How to pick the right gun

[BCJ4]

Get a BMC, Black Mouth Cur, or two. They will run off whatever you listed causing problems or find some boys with dogs to do it.

 

[Ubernaught]

Okay .40 and .45 caliber handguns are not as easy to aim and hit small targets like television has made it look. Yes, some people have good aim but there is heavy recoil on those guns and a 3-lb trigger will shift the aim off enough to miss the target.

A three pound trigger pull will shift aim? You don't want to get lighter, and for a carry gun a bit heavier might be in order. As for aiming and hitting targets, a .45 1911 with a longer sight radius beats a compact 9mm, it is all relative.

 

[Miranda_Darling]

Much appreciated on the suggestions. (We are mostly in the country so neighbors not close). We have put some chickenwire up but to little effect. We have decided to go with a 30/06 deer rifle borrowed from a friend. Plus my hubby has a compound bow just in case. Not worried so much about possum or racoon. It is the havalinas, wild hogs, and coyotes we are keeping tabs on. Plus rattlers. Neither of us hunt really nor are we NRA people. Will let y'all know how things go.

 

[Ubernaught]

Best of luck in your efforts. Do get some range time in and familiarize yourself with the rifle.

As someone who doesn't like snakes, I can say a revolver full of snake shot can be a comfort.

 

[twister947]

Give some thought to what you're going to do with the things you shoot. I kill several hogs/year, and if I didn't have a tractor/loader, and a place to dispose of a 200-300# carcass, I'm not sure I would take the shot.

 

[Conager]

A 30.06 is a lot of rifle for close in work with varmints. Put a lot of thought into where you can, and where you cannot line up that shot. If you haven't got a really good backstop behind what you are shooting think about what is a mile behind that. Even level it is is going to travel 500 yards if you miss. A lot farther than that if you are aiming up towards a ridge.

 

[Dogoda]

Hand guns: Go to a range that rents. GET TRAINED....if you are not. My wife shoot a 40 Smith and Wesson VERY WELL. Shoot a gun YOU are comfortable with. Do NOT buy a gun and grow into it. If you start with a 22.....fine. Many of us did. A 357 Mag is NOT a starters gun. Comfort and training a MUST!!!

Long rifles.....range and accuracy are key. I like 7.62 / 308s myself. Just a preference I have. A nice 223 good for fun and critters. A 22LR for training the youngsters and fun. Getting ammo for it is now a pain though.

 

[NightL]

How guns get discussed in Literotica from time to time is nothing short of surreal and disturbing for many who live outside the US.

I am so glad to live where this nonsense largely does not exist.
http://www.vox.com/2015/6/20/8544507/gun-murders-ownership-charts

The desensitisation of extreme violence in US is beautifully highlighted in an article I posted last week http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-rel...sex-norms-europeans-probably-think-are-insane

"1. Extreme violence in the media is fine, just don’t show a nipple.

According to reports, the average American child will see 200,000 violent acts and witness 16,000 murders on TV by the time she is 18."​

Neighbours, where I live, discuss the schools their children go to, holidays, going to the beach, "can I borrow your lawnmower" not "can I check out your gun, I'll show you mine".

This whole "I know more about guns than you do" is seriously nothing to be envied.

 

[twister947]

^^^

 

[Weird Harold]

I am so glad to live where this nonsense largely does not exist.

So what do you suggest as a remedy for the range and size of "varmints" plaguing the OP?

 

[NightL]

So what do you suggest as a remedy for the range and size of "varmints" plaguing the OP?

http://pics2.ds-static.com/prodimg/13282/300.jpg

aside from the above and allowing that farmers will have different priorities for gun ownership which this person apparently is not or they would already have firearm knowledge for such situations. Even if new to a rural area a local farming community may just be more appropriate for gaining knowledge than the one-upmanship of "me 'n' my gun" - I dunno - maybe traps, baits, poison, adequate fencing, dogs (as someone else mentioned), care in refuse disposal, professional trappers. Our councils and local government bodies offer sound advice and assistance for such situations - not everything has to be answered with a gun.

But hey - y'all keep on boasting about the size of your gun knowledge...

