Demon Squirrel

[Bayman]

Some of you may have read my "Wasted $500 on squirrels" thread. This is a continuation of that. Anyway last month I bought a Hw50 in 22, peep sights and a bunch of wadcutters just for short range suburban pest elimination. Finally got a chance to try out my master plan. Yesterday I had a squirrel on the ground with my garage as a safe backdrop. It was 15 yards away turned slightly away with it's head down. I slide open a basement casement window load a JSB 13.73 wadcutter, draw a bead on it's head and let it rip. The squirrel flips over and kicks it's legs a couple of times and stops. Blood pools the size of salad plate and runs over the edge over the driveway.

Right after that people start arriving next door to help my neighbor move out. Now I have to covertly recover my quarry or face all sorts of problems. I quickly go to pick up the pest expecting it to be dead and low and behold its still breathing. I can't shoot it now that there's lots of people around. I grab a big round rope handled plastic tote, put it on it's side and kick the dying critter in the tote. I cover the tote with a garbage pail lid and rinse the blood off the driveway.

With a crowd of people next door I decided to go to the post office to mail some freebie stuff to a couple of GTA members and let the critter expire in peace. I come back an hour plus later expecting the critter to have passed on to acorn heaven. After all, this critter had a 22 wadcutter placed perfectly between the eye and ear canal, there was a giant pool of blood and its head was all deformed. But Nooooo! I can hear it scratching and running around in the tote! Now what do I do? I got neighbors around that would call the police on me. Not that its illegal to kill pest squirrels in NY, in the fact they're in season now and I have my hunting license but hunting and guns of any type are unpopular with people here, including law enforcement. I can't shoot it and I can't let it out so I had to drown it in the covered tote with a garden hose

Later after the neighbors left the area I had to retrieve a very wet squirrel to do a post mortem on the squirrel that just wouldn't die. Turns out it was hit as I describe. A big 22 caliber wadcutter hole between the left eye and ear canal. This rifle makes 13.2 fpe with this particular pellet and the pellet didn't exit as hoped for. However the top of the skull was complete mush. Through the skin you could feel bone fragments and a hole you could put your pinkie in. Apparently the wadcutter turned towards the skull roof after entry and missed the brain. How this happened I'm not sure. Even more perplexing is how the animal survived the initial impact and started to function again with a shattered skull and severe blood loss. Just goes to show even when you do your part right all sorts of weird stuff can happen. I wonder if my 177 Hw50 would have had different results on the same shot.

[Wayne52]

I put a squirrel in the back of my truck one time, drove home and I went to grab it and it started kicking, got a pair of gloves and scrunched it's head with the heel of my boot.

[Habanero69er]

That is odd.   
I've never had one live/spasm more than a minute after a good head shot.

[Bayman]

That is odd.   
I've never had one live/spasm more than a minute after a good head shot.

Apparently this wasn't a good head shot. I thought the placement was perfect text book. Right between the eye and ear canal but somehow the pellet missed critical parts of the brain. The wadcutter turned the skull into a soft crunchy mess yet the critter regained basic functions.

[Chouchin66]

Squirrel skull convex shape between eye & ear may have caught thin outside edge of wadcutter, deflecting it slightly ; kinda like convex side of a spoon

[Bayman]

Squirrel skull convex shape between eye & ear may have caught thin outside edge of wadcutter, deflecting it slightly ; kinda like convex side of a spoon

Definitely changed direction after impact. Maybe a dome would have gone straight through but I was trying to avoid pass through. I think this was just a freak accident. For all practical purposes this thing should have been dead. For now on I'm double tapping them right away so I don't have to deal with this again.

[bear air]

They are tough animals. I've had some pretty good shots on them and still have them either run off or get inside a tree. Yeah I have a stick/club that finishes them off if need be.

[ranchibi]

Ron, heck of a shot..hit EXACTLY where you aimed! Maybe with squirrels a domed pellet would be a better option with penetration as said above but, that was a great shot sir! You did the right thing not to upset anyone, good thinking!

[WolfyW]

Ron, heck of a shot..hit EXACTLY where you aimed! Maybe with squirrels a domed pellet would be a better option with penetration as said above but, that was a great shot sir! You did the right thing not to upset anyone, good thinking!

Was thinking the same, try domed instead.

[Bayman]

Ron, heck of a shot..hit EXACTLY where you aimed! Maybe with squirrels a domed pellet would be a better option with penetration as said above but, that was a great shot sir! You did the right thing not to upset anyone, good thinking!

Was thinking the same, try domed instead.

