I was up late this morning, and as I went out to the dining room, I saw a nutter packing away the seeds.
As usual, I got the .177 Compatto loaded and the door open. I aimed for the ear, but I hit him a little high, though I didn't know it at the time. He went down like a sack of potatoes and I thought he was done.
The pellet punched through the ear, entered the top 1/4" of his skull and exited the other side about the same height. The pellet crushed the whole top plate of his skull at that point and punched a nice clean hole through other ear. Brain matter was leaking out, and you can see steam from it at one point in the video.
It was not an immediate killing shot, though. He was still breathing and his eyes were twitching; severe brain damage, but basic reflexes and life support systems were still functional. I discovered that when I picked him up by the carrying han... I mean tail... and he gripped onto the ground. A quick follow-up shot to the brain stem finished the job.
After thinking about it some more, I think this is an example of a time when a marginal shot with a hollow point or wadcutter was probably more effective than the same shot with a dome. Any expansion of the hollow point would have deepened the damage to the brain and minimized the chance of it deflecting off low angle impact against the skull. In other words, a dome may have just punched his ears and given him a headache, instead of biting in and spilling brains.
This was another adolescent male who will not be breeding this spring.
As I walked out the front door to take out the trash, I heard cardinals singing their distinctive calls across the street. Thinking of it, I haven't seen them in my back yard feeding zone lately, so I think those are probably some of the 5 or so male juveniles I gave a leg up over the sparrows and nutters over the past year. A job well-done, if I may say so myself.
As usual, I got the .177 Compatto loaded and the door open. I aimed for the ear, but I hit him a little high, though I didn't know it at the time. He went down like a sack of potatoes and I thought he was done.
The pellet punched through the ear, entered the top 1/4" of his skull and exited the other side about the same height. The pellet crushed the whole top plate of his skull at that point and punched a nice clean hole through other ear. Brain matter was leaking out, and you can see steam from it at one point in the video.
It was not an immediate killing shot, though. He was still breathing and his eyes were twitching; severe brain damage, but basic reflexes and life support systems were still functional. I discovered that when I picked him up by the carrying han... I mean tail... and he gripped onto the ground. A quick follow-up shot to the brain stem finished the job.
After thinking about it some more, I think this is an example of a time when a marginal shot with a hollow point or wadcutter was probably more effective than the same shot with a dome. Any expansion of the hollow point would have deepened the damage to the brain and minimized the chance of it deflecting off low angle impact against the skull. In other words, a dome may have just punched his ears and given him a headache, instead of biting in and spilling brains.
This was another adolescent male who will not be breeding this spring.
As I walked out the front door to take out the trash, I heard cardinals singing their distinctive calls across the street. Thinking of it, I haven't seen them in my back yard feeding zone lately, so I think those are probably some of the 5 or so male juveniles I gave a leg up over the sparrows and nutters over the past year. A job well-done, if I may say so myself.