Visitor on the range.

[nf1e]

This fellow was checking out the prairie dogs at 150 yds at 7am this morning. Whatta Hobby!


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[Allen]

Hand him a gun.

We don't have prairie dogs or chipmunks here but make up for it by being over run with every other species of squirrels. They are like cockroaches as far as taking over the world.

[nf1e]

Plenty of chipmunks here and squirrels too. Had a jet black squirrel move in last hear and still around now. Never in my 77 years had I seen a black squirrel. Whatta Hobby!

[Allen]

I have.

The one that I saw was shot by my brother. It was solid black with a red tail. The squirrel was so pretty and unusual that it was taken to a taxidermy. The taxidermist went out of business shortly after and the squirrel was never seen again.

We think it was a type of "Fox Squirrel" as we call them here. They get much larger and live mostly in solitude. They behave differently from common grey squirrels and don't destroy everything. They are not encountered very often.

I've seen some that were as large as a house cat but over time they have interbred with other squirrels I suppose because most are smaller now. Still showing bright colors though like the black, bright orange, and even some white.

The only squirrel I would not shoot.

[nf1e]

I haven't shot anything but paper or steel targets in 30 years. Perhaps because I started thinking of my own mortality. Heck, I could come back as one of these things and being shot does not particularly appeal to me. Whatta Hobby!

[Allen]

I don't hunt either and don't kill anything other than rats, snakes, and squirrels. We have a few pecan trees left and regardless of how loaded the trees are or how many squirrels I kill off they come through like locust and strip all the nuts from the trees before they can even mature. Same for trying to grow blueberries.

I can't grow anything edible. Then, there is the destruction they cause.

[M1Tommy]

Deer occasionally wondered onto the range at Ft Polk during the matches, some while back. They didn't care for the RF stage "snap!" over them and would leave.

The helicopter that landed one time during a 300 yd RF stage was pretty ...... interesting. I couldn't hear him, but the range safety officer was "rather" animated while discussing the need for the helo to depart rather ASAP.
Tommy

[nf1e]

Often happens here. These photos this guy and mate were taken late last month. Targets are at the 100 yd mark on my home range. Whatta Hobby!

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