idea of useing my savage .17 mach 2 to take out pests in my backyard.. the thing i worry about is a richocette or over penitration going into a nieghbors house... anyone know well the little bullet might hold together??

[RoostRider]

I had lots of problems with furry tailed rats (squirrels) in some buildings I was rehabing in Minneapolis.

The Beeman took care of that with ease. Someone called the cops on me at one point, but when I explained what I was doing, he blew it off and let me go (don't expect that). From that point forward I only shot out the window or in the buildings (they were vacant and infested).

This gun killed squirrels with ease, but it is a high powered air rifle as opposed to your standard issue.

[Sunray]

"...poison is the way to go..." You'll likely find that using poison is very illegal. Blood meal or dog hair will keep tree rats away. Might do for opossums and raccoons too.

[barnetmill]

Quote: "You'll likely find that using poison is very illegal. Blood meal or dog hair will keep tree rats away. Might do for opossums and raccoons too"

Where do you buy dog hair. Hey I have over forty fruit trees. Am I supposed to cover all of these with dog hair or blood meal? Squirrels are one of the most resourceful animals I have ever seen and if alive will not likely be detered from a meal by dog hair. I admire them, I respect them, but I do not want them around period since they are very destructive. Most of us here are willing to kill people in defense of our property; I am only extending that courtesy to four legged critters also. This is not about being sporting, nice or fair, this is about getting rid of a threat to my welfare. I spray pesticides for insects and squirrels are also a pest. Shooting and poisoning are illegal under many circumstances. I have never gotten into trouble doing either. The other alternative is to trap and either drown or relocate the squirrels elsewhere and that is labor intensive.

[Art Eatman]

An in-town method for small stuff: Blowgun. Best is to use a 1/2"-OD (not ID) aluminum tube, about four feet long. For darts, the upholstery needles used by automotive upholsterers. There is a ring on one end; they're about three inches long. We found that hobbyists' balsa wood, available in 1/2" x 1/2" x 36" can be cut and carved into a round-nosed, flat-based shape.

It doesn't take much practice to be able to stack them at 50 feet. And at that distance they'll easily ruin a pigeon's day, penetrating to full depth.

[RoostRider]

PLEASE DO NOT USE A BLOWGUN ON AN ANIMAL!!!!! Unless you have poison a blow gun is EXTREMELY ineffective.....

How do I know?... I have tried... a squirrel will just run away with a dart stuck in him from your blowgun..... or even several darts... and you should then feel bad for having wounded an animal without killing it.

Being ignorant and young, and a pretty good shot with a blowgun, I once shot at a squirrel on a power line above my yard. To my surprise the animal was hit and fell to the ground. I ran over to recover him, but he was still very much alive, and very much pissed off. He lunged at me with a dart sticking out of his side, which startled me and he ran away. I pursued him across the alley and over to a tree where I hit him at least 5 or 6 more times, with both long skinny darts and the short fat ones.... by the time I was done the squirrel looked like a porcupine but he was still able to jump to a rooftop and escape.... no doubt to die a long slow death...

I later had a squirrel climb in a window of my house. I had no air rifles at the time and decided to take him out with my blow gun.... again, it took several shots to even slow him down, and that was only because one shot pinned him to the hardwood floor.... from there I had to smash a squirrel in my living room with a steel dustpan.... not pleasant at all...

That is when I went and bought the Beeman air rifle with the specific requirements that it have the power to stop small game. Since then I have had no problem killing squirrels and other vermin with one shot.

Seriously, DON'T SHOOT ANIMALS WITH BLOWGUNS!!! They are designed and used as toys, not humane ways to deal with pests.

Thats my experienced two cents on that one.....

[Pilot]

Seriously, DON'T SHOOT ANIMALS WITH BLOWGUNS!!! They are designed and used as toys, not humane ways to deal with pests.



Don't tell the Zulus that!

[RoostRider]

PLEASE DO NOT USE A BLOWGUN ON AN ANIMAL!!!!! Unless you have poison a blow gun is EXTREMELY ineffective.....