 

[Conager]

http://pics2.ds-static.com/prodimg/13282/300.jpg

aside from the above and allowing that farmers will have different priorities for gun ownership which this person apparently is not or they would already have firearm knowledge for such situations. Even if new to a rural area a local farming community may just be more appropriate for gaining knowledge than the one-upmanship of "me 'n' my gun" - I dunno - maybe traps, baits, poison, adequate fencing, dogs (as someone else mentioned), care in refuse disposal, professional trappers. Our councils and local government bodies offer sound advice and assistance for such situations - not everything has to be answered with a gun.

But hey - y'all keep on boasting about the size of your gun knowledge...

You find it feasible to poison or trap all the javelina and coyotes in Texas? Texas is relatively arid rangeland. Wide spaces per animal. Animals are not pastured in little paddocks. It would cost a fortune to varmint fence even a small 5-10 acre parcel. A box of shells is cheap.

Dogs aren't out of the question. I know a guy that runs sheep and goats and has a pack of 8-12 Great Pyrenees. They kill all intruding animals in a 4 mile radius. Got to have the sheep to feed the dogs though.

Sometimes a hammer is the right tool for a nail. Probably shouldn't mention we have moved on from hammers to nail-guns.

 

[Tx_Rattlesnake]

If I can weigh in on the situation. I think Miranda (the OP) is concerned that the javalinas and coyotes pose a serious threat to the livestock and possibly her family. One of my aunt's dogs was torn up badly by a javalina. Maybe mesh wire and repellents will help but having a rifle may also be necessary.

 

[NightL]

You find it feasible to poison or trap all the javelina and coyotes in Texas?

aside from the above and allowing that farmers will have different priorities for gun ownership which this person apparently is not or they would already have firearm knowledge for such situations.

maybe - just maybe my posts were a commentary about the salivation over all things guns from the posters (US city dwelling posters?) - and the "Mine is bigger than yours" mentality.

But I apologise - we have wild giant kangaroos roaming our city streets that can attack in an instant - perhaps we should follow the US example - guns for all and more guns...

Protecting the Texas roaming gardens could be a problem.

We have a variety of critters invading my garden

 

[OTCurve]

maybe - just maybe my posts were a commentary about the salivation over all things guns from the posters (US city dwelling posters?) - and the "Mine is bigger than yours" mentality.

But I apologise - we have wild giant kangaroos roaming our city streets that can attack in an instant - perhaps we should follow the US example - guns for all and more guns...

Protecting the Texas roaming gardens could be a problem.

I think it is primarily a cultural issues, we've always had them and enjoy them. The gun grab in Australia had a lot of far ranging side effects on crime, some good, some bad.

There will always be a "mine is bigger than yours" mentality, in every country, about so many different things. Cars, watches, houses, trophy wives (well, not bigger, but you know) are status symbols to some.

eta question: Kangaroos in general, are they 'can attack' or 'most likely will attack'? Wild hogs are not necessarily known for their cuddle factor.

 

[NightL]

The gun grab in Australia had a lot of far ranging side effects on crime, some good, some bad.

Bad, oh really? List them - but yeah those giant kangaroos are looting fuckers... get 'em before they get us...

The day that the gun grab went down, Australia will never be the same again - those poor Austrians, their rights have been all stripped away. I mean shit - just look at the graph Homicides by firearm per 1 million people on http://www.vox.com/2015/6/20/8544507/gun-murders-ownership-charts - Australia is missing out on so much! "Wouldn't it be fun to have a nice little gun".

The gun grab as you call it was a voluntary handing in of all unlicensed and illegal guns without fines or prosecutions for the illegal possession of those guns. Yeah - and we didn't really need military assault rifles for the roos anyway - koalas though - hmm - pesky 'lil fuckers those...

This kind of sums it up
https://youtu.be/HZFLk5L70MQ

 

[OTCurve]

Bad, oh really? List them - but yeah those giant kangaroos are looting fuckers... get 'em before they get us...

The day that the gun grab went down, Australia will never be the same again - those poor Austrians, their rights have been all stripped away. I mean shit - just look at the graph Homicides by firearm per 1 million people on http://www.vox.com/2015/6/20/8544507/gun-murders-ownership-charts - Australia is missing out on so much! "Wouldn't it be fun to have a nice little gun".

The gun grab as you call it was a voluntary handing in of all unlicensed and illegal guns without fines or prosecutions for the illegal possession of those guns. Yeah - and we didn't really need military assault rifles for the roos anyway - koalas though - hmm - pesky 'lil fuckers those...

