Raleigh varmint hunter spooks neighbors

Associated Press via Fishwrap ^ | 8/5/05 | staff

[Rebelbase]

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jason Williams keeps his gun — a .22-caliber squirrel-killer with a scope — propped by the sink.

He bags the varmints as they raid his pear tree and chomp his fig bush in his woodsy backyard just blocks from Crabtree Valley Mall. It's a family practice going back decades.

But newer neighbors do not cotton to Williams squirrel hunts. In a single July week, they called police three times.

"As it stands, I have fired four rounds, killed four squirrels and been visited by four police officers," said Williams, who is 41. "The first time, they SWAT-deployed. This is silly."

Hunting squirrels, rats and pigeons is perfectly legal in Raleigh yards provided you get a 90-day permit like the one Williams keeps taped to his front door.

The law dates to at least 1959, when Williams' Brookhaven neighborhood was outside city limits and the nearby mall was a cow pasture.

Granting special permits was a nod to people who thought they had a "plethora of pests," said City Attorney Thomas McCormick.

Times and neighborhoods have changed. Brookhaven might still be quiet and wooded, the sort of place where families spend eight or nine years and still are considered "new-ish."

But residents note that 80-plus townhouses are going up nearby, and Glenwood Avenue is one of the busiest streets in Raleigh.

"It certainly is far from rural," said Bee Weddington, who lives in the neighborhood. "I hate the squirrels, too, but I don't like guns. I'm not one of those crusaders, but there's always a chance you could harm some animal who's a pet, or a person, or a child."

Weddington, who is not one the neighborhood complainers, said legalized squirrel hunting surprised her. Only nine people have the permits citywide.

Williams, though, has a stack of permits dating back to the 1980s, when Brookhaven was annexed. When neighbors called the police, he sent them copies by registered mail.

The squeamishness about guns bothers him. By city law, he can use no rifle larger than a .22-caliber, and he must use rat shot, which will travel only about 25 feet.

"You could shoot your buddy in the (behind) with one and it would feel like a mosquito — if it cut through your pants," he said.

A forestry consultant, Williams has been hunting since age 5. He keeps his guns in a safe — including the rifle, when not actively pursuing varmints. He aims for animals on tree trunks so the round will strikes the bark if it misses the squirrel.

And rat shot, he says while demonstrating, can be fired from his rifle only one round at a time.

"You're not going to be bursting out in the back yard going 'Bam, bam, bam, bam. Oh, sorry Bob. I hit your head.' It's just impossible," he said.

So far this year, squirrels have torn through hundreds of pears he had been planning to can, scattering the rotten fruit across his yard.

He tried putting out deer corn for them, but they ate through a garbage can to get to a larger supply. He tried non-lethal have-a-heart traps, but he couldn't catch them.

If neighbors would ask, Williams said, he could show them that his hunting is responsible and safe.

"Yankees," said his girlfriend, Dawn Wiggins. "This isn't Brooklyn. Were not popping people over here. One he fired, I was sitting in the house, and I never even heard it."

The last time police visited, Williams said, the senior officer shook his head and walked away, cursing wasted time.

Williams feels for the police. There are criminals to catch, he said. Leave the varmints to him.

[angry beaver norbert]

(the return ,after long absence, of norbert, courtesy of the local library. missed FR immensly, hope to have another machine soon.

[Fido969]

"Damn, I said #9 also. I hat it when I'm wrong."

I hat it, too.

[avg_freeper]

I feel drawn to this discussion for shome reason.

Yesh I do.

[AFreeBird]

Okay, I've seen a shotshell once; CCI, but it was for a .22 Magnum, do they make it for .22 long?

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

I said kill all the *gophers* not *golfers* you idiot!

[RatSlayer]

RE: "I've always wondered why a pistol firing that type of ammunition isn't considered a short barreled shotgun."

For the same reason that pistols that fire "rifle" cartridges (e.g. Thompson Encore, Remington XP100, etc.) aren't considered "short rifles".

Basically, the rule is that the firearm is considered to be whatever it was manufactured to be and can't be changed and it doesn't depend on the ammo. For instance a machine gun that has been converted to semi-auto only is still considered a machine gun. (there is an odd offshoot of this that concerns AP ammo, but that wasn't really your question).

It's kind of a strange rule, but it's the only feasable means that the BATFE has for administering these issues.