Can Zulus read? :)

[rocketcity]

Howdy,
I think that most of you are missing the point. The .25" pellet expands to over .4" on impact, & I have never seen an exit wound. All of the energy is disipated inside your target. I have some very high power, flat shooting .177" rifles, that go right through your target & do not cause instant death. If you shoot at the ground, even if you miss, all you hit is the Earth, & so far no one has knocked it out of orbit. I have a sign on my front door that says "WARNING FORCEABLE ENTRY MAY RESULT IN YOUR DEATH PLEASE RING THE DOOR BELL" here in okie land we have the "make my day" law, & my Thompson is locked & loaded with 50 .45 ACPs & I will shoot you with all of them if you try to break in to my house! You use the right tool for the right job. My neighbor's dogs bark 24/7 & I sting them with my Daisy Red Ryder BB gun, which I have been shot with more times than I can remember. They didn't have paintball when I was younger. My father was a physicist on the Manhattan Project during WWII. I guess that the way that I think is in my genes.

You can't please everyone,

Rocketcity

[W.E.G.]

Be very careful with all this.

The animal cruelty laws can be used against you in these sorts of circumstances. The "feral" element will NOT serve as a defense.

This is a TRUE story:
I know a guy (a druggie) who hung a steel trap in his cherry tree to deal with the possum problem. He caught one while he was away from the house. The neighbors called the police. He was charged with animal cruelty, convicted and the jury gave him 6 months in jail.

Perhaps somewhat off-topic, but still worthy of mention, about a year later the druggie had another run-in with the law. This time, his dealer and an enforcer came to collect for an unpaid debt. For brevity, I'll skip some of the particulars of the meeting. The druggie went into the bedroom to get some money, and instead of coming back with money, the druggie came back with a .30 carbine and a full 30-round magazine - which he emptied into the two - missing only four of the thirty shots. The druggie was acquitted on one count of murder, and was convicted of manslaughter for one of the deaths. Again he was sentenced to 6 months in jail (Virginia - jury sentencing).

My point is, the value some folks place on on the life of an animal (even wild ones) can be mind-boggling. I shot a possum in town one time. That sucker bled on the outside stairway like Atilla the Hun. Took me most of the night to clean up the blood.

There are plenty of places where shooting a feral nuisance animal will bring no adverse outcome. There are plenty places too where you will be pilloried for it.

Don't get locked up for shooting some dumb animal in your yard. There is nothing out there worth going to jail for.

[Navy_Guns]

Please don't feed the trolls.

[Art Eatman]

RoostRider, your mistake was in aiming at "the squirrel". You don't aim at an animal. You aim at a particular place on an animal. No different from deer hunting. You shoot into the neck or the heart/lungs, not at "the brown thing".

With a dart, it's a head shot or a no-shot--which gets back to knowledge of one's skill level and the resultant decision-making...

[XDKingslayer]

Dog hair doesn't do anything for Florida squirrels. I call them "Florida" squirrels even though the FWC classifies them as grey squirrels, but they don't understand when I tell them I'm from Pennsylvania and those aren't grey squirrels. Grey chipmunks maybe...

I've got a yard full of them. I tried the dog hair thing. I saved up all my dogs hair and put it around my grapefruit tree. All they did was look around for the bald dog. Didn't phase them, scare them, or slow them down for that matter.

But that's ok because I don't like grapefruit.

[MCgunner]

Wonder what squirrel that's been feeding on citrus would taste like? Sounds sorta delicious. :D

[MCgunner]

W.E.G., I had a run in with a dog attacking my cats last summer. I waded out into the fight, one of my cats got a broke leg out of the deal and I had to have the vet set it. I kicked the dog as he nipped at me, ran about 25 feet, turned to attack me, and I shot him. I got charged first with disorderly conduct and firing in the city limits, then that was dropped after I'd posted cash bail and they charged me with misdemeanor animal cruelty. :rolleyes: I lawyered up, of course, and the charges were dismissed. It was obvious defense of property and self defense. I mean, this dog came off the street into MY yard.

Bottom line, it cost me 2800 bucks in legal fees and could have conceiveably been worse. Yeah, if I'd been really thinking, I'd let it attack and rip me up first before stabbing it to death. Then, if they found out about it, I'd at least have battle scars. I hear about dog attacks all the time. There was one on the news the other day where a 6 year old kid got killed. I've had feral dog problems here for 3 years, mostly killing off my cats.