This kind of sums it up
https://youtu.be/HZFLk5L70MQ

Sure.

http://www.reasonorforce.com/2010/08/australian-gun-ban-facts-statistics.html

Also, from Reuters, regarding how 'voluntary' it was:
The national government also undertook a gun buyback program. This involved each state and territory establishing and operating a system through which gun owners and dealers could surrender the newly prohibited weapons in return for compensation.

So the government makes the rifles illegal, then buys them back from the people. How is this voluntary? Your choices are break the law or not.

Feral hogs are incredibly destructive, possibly more than your looting roos, yes?

Did you actually have selective-fire rifles, capable of multiple shots per pull of the trigger? Or were your assault rifles merely semi-automatic with a scary name?

We can continue this debate privately if you like, I would enjoy your point of view on several things, given we are separated by our cultures.

 

[NightL]

To be honest this is all really a bit silly - Australians who feel their rights have been eroded due to sensible and logical firearm licensing and regulation is negligible. No one feels less safe for those laws.

There are going to be lunatics and fringe elements in any society, I am just so very glad to live in one where access to guns has governing controls that make it so much harder for those fringe elements and lunatics to get hold of them.

The comparative graph, "Homicides by firearm per 1 million people", highlighted in previous post demonstrates Australia is getting something really right where US is getting something really wrong.

Mainstream television, film industry, video games that come out of the US are so filled with gratuitous violence it could be almost viewed that those industries are in collusion with arm manufacturers. Even though statistics clearly indicate homicides by firearm in US are downright frightening and vastly higher than in Australia, I'll ask this question - If you flick television stations from say 7pm onward in the evenings, what proportion of those shows are based around death? I would argue that with your remote control it would be click death click death click death... Nightly your society is exposed to this bizarrely disproportionate representation of the streets for which you live in, creating a mass hysteria and a belief that gun ownership is ultimately the only thing that can secure the safety of individuals. This gullibility certainly is a nice money earner for arms manufactures.

Reading through this thread there is a pharmacist talking of trigger weights (whatever that is)... Seriously where did a young city living, apparently highly educated person, gain this knowledge? For what purpose, dispensing medicines?.

I really don't understand how difficult it is for many in the US to not see the correlation of guns owned and homicides. Cold hard statistics - these guns are not making US society safer.

Yes Australia has feral animals that are problematic for farmers and I have no issues that for some farmers a rifle is part and parcel of their farming equipment. There are also some feral people in the cities and I am glad that gun regulation in Australia means getting hold of a firearm is vastly harder than in the US. Less guns less death - funny how that works.

Then some bloody uni student strapped a remote controlled glock onto a cockatoo and has been flying that bastard around - said it was for hunting down the rogue city roos and drop bears.

 

[Miranda_Darling]

Thank you to all who have responded both favorably and unfavorably. The question as well as the thread has been resolved. We have put up chickenwire around the veggies and other plants. The dogs tend to keep some of the other animals at bay. Still worried about wild hogs, javalinas, and coyotes. Fingers crossed.

 

[OTCurve]

To be honest this is all really a bit silly - Australians who feel their rights have been eroded due to sensible and logical firearm licensing and regulation is negligible. No one feels less safe for those laws.

There are going to be lunatics and fringe elements in any society, I am just so very glad to live in one where access to guns has governing controls that make it so much harder for those fringe elements and lunatics to get hold of them.

The comparative graph, "Homicides by firearm per 1 million people", highlighted in previous post demonstrates Australia is getting something really right where US is getting something really wrong.

Mainstream television, film industry, video games that come out of the US are so filled with gratuitous violence it could be almost viewed that those industries are in collusion with arm manufacturers. Even though statistics clearly indicate homicides by firearm in US are downright frightening and vastly higher than in Australia, I'll ask this question - If you flick television stations from say 7pm onward in the evenings, what proportion of those shows are based around death? I would argue that with your remote control it would be click death click death click death... Nightly your society is exposed to this bizarrely disproportionate representation of the streets for which you live in, creating a mass hysteria and a belief that gun ownership is ultimately the only thing that can secure the safety of individuals. This gullibility certainly is a nice money earner for arms manufactures.

Reading through this thread there is a pharmacist talking of trigger weights (whatever that is)... Seriously where did a young city living, apparently highly educated person, gain this knowledge? For what purpose, dispensing medicines?.

I really don't understand how difficult it is for many in the US to not see the correlation of guns owned and homicides. Cold hard statistics - these guns are not making US society safer.

