Man aims at mouse, shoots housemate

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | Wednesday, October 20, 2004 | Patti Dobranski

[Willie Green]

A mouse loose in a Somerset County house may have escaped injury early Tuesday morning, but a woman who lives there wasn't as fortunate.

State police at Somerset said 43-year-old Donald Eugene Rugg was attempting to shoot the rodent with a .22-caliber handgun inside the home he shares with 35-year-old Cathy Jo Harris, along Chicken Bone Road, in Lower Turkeyfoot Township, shortly after midnight.

As he fired the weapon, Harris reportedly walked into the path of the discharged round and was struck in the right arm with birdshot.

[dirtboy]

I'm not a gun expert. Is there 22 calibre birdshot shells, or is that the calibre of the shot itself?

See post #29 for a picture. It's a .22 long with a plastic dome where the bullet would be, filled with 12 shot (not much bigger than dust). Lethal for a squirrel maybe out to 25-30 feet.

[b4its2late]

[nuconvert]

And he used 'Birdshot'? It's got to be a joke.

[Republican Red]

I sympathize. My cat brought a chipmonk into the house today. Alvin has been running all over. I am freaked by the thing while my kids and husband are chasing it with a net. Chasing it with a shotgun sounds better.

[steveegg]

Thanks; I needed that.

[Kokojmudd]

I agree with yinz. Ahrn City.

[N. Theknow]

Chicken Bone Road, in Lower Turkeyfoot Township

So that's where the dumb-cluck lives.

[ZULU]

Anybody who uses a gun to kill a mouse needs their brains examined.

This is the kind of publicity we definitely do NOT want.

[MineralMan]

"Birdshot" coming out of a .22 handgun seems somewhat strange ..."

---

As you've discovered, it's best to keep your silence when you don't know much about firearms. Lots of people here know that they make birdshot rounds in .22 caliber. They've made them for many, many years.

[Shryke]

Actually, ratshot is a great way to nail big rats - you don't have to get near them, which usually makes them run like hell. Plus, every guy I know likes a good excuse to fire his gun indoors.

[Michael Barnes]

How much Rolling Rock was involved in this little situation?

33?

[annyokie]

Them Ahrns'll git yinz ervytime.

[MineralMan]

"Anybody who uses a gun to kill a mouse needs their brains examined.

This is the kind of publicity we definitely do NOT want."

---

Well, I don't know about that. I used to live in an old farmhouse that always had mice in it. They were trap-proof, and even the cats couldn't catch 'em. Still, you'd be sitting around watching TV, and one would pop out and stare at you.

I took to using my Crosman pump pellet pistol, just pumped three times, on the pesky critters. I kept it on the table beside my chair, loaded and pumped up. When the mousie showed himself, I'd slowy pick up the pistol and nail it. If I missed, the low velocity pellet wouldn't even penetrate the woodwook. Worked very well.

[WildTurkey]

And he used 'Birdshot'? It's got to be a joke.

How did you get to post #48 without seeing the numerous posts on birshot/ratshot/snakeshot and this photo in #29?

[Publius6961]

I saw a guy on CSI try that excuse a few weeks ago. The cops didn't buy it.

[MineralMan]

That's a prettier round than the Federal crimped birdshot rounds. I think I'll buy a box.

[dirtboy]

My cat brought a chipmonk into the house today. Alvin has been running all over. I am freaked by the thing while my kids and husband are chasing it with a net

I lived for several years in an apartment in a remodeled victorian house in the Philly suburbs. I had a young married couple move in the apartment above mine, and never heard much noise from them. One night, a horrific dim commenced from above - he was yelling, she was shrieking, furniture was crashing - it sounded like he was killing her. I was starting to contemplate calling the cops when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and a knock on the door. When I opened the door, the wife asked me if I knew how to get a bat out of the house.

Fortunately for them, I did (tennis racket and a bath towel). Just take it easy on the overhand slam so you just stun the bat instead of turning it into Julienne fries.

[Kahonek]

Thanks for the info. You learn something every day, I guess. It's been a long time since I used a .22 anything...

[ArrogantBustard]

'33' Beer?

or 33 beers?

[nuconvert]

? I saw it.
I was commenting on this (from # 48), "inside the home he shares with 35-year-old Cathy Jo Harris, along Chicken Bone Road, in Lower Turkeyfoot Township" and the article saying "birdshot". That's why it sounds like a joke.
Few too many birds in that story.