You CAN legally kill a feral dog, any dog, if it's killing livestock by Texas law. However, you could possibly be arrested even then! I had a friend that killed a neighbor's dog that was killing his chickens. When the sheriff arrived, he was cleaning up the feathers. He didn't get arrested, fortunately had a good cop show up. I didn't. I since heard they fired that little punk cop, though. Not sure if it was my case that helped, but I like to think so. LOL

I've never heard of anyone gettin' popped for trapping a possum, though. That's getting dangerously close to outlawing hunting, ya know? They're legal game in Texas along with a lot of other critters of the type like racoon, rabbit, and such. I see little difference in the trapping I used to do for coon pelts and that possum except that I was getting 40 bucks average a pelt at the time and had a fur license.

I'm convinced, this society is going strait to hell in a hand basket when animals have more rights than humans. :rolleyes:

[barnetmill]

"Quote:
Seriously, DON'T SHOOT ANIMALS WITH BLOWGUNS!!! They are designed and used as toys, not humane ways to deal with pests.


Don't tell the Zulus that!
__________________
Pilot "

Zulus never used blowguns. They favored short stabbing spears, clubs and guns. Try out a blowgun on a leopard, lion, or elephant. You will probably only get to do it once. The fact is that they did not use blows and arrows. They usually did not throw their spear's but liked to get in close like roman soldiers to kill.

[BattleChimp Potemkin]

Crows are sort of fun to shoot. Tried making a "rook" rifle out of a .243 until I realized (stupid) where was the bullet going? Now I stick to my romanian trainer rifle in .22 that'll learn em for eating my neighbor's corn (I got a letter of marque and reprisal from him regarding the 'disposal' of crows). :D

[XDKingslayer]

Wonder what squirrel that's been feeding on citrus would taste like? Sounds sorta delicious.

I don't know, but hopefully they'll get big enough for me to tell you...

There's nothing like natural marination.

[XDKingslayer]

Crows are sort of fun to shoot.

We used to have an old farmer that would collect 12 gauge shotgun shells all year round. Each year, we'd head up to his farm while he planted his fields.

We used to sit up on the back of the seed spreader and thin the crow population. Seed stays planted, field gets some extra fertilizer, we get to shoot things.

Farmer's happy, we're happy.

[koja48]

Silent death to starlings, pigeons (aka "flying rats"), crows in the act of depredation, and 1/2" areas on targets at 40 yards . . . ALMOST wish we had rats (NOT!).

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w305/koja48/EBAR.jpg

[eliphalet]

Wallboard or sharp upholstery nails with a narrow piece of cloth wrapped around the head the size to fit a piece of half inch plastic pipe is cheaper and probable as good as any to use as a blow gun. I have seen guys stick a nail into wood at 50 feet or more. In fact try one of the toothpicks with the frilly plastic wrap in a drink straw the next time you get one in a restaurant to hold your sandwich together with. I have stuck those into a pine ceiling as a youngin.

Another good repellent or so my neighbor says and is using for squirrels and cats in the garden is an electric fence. We've bought a used set up at a farm sale and will give it a go this year. Neighbor say it will keep squirrels and cats out of her garden. We lost a lot of veggies to the durn things last year, a pellet will work but is illegal here and besides there are to many to shot em all, and poison is a last resort always.

[cornman]

What problem could black birds be giving you that you need to shoot them?

[rocketcity]

Kola48 is pretty close, all he needs if he doesn't already have it is a .25" barrel. The AirForce rifle is wicked, it is a shame that they only offer a .22" barrel stock. As far as blackbird problems, I guess that you haven't ever been there. Other wise you wouldn't even think about asking a silly question like that. You are extremely lucky! Come to Wagoner, we have enough for everyone++++. Still none in my yard in the last 6 years. All of my neighbos yards are full of them. Be careful with poision & electric fences, they are blind & will affect anything & anyone that comes in contact with them, even young humans. Surgical pest removal is the best way period. If you don't have the time, or are too lazy, that is no excuse.

A Dead Blackbird is a Good Blackbird,

Rocketcity

[koja48]

The .25 caliber barrel is the out-of- town vermin eradicator & the effective range increases considerably (as does the noise). I prefer the 12" barrel because it is so quiet. Starlings (not bona-fide blackbirds or grackles) are hateful birds . . . nest raiders, garden raiders, and capable of infiltrating any small hole for nesting purposes not to mention the mess they make when congregating in large numbers. Between them & crows, virtually ALL song birds were driven from our neighborhood for a number of years. I now have my robin and finch nests back, but it took a lot of fun, I mean work to eliminate the problem birds.

