I grew up in SC around chickens, but as anyone with chickens know, you gotta fight for your eggs. I don't mind that rat snake that comes in for a few eggs, they at least decimate the rat and vole population, I just pick Mr. No Shoulders up and take him out to the woods and release him. Now, having an electric fence helps with Coyotes, foxes (the grey ones climb trees), racoons, opossums, armadillos, and a myriad of other ground critters that like to eat eggs. I remember finding one armadillo fried in the fence, well, no eggs for him. The most exhilarating nights where the ones when I'd spot a 'possum, man I'd chase that guy down with my break barrel .177 and smash him (we also had guinea fowl, and we lost 14 of 'em to 'possums). Now these guys talking about using 50 cals for opossums is ridiculous, I would kill a 'possum one shot with my .177, put a round through his head to make sure. Now I enjoy the firepower of a .22 cal slug speeding along at around 900fps, no turning back now. One time I remember seeing this grey blob looking at me (to this day I don't know what it was, but once it was in the tree it acted like a racoon, but I didn't see its trail, it looked like a big cat at first) from 15 yds away as I approached it, it finally scampered off to a massive oak tree where I put 200 rounds of .177 up with no results (the scope came off my gun so I couldn't make an accurate shot, don't judge, this was little kid me). There, up in the top of the tree I saw a pair of eyes (then half a dozen smaller ones) just looking at me, man! That made me mad, but I couldn't do anything about it. Then the eyes started bobbing up and down, I believe that is what racoons do, correct me if I am wrong. Now having an electric fence and all of that is dandy, until you get a flock of crows to get into your chicken coop and make a mess. I remember battling them off (they never dropped immediately, but I shot dozens right out of the air) with my .177 break barrel, I was defending the flock. Now, after reading an article on a DWR (Department of Wildlife Management) website, I became inflamed with hate for these nasty birds; The article was about how crows kill on average 25% (in the northwest) more ducks and waterfowl young and eggs than hunters kill adults countrywide. After witnessing first hand the decimation of 75% (you read that correctly) of all of the songbird nests on my property by these birds, I had had enough. I went to war. I've taken dozens of them with .22 shorts, nocked two off the same branch because they didn't hear me as I was using subsonics. I'd blasted a chunk out of a flock of them invading a nest, now, they won't even take a look at my property, they won't even fly over it anymore. I went to a friend's house who also had a problem with them raiding, nocked one out at 150yds with a .17HMR. Now, for those freaks who want to eat them, well, when the season comes around, and I start shooting, I don't think about the pounds of meat I am going to eat (it is just a nasty skinny chicken, why go through the trouble on a winged rat?), I think of the birds and eggs that I am saving. So, if anyone likes crows, think again, they have their place, but they also have no predators, they are out of control. It is our job to save the species that do have predators, and are suffering as a result.
