Rat Hunting

[Eric E Stahl]

Rat Hunting

When I was about 14 or 15, my dad asked me to help shoot rats at our horse barn. One day I threw some horse feed out for the rats to find and eat as bait. I sat back about 25-30 feet on a concrete block. I had my grand pa’s double barrel 12 gage shot gun. Rats came and went but I waited for a larger group. Finally 7 rats were on the bait so I pointed the old 12 gage at the middle of the rats and pulled the trigger. Both the rats and I were surprised! Both barrels went off and I fell backwards in the barnyard, yuck. I got 5 of the 7 rats!

 

[heretoeternity]

I had the same job as a kid to clean stables and haul to the fields...well a pile I left in the bush behind the stables became infested with rats...lucky for me I had a small dog, a rat terrior..wow when that thing spotted the rodents they were dead immediately..the dog had no patience for rodents of any kind..I think some of the rats were bigger than she was, but her kill rate was 100 percent and count about 40 or so..this little white dog was yellow from digging in the manure, but she sure got the job done..hahaha.....