[MCgunner]

Starlings are introduced pests and legal to shoot in Texas as are cowbirds, which are a species of "black bird" that kick eggs off of songbird nests and lay their own parasitically. In the off season when I wanna do a little wing shooting, I sometimes pick on cow birds just for good live targets. I had some fun with 'em the other day using my .410 barrel on my contender. :D

[rocketcity]

My starling flocks have to have been over 100 birds just in my yard alone. I tried to feed song birds, & the damn starlings would eat everything I put out for the song birds in 15 minutes, & didn't seem ever to get full. PCP guns are a lot easier to shoot, but my Kodiak with a Theoban Gas Ram is a lot quieter as far as noise out of the muzzle, & the mechanical noise is all inside of my house. I love the large kill zone of the .25" pellet, as I am not the best marksman. Keep up the good work!

Don't underestimate a high power air rifle,

Rocketcity

[koja48]

After a bit of tuning, my TalonSS .22 is no louder than a twig snapping, considerably quieter than my R7. .25's do have some range & power, however. With my .25 barrel on the Talon, range extends out to 70-80 yards with good accuracy & power.

[W.E.G.]

This is all well and good for y'all who live "in the country."

Launching ANY type of projectile in the back yard will get you a lot of unwanted police attention in most urban, and suburban areas.

[Pilot]

Zulus never used blowguns. They favored short stabbing spears, clubs and guns. Try out a blowgun on a leopard, lion, or elephant. You will probably only get to do it once. The fact is that they did not use blows and arrows. They usually did not throw their spear's but liked to get in close like roman soldiers to kill.


It was a JOKE, also known as Humor. :rolleyes:

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

The two plagues that we experience around here are:

1. the small ones are the European Starling, and

2. the large ones are the Great-tailed Grackle

The Starling is NOT protected. But the Great-tailed grackle is indeed on the Federal Migratory Birds master list. This is a very good example of asinine federal law not keeping its finger on the pulse of what's going on, because they are like a biblical plague, and obviously should not be protected. I certainly shoot them. Local LE won't give a hoot either (well, they might that you're *shooting* in town, but not that the target is a grackle). But if somehow a federali comes along...... Glad to hear you're having a hootenanny with them, and that your rifle/ammo combo kills so effectively. I nearly always get instant death with my Beeman Sportster in .177 pellet with just basic wadcutters (using RWS meisterkugeln for accuracy right now). The wadcutters kill very effectively with their expansion - better than the pointed or other whizbang pellets. Hey, I've got news for ya - the blackbirds will select a new leader soon, and then you'll be back in action! :) I love it when the lookout(s) light on a tree branch above the dog food before they fly down, thinking they are safe up there. :D I seriously have looked to buy some starling decoys, but cannot find any for sale - anyone know where to buy some? My "decoys" just aren't very convincing, the way they lay on their sides and backs. :)

Koja 48, I *will* have an Air Force talon SS before it's over with. Actually, I found out that you can "suppress" the Condor with a simple barrel shroud - it doesn't have to be the Talon to use an extended shroud for "suppressing". So since it works with the Condor, I'll probably run with .22 cal - that's pretty much the ultimate urban pest killing machine. It's on my list. :) In any event, that is one sweet rig - what kind of scope and grips you got on there?

Then for about 6 months his flock dive bombed my Accord with bird s__t.

Now that's funny. Apparently they are pretty smart. I had a guy tell me the other day that he was feeding starlings in the Walmart parking lot, and after the bread or whatever it was, was picked over by the flock, they all flew off except one, and that lost one ducked or cocked its body like it was about to fly, when the guy said out loud "if you wait a second, I'll throw you some more", and the bird stopped and looked at him, and sure enough, waited until he threw some more food and ate it. Guess they speak English.