Yes Australia has feral animals that are problematic for farmers and I have no issues that for some farmers a rifle is part and parcel of their farming equipment. There are also some feral people in the cities and I am glad that gun regulation in Australia means getting hold of a firearm is vastly harder than in the US. Less guns less death - funny how that works.

Then some bloody uni student strapped a remote controlled glock onto a cockatoo and has been flying that bastard around - said it was for hunting down the rogue city roos and drop bears.

I think it might be more the people you hang out with don't feel that way, as I have had several conversations with folk out there who do feel less safe. Which could be said about any issue, really.

Totally agree, there will always be that fringe element. Over here, the criminals have guns, and that will not change. More laws affect the law-biding, not the criminal element. In my state, there are strong restrictions about what you can and cannot own. Guess what? In the closest city, the criminals use things I cannot own, because they are violating the law to do so. Another law won't change that. Sad but true.

I don't watch tv, the ads got too annoying quite a while back. If you can, find that 30 Days episode (on Netflix) about a pro gun-control advocate living with a gun enthusiast. Quite an interesting watch, and all opinions were respected.

I also agree that there is disproportionate representation of violence on the streets, and I am reminded of that old saying for newspapers, "if it bleeds it leads". But it revolves around race. One aspect is overhyped, while another is barely reported. Fear is being created. Having said that, and being quite aware of that, why don't you read about Chicago, a city with the strongest gun control in the nation, where the law-biding citizens are by and large unarmed, yet the murder rate is through the roof? Who is being killed? Who is doing the killing? Are the guns used legally obtained? (I'll give you a hint on that last one, the answer is no)

How much do you know about firearms? Seriously, have you ever handled one, gone shooting, had any experience not gleaned from tv and the movies, or the media reports? I think you can agree that on all topics, not just firearms, the media doesn't do a spectacular job of factual reporting, they go on emotion, even if the facts are misrepresented. I ask because you treat a piece of knowledge such as trigger pull weight as something a city living and highly educated person would not normally have at their disposal. Where did he get this knowledge and for what purpose? People learn lots of different things, some amazingly not having do with one's profession. Like how an accountant might know how to fish and so on...

Yet the statistics of robbery and sexual assault in Australia show increases since your ban. I would also respectfully point out that one needs to factor criminal use of guns and how often guns are used to stop a crime. One cannot just pick out one statistic and know the whole story.

I think you would be amazed if you knew how easily criminals can obtain a firearm. It could very easily be hard in Australia for a criminal to obtain one. For that to happen here, you would have to disarm the populace and the criminal supplies, which is something many Americans will not tolerate. Look up 'gun-free zones' and you'll see why.

On wiki, it lists eight massacres since the ban on Australian soil. As you said, there will always be the fringe element.

In the end, we are looking at the problem from two very different aspects, which makes for an interesting discussion at the least.

 

[OTCurve]

Thank you to all who have responded both favorably and unfavorably. The question as well as the thread has been resolved. We have put up chickenwire around the veggies and other plants. The dogs tend to keep some of the other animals at bay. Still worried about wild hogs, javalinas, and coyotes. Fingers crossed.

Best of luck, Miranda. I did some more research on what those hogs can do and was amazed there is any farming left down there.

 

[NightL]

I think it might be more the people you hang out with don't feel that way, as I have had several conversations with folk out there who do feel less safe.

Glad I don't hang with those people - that is not levelled as an insult - just glad I don't.

Australia has a massive coastline and of course all manner of things get in undetected - even through our docks and airports. Determined criminals will get their hands on illegal weapons. The difference is that those with that level of determination tend to use those weapons against other criminals, they are not involved in house burglaries going wrong. The petty criminal here is highly unlikely to steal a gun during a random suburban house burglary purely due to the minimal amount of guns in our society. Regulation for ownership, back ground checks and laws on storage actually have a positive result. People still can buy guns in Australia but I would wager they are rarely purchased for self protection. As you said - depends on who you hang with.

I think we have a higher respect and faith in our law enforcement in Australia to do their job. The whole "well that baddie over there has a big nasty gun so I should have the right to have an even bigger nice gun" is an argument I can never buy into. More guns more deaths - simple. The more unregulated guns in the hands of pharmacists, accountants, moms, dads and crazy uncles mean more opportunities for the average home burglar, unsettled teenager and abusive spouse to get their hands on them. So I am very glad for how these opportunities are vastly less where I live.

