The Great Minnesota Coon Killin'

!!WARNING!! GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW! DON'T SCROLL DOWN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE IT

OK, so after calling the Ramsey County Sheriff, the St. Paul Police and the local animal control, I found out you have to hire someone from a private company to come out and take care of any wild animal problem in the city.

And, of course, the reason for all these calls was that we had one.

We found a raccoon in our window well Saturday morning. I couldn't tell if it was sick or injured or what, but it was just sitting there breathing. Broken leg? Rabies? Ebola? The plague? Who knows?

I waited a couple hours to see if it would revive and go away, but in the end, with the kids' faces pressed eagerly to the glass of the window mere inches from the beast (except for Nora who didn't want to watch), I ended the saga with a kill shot from ol' reliable, my Benjamin Sheridan high powered air rifle.

This is probably not legal and I take no delight in killing something unless I have to, but am I really expected to pay some guy to come out with his haz-mat suit and live trap?

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Is your Benjamin Sheridan like the ones they have on their website? That's a sweet gun, 1000 fps by using an air pump. Very neighborhood friendly for when there are nuisance animals.

Unknown said...

That is really nasty! I can just see your kids with their noses pressed up against the window. Where is that picture? I know you took one!

Mainely Me said...

You let your kids witness this eradication?!!!

Bill Reinhardt said...

My brother and I found a squirrel with two broken back legs trying to get up his front yard's tree. It was early morning and he'd not yet had his coffee. Rather than pay Ramsey Co. tradesmen, he too rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a garbage bag and an Easton Titan and stepped up to bat. After a few swings and some solid tink-tink-tinks onto the flattening bag, he huffed: "whew-- nothing wakes you up in the mornin' like a good killin'

Eyes_Wide_Open said...

You better hope that PETA doesn't find your blog.

I want to see the kid pictures too.

JPB said...

Believe it or not, no pictures of the kids pressed up against the glass.

JPB said...

And, Mom, the kids, your grandkids, ASKED to witness the killin' - except for Nora.

Nor was there any trauma! I was pretty shocked. Especially when the thing flopped and kicked and spattered blood everywhere.

When that whole thing subsided, I put a second shot right into the side of its head and a little burble of blood oozed up. They thought that was particularly cool.

Maybe I'll tell them what their grandmother once upon a time did with a cat.

Eyes_Wide_Open said...

Do I know the story about the cat???

You did something cruel to a cat..MOM?

JPB said...

Janine --

Remember, I lived with Grandpa Mohler for three summers ;-)

Mainely Me said...

Hah! Got you with a little sarcasm, Jon. You do it to me all the time. Yes, I did have to kill an injured kitten with a shovel. The Widony's dog got it and something needed to be done to stop its suffering and Dad was at work. And you forget that I was the kid whose Grandma would tell me when the mobile butcher was coming so that I could get there in time to witness the kill and gutting. I remember taking home a cow's eye after one butchering. They are really large.

Eyes_Wide_Open said...

Oh yes! I remember the Widony incident now. They were pissed at you. Did Debbie ever get over that? Oh gosh, I remember the tears and that poor kitty. wow...had forgotten until now.

J Balsbaugh said...

That's not the cat incident I'm talking about.

Eyes_Wide_Open said...

Well...I'm just going to have to ask Mom. I kinda didn't think so since you mentioned that you lived with Grandpa Mohler. He's not alive to ask, so I'll have to get it out of her.

Is this a dissecting incident?

JPB said...

"Dissecting" would be one way of putting it.

Eyes_Wide_Open said...

Blech! She just told me what she did with Grandpa. Grosser than gross. I didn't even want to know all the details.

But I'm the one who couldn't stand the cats we had to dissect in Anatomy and Physiology in college. I got this nervous laughter that I couldn't control when I walked into the room and saw dead cats on their backs, claws up...on about 20 different tables in the room.

I had to leave the class due to laughing. They were all stuck in various positions and some had closed mouths...some tongues hanging out. Funny memory. My A & P professor wasn't impressed.

Mainely Me said...

OK, that description of walking into a classroom with 20 dead cats arranged on tables set my imagination going and I felt the laughter welling up. There is just something about the faces of dead cats that is scary to the point of laughter. I'm not sure how that works, but that's how it affects me.

Eyes_Wide_Open said...

Mom,

I can't explain it either, but I could not control myself. I thought I'd told you that story. I was trying really hard.

Your story isn't THAT bad. I bet it was cool to see. I told JJ and he said, "Aw... Blah...Aw...that's so gross Janine."

Why didn't YOU go into the medical field? You'd probably have the stomach for it.

the Roots said...

Wow. You have the most awesome adventures - - the kiddos and all you bloggin' family members. I love it!