Trench Warfare

Fall is here in all its glory. Autumn near the northern California coast is nothing like what we used to have in the Northeast, but it is very pleasant just the same. October is usually a month where we enjoy an extended Indian Summer. This year has been no exception.

But about a month ago, I was unpleasantly surprised to find a series of conical mounds rising out of the lawn in the back yard. In fact, I actually watched some of them being raised. The dirt would be pushed out in a little core from the center of the mound, like an erupting volcano, then fall off to add more dirt to the rising sides. Some research online told me that it was the tell-tale sign of a mole. So each day, I would take a shovel out and redistribute the dirt to other needy areas of the yard. Then usually by the next day, there would be more dirt there or at a new location.

I wanted to stop the mole before he ruined the lawn


I camped out one night early on with my rifle and a flashlight casting red-tinted light over the active mound. At one point, I saw a subtly moving silhouette at the top of the mound, raised my rifle and centered it in my scope. In the darkness, it was hard to see what exactly the creature was. Just before I took the shot, I realized that it was actually just a large clump of dirt standing vertically as it was being pushed up out of the ground. That's when I did more research and realized that moles seldom go above ground. I knew that my rifle would not be the likely solution.

So one afternoon I was out back, taking a break from some wood chopping I had been doing when I saw the dirt being pushed up out of a nearly flat spot in the grass. So I swiftly grabbed the axe, strode to the spot and with a hefty swing, buried the entire head of the axe deep under the surface of the grass. There was no blood on it when I pulled it out, and the chances that I would have happened to strike the mole were one in a thousand. What I do know is that the mole activity only occurred once more after that, and hasn't resumed since. Go figure.

If I could have gotten this view, I'd have definitely killed him


Then yesterday, I saw new digging at a different spot in the yard. Under the tree where I place my bird feeders at the back of the yard I saw a little hole, flush with the ground, and some fresh dirt spread around it. I didn't know what had made it, but I knew it was not a mole. I went outside late last night to see if I could spot the culprit with my binoculars and the flashlight, but had no luck.

He couldn't have picked a less fortunate spot - right under the shooting tree!


Then this morning, as I watched a bunch of sparrows out enjoying some seeds on the ground, I saw that there was fresh dirt out there. So I walked out to get a closer look. The birds all flew away at my approach, but sure enough, there in the hole was a little brown furry head poking out! It definitely wasn't a mole, but I couldn't tell if it was a gopher or a vole. As quick and as low to the ground as I could, I slunk back into the house to get my rifle.

I loaded it with a .20 Field Target Special (FTS), snuck out and sat myself in one of the patio chairs about 15 yards away. I went with the FTS instead of the Crow Magnum this time because I felt I could pinpoint the shot a little more reliably with it. I thought that level of precision might be needed on a small target that was quickly darting in and out of his hole. I placed my left elbow on the arm of the chair to brace and steady the rifle, and brought the opening of the hole into scope view. Once the birds came back and were again enjoying seeds all around the hole, I watched the rodent pop his head back out. He did this several times, coming out and pushing a little dirt onto the growing pile at the back of the hole. The next time he came out, he turned to the right, giving me a profile of his little head. It wasn't a clear shot, there was intervening grass that slightly obscured him, but I could tell where his head was. He paused just long enough and I squeezed the trigger.

The birds all scattered, and there was no sign of anything above ground. I walked over and there he was. He had dropped himself back down into the hole but his head was plain to be seen. And he was as dead as can be.

Taking a dirt nap


I used a couple of sticks as forceps and pulled the little digger out of his hole. An investigation revealed that the pellet had gone in right behind his ear...



...and had come out opposite at his cheek. The Beeman Field Target Special does not mess around. That pellet could not have flown any more true.


A case of terminal lead poisoning

Having never seen one up close, I was uncertain, but believed it was a gopher rather than a vole. From my previous research online, I knew that voles were much more mouse-like in appearance than this little guy was. After disposing of him, a quick online search proved that this was indeed a pocket gopher, most likely the Botta's Pocket Gopher (Thomomys bottae) which is the common variety in California.

After the frustration of the mole debacle, it was satisfying indeed to have dispatched this little varmint before any major damage could be done to the lawn or the tree.


In the words of the immortal Carl Spackler, "Au revoir, gopher"

The curious incident of the mouse in the nighttime

With Fall looming, things have gotten very quiet in the back yard. There hasn't been any recent daylight activity under the bird feeders, which is where I get most of my shooting opportunities. So two nights ago I decided to see if anyone was home. I put a dab of peanut butter on a wood plank and set it out in the grass near the blackberry bushes where I've heard some rustling in the past. I placed the plank a couple of feet away from the brambles and got ready.