I look from afar and for my sensibilities the paranoia over tighter gun laws in the US is highly disturbing. I find the disproportionate level of violence offered up as entertainment highly disturbing. I worry for young impressionable minds over the desensitisation of extreme violence and gun culture. It is scary how out of balance US evening entertainment is. As I said though, highly profitable for the gun manufacturers and they will love the international spread of these nonsense TV shows.

Do I know anything about guns? Very glad to say I don't really. Have I fired guns? Yes - as a child/teen a friend of a friend had a strange crazy uncle who thought it appropriate to to take young people out shooting on farm land. Air-rifles, 22 and 303 rifles, shot gun - no hand guns. Taken through handling and cleaning etc. I have chased rabbits all over farm land with a 22 on safety - dog was always so close to the rabbits I dared not take a shot.

Maybe the issue in Chicago is that of under resourced law enforcement and not the lack of shiny chrome plated handguns so the population can become budding vigilantes.

Like how an accountant might know how to fish and so on...

We don't fish with guns here and that really is the point. Yes there will be accountants who trap shoot, game shoot or even target shoot at suburban firing ranges (yes they do exist here) but our civil liberties are not diminished for having no wish or need to carry handguns or by laws that govern ownership. As so beautifully highlighted by the stand up comedian https://youtu.be/HZFLk5L70MQ there are countries that really don't aspire to be like US, particularly the hole that nation has fallen into over homicides from guns and the lack of courage to to rectify that.

I am so very very glad to live in a society where the vast majority of the population don't carry guns or own them at all. Our homicides by guns are massively lower than US (including taking into account mass shootings before the "gun grab"). What do gun advocates in US find so threatening about that concept?

Yet the statistics of robbery and sexual assault in Australia show increases since your ban.

and the population has increased and economy has roller coasted, and the use of amphetamine based drugs have increased - probably some impressionable whack heads have been influenced by sensationalised violence fuelled media - I really don't see how guns being common place would improve the mix - it just does not add up. Australia offers a much more peaceful environment than the US - why would we want easier access to guns in our society when it is so clearly not going so well for US. There is no ban on ownership of guns in Australia, there are some restrictions and tighter background checks - not such a bad thing really.

In the end, we are looking at the problem from two very different aspects, which makes for an interesting discussion at the least.

That I agree.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

To be honest this is all really a bit silly - Australians who feel their rights have been eroded due to sensible and logical firearm licensing and regulation is negligible. No one feels less safe for those laws.

There are going to be lunatics and fringe elements in any society, I am just so very glad to live in one where access to guns has governing controls that make it so much harder for those fringe elements and lunatics to get hold of them.

The comparative graph, "Homicides by firearm per 1 million people", highlighted in previous post demonstrates Australia is getting something really right where US is getting something really wrong.

Mainstream television, film industry, video games that come out of the US are so filled with gratuitous violence it could be almost viewed that those industries are in collusion with arm manufacturers. Even though statistics clearly indicate homicides by firearm in US are downright frightening and vastly higher than in Australia, I'll ask this question - If you flick television stations from say 7pm onward in the evenings, what proportion of those shows are based around death? I would argue that with your remote control it would be click death click death click death... Nightly your society is exposed to this bizarrely disproportionate representation of the streets for which you live in, creating a mass hysteria and a belief that gun ownership is ultimately the only thing that can secure the safety of individuals. This gullibility certainly is a nice money earner for arms manufactures.

Reading through this thread there is a pharmacist talking of trigger weights (whatever that is)... Seriously where did a young city living, apparently highly educated person, gain this knowledge? For what purpose, dispensing medicines?.

I really don't understand how difficult it is for many in the US to not see the correlation of guns owned and homicides. Cold hard statistics - these guns are not making US society safer.

Yes Australia has feral animals that are problematic for farmers and I have no issues that for some farmers a rifle is part and parcel of their farming equipment. There are also some feral people in the cities and I am glad that gun regulation in Australia means getting hold of a firearm is vastly harder than in the US. Less guns less death - funny how that works.

Then some bloody uni student strapped a remote controlled glock onto a cockatoo and has been flying that bastard around - said it was for hunting down the rogue city roos and drop bears.

Like driving laws keep dolts, drunks, and senile off the roads and outta trouble.

All laws do is expand government.

 

[Yardley]

Glad I don't hang with those people - that is not levelled as an insult - just glad I don't.