[Fido969]

This fellow needs a good air rifle for his area.

Gee, I'll have to break out my Beeman 660, that gun is a lot of fun to shoot. A fellow I know used one to drive away raccoons from his house, he treed a bunch of them and pooped off a about a hundred hits while they scrambled around the tree. Raccoons are smart, I'm sure they go to someone else's garbage now.

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

We call it snake shot. It wouldn't kill a snake, but it would stop a rattler from striking. I'm surprised in has killed anything with it.

..."Yankees," said his girlfriend, Dawn Wiggins

Blahahaha! Sounds like a well rounded woman. I'm falling in love.

Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com

[RKV]

Or use a silencer (actually I know that all they do is suppress the noise, but I will use the colloquial term rather than the technically correct suppressor). Not real clear to me why more folks don't like the idea of reducing gun noise. The ATFE and the rest of the gun grabbers get their knickers in a twist, but more widespread use of suppressors would help IMHO.

[doggieboy]

He should get a dog...Hillary is on recess.

[absolootezer0]

rifled barrel makes all he difference. years ago someone (i think ithaca) actually made a smoothbore .22lr specifically designed for these. guy cut it off at 16" guess what happened? got nailed by the batf. it was legal as a rifle, but the fact that it was a smoothbore, designed for shooting shot, made it a shotgun according to batf.

[southernnorthcarolina]

So far this year, squirrels have torn through hundreds of pears he had been planning to can, scattering the rotten fruit across his yard. He tried putting out deer corn for them, but they ate through a garbage can to get to a larger supply.

Well, that's a fundamental error. I should know, because I did the same thing. I had two or three squirrels who raided by bird feeders. So, I put out some deer corn for the squirrels on the railing of my deck. It drew their attention from the bird feeders -- as long as the corn lasted. But of course, the corn vanishes in an hour or two. Replenishing it often attracted more squirrels. And very soon I had, not two or three, but eight or ten, squirrels divebombing my birdseed feeders by launching themselves from the eaves.

I wrote about this episode, and the lesson it teaches, on the NCFR board. My munificence toward the squirrels worked just exactly like the welfare system. Once you start the program, the demand for whatever you're giving away increases more rapidly than your ability (or willingness) to increase the supply.

Or, to put it more succinctly, no good deed goes unpunished.

[Varmint Al]

Silencer is NOT the way to go. That quickly gets one on very bad terms with the BATF: http://www.beemans.net/silencers_on_airguns.htm

In 1934 a bill was passed levying a tax of $200 (4 times the price of a Thompson submachine gun at the time.) on future sales of machine guns. Short-barreled rifles and shotguns, cane guns and silencers were also thrown into the bill, almost as an afterthought. The BATF was set up, and one of its functions today is to collect such a tax. So much of the controversy dealing with Title II weapons is not that they are illegal, but that a tax will be levied on their ownership. Owning one which is not properly registered and taxed is a violation of federal tax code (tax evasion) a felony punishable by large fines and up to ten years in prison.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

[vetvetdoug]

Proof that the I-75 corridor South of Pennsylvania is becoming infested with Yankeees.(I used the extra "e" just to piss 'em off)

[TaxRelief]

...there's always a chance you could harm some animal who's a pet, or a person, or a child...

This is clearly the statement of an individual who has never looked through a telescope, a sight on a gun or binoculars.

[vetvetdoug]

I use the rat shot to kill the bumble bees that bore into my barn. They hover for a second and thats when I get them with my kimber 1911 model modified to shoot .22's. Sounds impressive but the rat shot does the work. I also use the rat shot for the mice in the barn with little damage to the walls. I did use a 12 gage once......I am a quick learner.

[ncpatriot]

Does this rat shot do damage to the rifle?

[Tax-chick]

Maybe she thinks people shoot with their eyes closed.

[henderson field]

"...This isn't Brooklyn..."

That's really the problem
Too many "two-twelves" (212 - NY area code) new to Raleigh.
They're not in tune with the American culture.
Why should they be?
They're not American.

[SolidRedState]

I use it allthe time and it does not affect your .22 to a noticeable degree. It is so insignificant as to have literally no effect on your rifle.

IT does however have a great effect on varmints as long as you are close enough. But I once put 6 rounds into a oppossum and it didn't hardly even blink. So the next round was a hollow point. It sure took notice then.