PB on a shingle


I cut a piece of flexible red-tinted plastic (from a bag of red potatoes) and taped it over the end of my flashlight. Conventional wisdom amongst those that dispatch rodents at night is that red light tends not to spook them. Apparently they don't process red light the same as light of other wavelengths, so they either can't tell where the light is coming from, or don't see it as light from an unnatural source.

I use the lantern to prop up my flashlight and keep it trained on the target area. I've been using this set-up (without the red plastic) since the first time I shot at night. It works great


With the light trained over on the plank, I waited with a .20 caliber Crow Magnum pellet loaded up in the ol' Beeman R1. Minutes later, I watched a tiny little rodent make her way out to the plank and start helping herself to some of the peanut butter. If it was a rat, it was one of the smallest I'd ever seen. Even at 12 yards, she was small enough to be a really challenging target. I didn't take a shot right away, however, because I was hoping the PB would coax out a more impressive specimen. So I waited for about an hour, all the while watching the little one run out and partake six or seven more times.

It was at this point that I became aware of something else stirring on the other side of the yard. I heard a soft noise over at the wooden fence opposite my bait station. It's amazing how heightened your senses become when you are outside at night in a stalking situation like that. You are so 'at attention', the smallest sounds seem amplified. Using a second flashlight which I had also covered with red plastic, I searched for the source of the noise. Sure enough, there was an opossum the size of a small cat meandering across the grass. I have no beef with opossums, so I'd never try to shoot one. I certainly don't view them as a pest like I do with rats.

As I watched him, I was amazed that despite at one point being only 15 feet away, the opossum seemed completely unable to see me while I had that red light on him. He just went about his business as if I weren't there. At one point I deliberately made a small noise to see if it was just indifference, or if he truly couldn't see me. When I made the noise, he stopped dead and looked back in my direction. Then he ran a few feet away and looked back again. All the while, I had the red light shining right on him. He absolutely could not see me and didn't seem to be aware that light was illuminating him. It seems the red-light legends were true!

Well that opossum made his way right across the yard, straight over to my bait -- they must have an incredible sense of smell. He lapped up every trace of the peanut butter from the plank in about 30 seconds and then disappeared back into the brambles in the back corner of the yard. With my bait gone, and no sign to be seen of an adult rat, I packed it in for the night.

This isn't the opossum in question, but I thought a visual reference was in order. Kinda looks like a giant rat


Perhaps it was frustration at watching my bait get pilfered, but over 24 hours, I decided that I was going to take out that little rodent if she came back again. So last night, I duplicated the entire set-up -- placed more peanut butter, trained the red flashlight and sat waiting again with my loaded R1.

About ten minutes into my new vigil, I saw through my binoculars that the little rodent was back there in the brambles, and was sniffing out the PB. A few minutes later, she was back out at the plank, thanking whatever rodent gods she prayed to for a second night of manna dropped seemingly from the heavens. Seeing her again, I was more convinced than ever that she was a mouse.

She was so tiny, that she was essentially invisible moving through the grass until she reached the wood plank. But because she was so small, and because the PB was dolloped in the center of the wood, she had to climb entirely on it to get at the creamy goodness. I let her have one helping and watched her scoot back to the safety of the brambles. A second later, she made another run out onto the plank, giving me a perfect (albeit tiny) broadside view. She was so small, I just put the cross hair dead center on her and let fly. I heard the pellet rip through the grass and leaves, and I lost sight of her. As small as she was, I thought I might have completely missed her.

Blown away - literally

A closer look confirmed that the pellet had indeed caught her right through the middle. The force of that .20 caliber hollow point on that tiny body knocked her back a foot and a half from where she'd been on the plank and opened her belly wide.


She was so small and delicate, I'm now almost certain she was a mouse. Her coloration, with the brown on top and clean white on the belly seems like it's a classic mouse pattern. But I was confused. If there are in fact rats back in those brambles, I would be really surprised that they would co-habitate with a mouse. I figured a mouse would get eaten, or at least bullied away by rats. Maybe there aren't any rats in residence right now. Regardless, there was one less rodent in the yard this morning.


Clean up on aisle three

Harvest Time

Blackberries are ripening all over the back yard. Soon I'll go out and pick a few pounds worth for my wife to make jam. I've been going out periodically to grab a few of the ripe ones to enjoy myself. A couple of evenings ago, I was over on the side of the back yard grabbing a few berries when I heard a rustling back in the brambles not more than a couple feet in. It sounded like something was struggling to get through the sharp tangles. My first instinct was that it was a bird -- there are many that frequent the yard and they love the berries as much as me. But after a few seconds, when nothing flew out of the bushes, I had a strong suspicion it was a rat.