Australia has a massive coastline and of course all manner of things get in undetected - even through our docks and airports. Determined criminals will get their hands on illegal weapons. The difference is that those with that level of determination tend to use those weapons against other criminals, they are not involved in house burglaries going wrong. The petty criminal here is highly unlikely to steal a gun during a random suburban house burglary purely due to the minimal amount of guns in our society. Regulation for ownership, back ground checks and laws on storage actually have a positive result. People still can buy guns in Australia but I would wager they are rarely purchased for self protection. As you said - depends on who you hang with.

I think we have a higher respect and faith in our law enforcement in Australia to do their job. The whole "well that baddie over there has a big nasty gun so I should have the right to have an even bigger nice gun" is an argument I can never buy into. More guns more deaths - simple. The more unregulated guns in the hands of pharmacists, accountants, moms, dads and crazy uncles mean more opportunities for the average home burglar, unsettled teenager and abusive spouse to get their hands on them. So I am very glad for how these opportunities are vastly less where I live.

I look from afar and for my sensibilities the paranoia over tighter gun laws in the US is highly disturbing. I find the disproportionate level of violence offered up as entertainment highly disturbing. I worry for young impressionable minds over the desensitisation of extreme violence and gun culture. It is scary how out of balance US evening entertainment is. As I said though, highly profitable for the gun manufacturers and they will love the international spread of these nonsense TV shows.

Do I know anything about guns? Very glad to say I don't really. Have I fired guns? Yes - as a child/teen a friend of a friend had a strange crazy uncle who thought it appropriate to to take young people out shooting on farm land. Air-rifles, 22 and 303 rifles, shot gun - no hand guns. Taken through handling and cleaning etc. I have chased rabbits all over farm land with a 22 on safety - dog was always so close to the rabbits I dared not take a shot.

Maybe the issue in Chicago is that of under resourced law enforcement and not the lack of shiny chrome plated handguns so the population can become budding vigilantes.

We don't fish with guns here and that really is the point. Yes there will be accountants who trap shoot, game shoot or even target shoot at suburban firing ranges (yes they do exist here) but our civil liberties are not diminished for having no wish or need to carry handguns or by laws that govern ownership. As so beautifully highlighted by the stand up comedian https://youtu.be/HZFLk5L70MQ there are countries that really don't aspire to be like US, particularly the hole that nation has fallen into over homicides from guns and the lack of courage to to rectify that.

I am so very very glad to live in a society where the vast majority of the population don't carry guns or own them at all. Our homicides by guns are massively lower than US (including taking into account mass shootings before the "gun grab"). What do gun advocates in US find so threatening about that concept?

and the population has increased and economy has roller coasted, and the use of amphetamine based drugs have increased - probably some impressionable whack heads have been influenced by sensationalised violence fuelled media - I really don't see how guns being common place would improve the mix - it just does not add up. Australia offers a much more peaceful environment than the US - why would we want easier access to guns in our society when it is so clearly not going so well for US. There is no ban on ownership of guns in Australia, there are some restrictions and tighter background checks - not such a bad thing really.

That I agree.

Statistics require controlled sample populations. Our demographics are dramatically different then yours.

 

[Bigspurt]

Trapping

Welcome to Lit

Would trapping them and releasing them someplace far be out of the question? Or even calling animal control; if it's bothersome critters, they will do this for free, ensuring that the animals do not return (at least up here).

The reason I am asking is because all I can think of is a stray bullet, injured animal (and if it's a larger animal, it could attack you, no matter how good of a shot you are) and a litany of other potential issues that could compound your initial problems. Also, I don't know about the local bylaws because in many cases, shooting wildlife is illegal or strictly regulated, so that may be an issue.

Trapping has it's pitfalls. For one, in Ohio, it is illegal to trap and re locate. Farmer John doesn't want your groundhog or Raccoon.

The next challenge is bait and placement. I was trying to catch a groundhog and I got Pepe le pue. So now what? You want to catch the raccoons, use fish from the creek. What do you get, cats!

Also, I put my cage in the lawn and the raccoon scratched all of the grass under and around the trap. Big bald spot.

I did go on a skunk run and I figured out how to trap and exterminate without getting sprayed. I think I got seven or eight that summer. The extermination was a piece of plastic covering the trap and an old 2" shop vacuum tube. Put the tube on the exhaust of the truck and gas them.