Thanks I was using 177 domes with my lower powered Hw30s and getting pass throughs which is potentially problematic with my neighbors and local law enforcement. I bought the 22 Hw50 and wadcutters hoping an easier to make good body shot would plant them in their tracks, only to find out they still run after body shots regardless of caliber. I switched back to head shots and only used the new 22 Hw50 to justify buying it. A squril with a 177 in the head is just as dead as one with a 22 in the head. Hence the wasted $500. Maybe next time a 177 wadcutter to the head?

[wolverine]

When i was ridding the yard of squirrels, i would bring a bucket or the wheelbarrow out and pick up sticks and branches. Toss the shot squirrel in the wheelbarrow or bucket and continue on with the nieghbors none the wiser.


I shot a squirrel in the vitals with a
22 crosman destroyer.  It climbed high up the tree and died, falling to the ground.  Upon inspection, the destroyer passed through and a very torn up lung was hanging out.  Very tough squirrel.

[Traum]

Definitely not a waste of money. Sorry tyou had to go through all that though. I use a hatchet handle on fish it kills them instantly.
   You can always take it by the tail and swing its head into the edge of a table or hard surface, as a last resort. My dad said when he was younger doing medical research with mice and rats that was the standard way of killing them in the lab without contaminating the body. He said clean, quick and efficient until sometime in the 90s If memory serves may have been earlier I cant remember but the animal rights groups and the like started to make a fuss about it being inhumane so they switched to dry ice using the carbon dioxide to kill them.

[WolfyW]

Ron, heck of a shot..hit EXACTLY where you aimed! Maybe with squirrels a domed pellet would be a better option with penetration as said above but, that was a great shot sir! You did the right thing not to upset anyone, good thinking!

Was thinking the same, try domed instead.

Thanks I was using 177 domes with my lower powered Hw30s and getting pass throughs which is potentially problematic with my neighbors and local law enforcement. I bought the 22 Hw50 and wadcutters hoping an easier to make good body shot would plant them in their tracks, only to find out they still run after body shots regardless of caliber. I switched back to head shots and only used the new 22 Hw50 to justify buying it. A squril with a 177 in the head is just as dead as one with a 22 in the head. Hence the wasted $500. Maybe next time a 177 wadcutter to the head?

Ya a pass thru in that scenario is definitely  not good. Maybe a live trap and then dispatch it in your garage with a pellet?

[Taso1000]

Ron,

My first thought was maybe a .177 dome with an entrance and an exit through the brain cavity.  But you know what?  That still wouldn't guarantee anything.

You're doing all the right things but you can't win for losing, unfortunately.

Excellent recovery by the way.   

Peanut butter in a live catch trap also works.  Place it where you can collect it unseen.

Taso

Taso

[arty]

one way to make sure of your back stop and out of view of any neighbors.....check your laws re "baiting"

[BackStop]

I had a similar experience recently that I posted about here:

Topic: I thought this was a perfect head shot on a pest tree rat...

https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=165319.msg155846585#msg155846585

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Hi Ron !


It sounds like you did everything right. 
Those "Demon Squirrels" can be remarkably tough creatures.
They take severe hits and still function.


For squirrels :
In the Hatsan 125TH 25 cal. rifle I use Benjamin 27.8 gr Domed Pellets.
In the 22 cal. Hatsan 125 (Walther Talon Magnum) I use JSB Jumbo Heavy 18.3gr domed pellets.
In the 22 cal.Summit Ranger I use Crosman Piranha's or Gamo Red Fire's.
In the 22 cal Hatsan Vortex Edge I use Crosman Destroyers.
In the 117 cal. Hatsan Vortex Striker rifle I use H&N Terminators or Crosman Destroyers.

The Terminators and Destroyers expand like a wad cutter but give better penetration. (Many guns won't shoot them accurately but my Hatsan Striker and Edge do.)


Best Wishes - Tom

[Mole2017]

It happens. A blow across the grey matter like that can be really weird. I had one completely knocked out by a head shot--he face planted right where he was seated. While I shot up the others that showed up about the same time, he came to and started to crawl away. He got pretty far before I realized he was moving. I attempted a follow up shot but that squirrel was really getting his mojo back and proceeded to clear out pretty quickly.

As a follow up shot would have been conspicuous, a discreet crushing like Wayne says works. A short cord with a poachers loop on it might be useful also. Others will attempt to crush/compress the squirrel chest under a fist or shoe, but you need firm ground to do it. I just take them in hand and squeeze the chest firmly. Usually my thumb is on along the sternum and I can gauge success by the heart beat. They might struggle (as they will by almost any of these methods), but it works for me. Whacking with sticks is both messy and noisy compared to these, but if slipped into a sack first it is actually an approved method in places.