It has been a few weeks since I last saw a rat in the yard. Several weeks ago I capped a roof rat who was nonchalantly enjoying seeds under the bird feeders in the middle of the day. I put a .20 hollow point pellet right in his snout. It traveled in through his face and exited through his back about halfway down the length of his body. My wife was out of town and had the camera with her so I couldn't get any good pics. I actually took a few shots with my cell phone camera -- but they are terrible quality.

A quick side trip in the Way-Back Machine:
The scene from three weeks ago

These pics suck, even for a cell phone camera

The pellet punched a clean hole right next to his nose...

...went through his head, neck and chest and then out his back

A couple of days after that I popped another roof rat -- this one in the boiler room, but she had enough juice in her after the shot to escape back into the ivy where I couldn't find her. That's the peril of gut-shooting a rat -- they don't die instantly and can sometimes motor off. That pisses me off so much. It's only happened a couple of times but it drives me nuts -- I want the rats dead but I don't want them to suffer. I think I'll do a separate post to elaborate on this and my other feelings when I shoot. At any rate, the end result was a rat that was going to expire, but without a chance for me dispose of it (or to get photos for that matter).

At any rate, the movement in the brambles told me that there was more action to be had. But there had been no conspicuous action under the feeders, so I figured the rats had gotten too wary to come out during the day. I decided to try a little baiting to see if they were out there at night. We had some really nice (and stinky) cheese left over from when some friends visited us recently. So I cut off a bit of the rind and set it out under the feeders before sunset. I had no intention of stalking the rats and trying to hunt them, I just wanted to see if they were out there. I checked the cheese with binoculars and flashlight before turning in at around 11:30pm, and it was still in place. When I checked again at around 6am the next morning, it was gone. I repeated the process for three nights -- all with the same result. The last night of this was last night (Friday).

So this afternoon (Saturday), I was looking out the window and saw the unmistakable form of a rat under the feeder. And this was no roof rat. This was a big Norway. So out came the Beeman R1. I watched from inside the house for a few minutes to watch his pattern, so I knew where my best chance to get a clear shot would be. He was concentrating around the base of the tree -- and man was he big. Maybe I was used to seeing those last couple of roof rats, but he looked like a chihuahua! When I had the gun on him, he filled up the sight in my scope (set at around 7x). I also noticed that there was a second, slightly smaller rat that was shuffling around as well. But the biggun was what I kept my focus on.

I decided to try a shot from the sliding glass doorway since it was already open. I silently slid the screen door open about a foot and put the gun out, resting the back of my left shoulder against the door frame. There he was, just to the left of the tree, scavenging amidst a few birds and in no apparent hurry. When I brought my eye to the scope, however, I saw that the rat was just behind a sparrow on one side and a towhee on the other. There was a slight window between each bird but it wasn't worth taking the shot and accidentally clipping one of the birds. So I waited for a better presentation. That came moments later when he ventured out again, this time in front of the tree.

With nary a bird in sight, I flicked off the safety and put the crosshair between his head and chest (my strategy being that if I missed slightly one way, I'd put it in his grape, and if I missed slightly the other, I'd put it through his heart/lungs. In this instance, the pellet flew straight and went right through his neck. He rolled straight over onto his back and kicked weakly a few times. He was dead within ten seconds.


The R1 comes through again -- he died right where he was hit

I can't say enough about the knockdown power of the Crow Magnum. I've seen how it tears up the lemons I sometimes use as targets. Round nose pellets (particularly the exceptional Beeman Field Target Specials) are extremely accurate, but they penetrate so well they tend to 'pin-cushion' the target without imparting most of their energy. The CMs can still pass through the target, but the broad face (and forward expansion cup) really bring a lot of blunt force and leave it in the target where it does terrific damage.


The pellet severed his jugular and who knows what else

Boy was he big! Seeing him up close confirmed that this was one of the biggest I've yet shot. He had large feet and a thick scaly tail. I brought out the tape measure to see the tale of the tape. He was just over 16 inches long from stem to stern, and quite robust. If there were such a thing as a trophy rat, he would have qualified.


His head+body was just over eight inches -- his tail another eight

Putting him in the bag I could feel his heft. This was bigger than the last two Norways I got back in May. The very first rat I shot (Summer 2006) was a big Norway. But I'm not sure she was as big as (and certainly not bigger than) this rat.


How much to have him taxidermied?

After disposing of him, I kept a watchful eye out that way for the rest of the day, but the smaller rat never appeared again while I was looking. I'll wait a week or two then use the baiting technique again since it seems to have gotten the rats comfortable with coming out into the shooting range. I have a friend that wants to come over for a night shoot, so I'll bait for a few nights again with some stinky cheese right before he comes to increase the likelihood that we'll get some action. I can't wait to see his reaction when that first rat comes shambling out of the night with beady eyes reflecting the beam from the flashlight. Hopefully it'll be one of these big Norways. Then it will be his turn to tell a tale.


I wonder if he has a big brother