Found someone's handy work in my garden today

[Trunion]

I noticed a dead starling below my lavender today. At first I assumed a cat got it but it wasn’t torn apart, cats usually toss their prey around a bit. The bird was in perfect shape except for a 1/2 inch exit hole near its vent. Upon closer inspection I saw what probably is a small entrance wound in between its wings.
This is at my downstate house in a fairly good size city. I suspect one of my neighbors boys has something small and deadly like a Crosman 1322 or similar. I don't do any pesting down here. All my outdoor shooting I do at my upstate place. Birds love hanging out around my garden, plenty of bugs to pick up.
I'm curious about who the sniper is. I guess for now I'll be the clean-up guy.

 

[MOhunter]

Ahhh yeah. Hmmm. Boys will be boys...? Hopefully they'll fess up and learn to get their shooting skills honed in a more proper manner. If it were me I'd invite them over to kill some targets, chat a while and make friends!

 

[Trunion]

If it's the house/family I suspect there are 3 boys that range in age from 12 to 19. There's a service road that runs along the back of the yards. The 12 year old walks around quite a bit. They're new to the neighborhood... no harm, no foul I was doing the same thing when I was his age. I'm figuring it was a 20 yard shot from their bathroom window... not bad.

 

[daddypaddy]

If it's the house/family I suspect there are 3 boys that range in age from 12 to 19. There's a service road that runs along the back of the yards. The 12 year old walks around quite a bit. They're new to the neighborhood... no harm, no foul I was doing the same thing when I was his age. I'm figuring it was a 20 yard shot from their bathroom window... not bad.

you should approach and say, “i found your bird. you like pellet guns? i do too, i bet i can shoot targets farther than you.” introduce him to pcp airguns and watch him tumble into the rabbit hole. who knows, he might do something great for the community.