[koja48]

Thanks, Premium . . . and it does shoot & very silently. Visit talonairgun.com, the rimfirecentral of the pneumatic world. Grips came off an old paintball gun, scope is a Leapers 3-12x mini swat with 30mm tube. Use high or extra high mounts (mine are Accushots that I had laying around <3/8" dovetail>). I'm going with all black custom grips, but this is how it came to me. The guy who had it is an airgun mechanic extraordinaire, has taught me a lot, and put many fine-tuning mods into this thing, plus he fills my tanks for me.

[RoostRider]

RoostRider, your mistake was in aiming at "the squirrel". You don't aim at an animal. You aim at a particular place on an animal. No different from deer hunting. You shoot into the neck or the heart/lungs, not at "the brown thing".

With a dart, it's a head shot or a no-shot--which gets back to knowledge of one's skill level and the resultant decision-making...

Are you implying that you could hit the heart of a squirrel running across a power line from 60' with a blow gun? Or that hitting a wounded squirrel climbing a tree is an easy 'heart/lung' shot? Or that a typical blow gun dart could penetrate a squirrels skull? Cause all of those assumptions are pretty wrong.

I made a mistake, which was in taking on a squirrel with a blow gun, not my aim. I reasoned that it sticks pretty well into a dart board, so it must have some pretty lethal impact... I reasoned wrong.... a chest/head shot with the Beeman takes them down every time...

[Art Eatman]

RoostRider, I was getting one-inch penetration in soft pine at thirty feet. I found that full penetration of a pigeon's head or center mass was easy, to around forty feet. I never tried on any running target. Ambushing stationary critters, only. :) Shooting a pigeon from the side creates a one-winged pigeon, which is easily caught.

Hey, I'm all for pellet guns or a .22 CB cap. But as long as folks are messing around with options...

[RoostRider]

Well, I'd love to see you pull that off on a squirrel.... not kidding... I hate those things *the city bred, garbage eating vermin, not all squirrels*, and would be glad to see one dispatched humanely with a quiet discreet weapon like a blowgun... none of my shots penetrated the squirrel completely (many hits)... none, including several good chest shots, stopped him for more than a few moments (not precisely aware of where the squirrels heart lies in the mix, but likely it's very small and near the rear of his front leg, mid chest)....

I agree that a heart shot would likely have dropped the squirrel in his tracks, judging by other animals I have hit in the heart... I just don't think it is realistic to be able to hit a squirrel in the heart consistently with a blow gun (barring being right on top of him).... perhaps I should have tried to aim a little better at the one running laps in my living room, but the hit on the other one on the power line was solid, and followed up with many other solid hits to the body (didn't even try to penetrate the skull)... he looked more like a porcupine than a squirrel by the time it was over.... the heavy darts did not penetrate at all....

If you are penetrating squirrel size skulls with your blowgun you must have some pretty tough lungs, or some kind of blow gun I have never seen.... I mean, the bolt is made out of thin wire... I just don't see it penetrating bone very well..

But hey, if you can pull it off and feel that you are able to dispatch squirrels or whatever efficiently and humanely with a blow gun, more power to you.... But I don't think the typical person can, mostly because I am more accurate and likely more concerned about the morality of wounding animals and letting them get away than the typical person, and I still failed at it, and therefore would never recommend it to anyone... and, as noted herein, I might even argue the point with someone in the effort... :)

If however, I had a friend (dare I make the assimilation?) who was capable of doing just that, I would not begrudge him his talent, but rather be envious of his skills with a blow gun... my hat is off to you sir....

But I still don't recommend it for Joe Average trying to get rid of vermin.

For the record, I was using your typical aluminum blowgun like you find for sale at gun shows and whatnot, with needle bolts and the heavy thick bolts....

[sixgunner455]

I've struggled to find a way that city, county and state law would allow me to hunt the bloody pigeons that plague me here in Phoenix city limits, but there's no loophole I can find.


You should be able to use a pigeon trap on them. Not hunting, but really, they are more effective at collecting up a roost of flying rats. Then sell the buggers to someone training bird dogs. They probably won't be back after that.

Starlings are an introduced species, and not protected anywhere. They displace native songbirds. I have no problems with people cutting down their numbers.

[frogomatic]

I smell a rat

[Art Eatman]

The needles we used were once common in upholstery shops. Used for basting when making seat covers. About 3" long, maybe 3.5", with a small loop on the back end. Hardened steel needles, and as sharp as anything in a sewing kit.

Carved balsa cones as "thrusters" and vanes.

1/2" OD thinwall aluminum tubes, about four feet long.

Definitely wicked rigs.

Ah, well. Good old college daze down at Gatorland, 45+ years ago. Several of us were always up to some sort of nefarious scheme. More fun than studying. I sometimes wonder how I made my grades. :D

[GearHead_1]

Quoting - rocketcity: My neighbor's dogs bark 24/7 & I sting them with my Daisy Red Ryder BB gunIf I were your neighbor and my dogs were on my property barking 24/7 you had better be calling animal control on me and my dogs. If I caught you shooting my dog you would be calling your lawyer to get out of jail. :D Shooting someone else's animal in any matter that doesn't include self defense is never a good idea. Seriously, you've got to use your head in matters like this. You never know what type of neighbor you might have and some can make your life pretty miserable. Bigger, faster, stronger doesn't always work in a litigious society.

[RoostRider]

Art- that sounds like something these were based off of.... about 1/2" o.d. aluminum tubes in ~2.5' sections with couplers so you can go longer in segments (mine is 2 segments long or ~5').... they have similar needle darts made of spring steel (?) with plastic vanes on them.... but they also make short fat darts with more mass (think giant pointed pellet with plastic vane)....

[Battlespace]

My granddad sold his farm in the early 1950's and moved to town. He had a June bearing apple right beside the house that yielded loads of apples until the city imported red squirrels. They immediately found his apple tree and would take a bite from an apple before moving on the next. He called the city and the humane society and was told nothing could be done. He got his .22 rifle and a box of what I believe were shorts or might have been BB or CB caps and heads to the attic window. He simply popped the tree rats at a range of a few feet. Went down and picked them up and had them for dinner.

My wife's grandmother lived in Starkville, MS and had a huge pecan tree in her yard. When the squirrels started getting more pecans than she was, she would call the city and they would send someone out who would shoot the squirrels and give them to her for stewing. (This was in the 1920's and 30's. I doubt if they would do this now)

I live in the city limits, have fruit and nut trees that the local squirrels eat off of until one of my dogs catches them on the ground. After seeing the results of dog vs squirrel they soon learn and go elsewhere.

[koja48]

Ah, forgot about the venerable dart gun . . . many a mouse thinking itself safe in a wee space succumbed to these slender projectiles. It is amazing how accurate one can get & how quickly one can get that way. Used to practice in the shop on potatoes. Years ago, made a magnum version using 1/2" pipe, modified tig rod, and powered by compressed air . . . not much for accuracy, but had impressive range & penetration. As for grades, can't remember if I passed or was eventually paroled from college . . .

[Beagle-zebub]

On the subject of squrrels, you might be able to get them by mounting a rat-trap onto the tree in one manner or another.

[craftsman]

WOW! Seems like there are a lot of misconceptions about blowguns.

1. Never use target darts (those flimsy 0.40 cal. wire sharpened darts) for hunting. Absolutely correct - you will not kill much of anything (as evidenced by the scads of phots around the web with songbirds, ducks, geese, etc. walking around with one of these darts still stuck in it).

Select your caliber and tip based on your objective. Minimum barrel length should be 4 ft. - one piece (the shorter barrels don't get sufficient muzzle velocity & multi-piece barrels have too much air leakage - see my book - "Fukiyado: The Way of The Sport Blowgun" - I have a chapter on the ballistics of blowgunning - available on cafepress.com) A 0.40 cal. spearhead will work for field mice - a 0.40 broadhead for rats and small fowl. Next critter size up - move to 0.50 cal. spearheads or broadheads (doves, rabbits, IF you are a good shot - maybe a raccoon) - anything larger, you'll need to go with a longer barrel, and 0.625 cal. or bigger (0.625 is the largest commercially available - bigger than that - you're talking home-made). I just got a "Boar Hog" 6 ft. 0.625. I bought their new design talcones, and fitted it onto a store-bought 1/4 in. diameter 12 in. long bamboo skewer. Shooting from 10 meters (33 ft. - standard target shooting distance), it penetrated through 2 in. of dense ethylene foam (we use it for 0.50 cal. target shooting, and they won't penetrate), and 1/4 in. plywood backstop ... plus it went through that about another 3 in. THAT, folks, is knock-down power. Put a #11 X-Acto blade as a broadhead on that, and you can take down a deer (circumstances permitting).

2. Except in modern times, blowguns are unknown in Africa. Zulu, pygmy .. all myths. South America - along the upper reaches of the Amazon - yes (using a form of curare, or Poison Dart frog skin excretion). 12 to 20 ft. long barrels - shooting critters up to 100 ft. overhead in the rainforest canopy. Cherokee in southeastern USA - yes (no poisons - 6 to 9 ft. long barrels made from River Cane, and they claim with a 21 in. long hardwood dart, to hunt deer). Dyak (Borneo) headhunters - yes. With a bayonnette-like attachment when the darts run out - again, no poisons. Ninja - paper cone darts tipped with fugu poison (blowfish) for assassins - not for hunting. Barrels made out of rolled paper, or bamboo. More modern times (Post Dark-Ages in Europe .. 1400's) - claims to have migrated along the trade route from the Far-East - in Italy and France - used to shoot stones or hardened clay balls. World War II - German SS - using cigarette-sized barrels, darts tipped with Ricin, for close contact assassination.

3. Fishing with a blowgun? You bet! Several styles - Standard, with a line threaded down the muzzle, tied to a dart. Tripod style dart (gigger, for frogs), Standard 0.625 with a long dart (like described above) - or a true fishing blowgun (complete with a Zebco reel), and a barbed dart "broadhead".

4. Using poisons? Extremely illegal, and unsafe if you're going for game. Other than curare (the jungle made, not the lab grade - that's never been tested safe for human consumption! LOL!), and frog (again - jungle stuff - something missing from their native diet renders their excretions non-lethal once they are in captivity) - nothing else dissipates to leave the meat edible. The best is to use a super hot-sauce (like "Pur-Cap" or hotter - 1/2 million scoville units or more) on the broadhead. It will not kill in an intramuscular shot - but it will iritate, and cause the game to nurse its wound, giving the shooter a chance to get in a "coupe-de-grace". In a fatal shot, it will accelerate the inevitable. Check your game laws to see if even THAT is permissable (it is NOT in Wisconsin).
Besides, if you accidentally get the poison on the mouthpiece ...

Check out BlowgunsNW website - go tho their MSN forum for more info on blowguns, competition target shooting, fishing, hunting, info on what the folks are "building" (barrels, new dart designs), etc.

* How do I know so much about blowguns? I'm a 6th degree blackbelt in Fukiyado, and the first non-Japanese Sensei. In competition, I'm ranked #2 in the USA, and in the top 10 internationally. I've written two books about blowgunning, am getting ready to publish a third ("Fukidake-justsu: The Martial Art of Blowgun Fighting"), and working on a fourth (Hunting and Fishing with the blowgun). I also hold a Masters Degree in technical education, and am a certified "teacher trainer" - so I'm a research geek. I was the co-founder and webmaster of the National Sport Blowgun Association (took time off to battle cancer - on the road to recovery), my mentor took over, using the "American Sport Blowgun Association" for the new entity.

[koja48]

First off, best wishes on a full recovery. Secondly, thanks for the info & the link . . . most educational.

[T.R.]

Grackles are destructive to songbirds. They must be terminated.

TR

[koja48]

The EBAR works on large garden-ruining rodents, also . . .

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w305/koja48/P1000411.jpg

[koja48]

McG ~ Shoot quietly and carry a trash bag. Neighbor let his Akita run at-large & refused to acknowledge that it was A) vicious and B) a threat to kids & pets (had already killed one of my cats, tore-up my Lab & my ex's Poodle). His response: "It's a dog . . . they wander and roam." After it disappeared, he came over & accused me . . . I responded that: "It's a dog . . . they wander and roam." He attempted to punch me . . . he went to the ground, and I graciously declined to press charges (I felt too good after I knocked him on his inflated arse). Where there's a will, there's a quiet way . . .

Oh, BTW, large-bore blowguns with appropriately sharpened spearhead/broadheads are quite effective . . . reckon I could dip the points in some of my chili, just to be sure, tho. So is a suppressed something or other . . .

[blkbrd666]

Quote: "Dog hair doesn't do anything for Florida squirrels."

On the contrary, it's great for all squirrels! They will collect it and line the entire inside of their nests with it...makes it quite comfy for the babies.