So a friend had the cops called for shooting squirrels in his backyard. He didn't get shot.

[moriah]

The officer walked in the back yard where he had the long gun in his hands, aiming it at the trees.

When he saw the officer, he put the gun down at "hunters rest" position and had a nice, pleasant conversation with the officer about the fact it was freaking his neighbors out and he needed to quit. No shootings, no drawn firearms from the officer, despite it being a real gun filled with birdshot. Not even any harsh words.

Oh, did I forget to mention? My friend was white. I'm rather glad, because I probably wouldn't have that friend anymore otherwise.

[ellenrr]

1. nice. I guess this friend is a real 'sportsman"

shooting at squirrels

[MineralMan]

4. Many people consider squirrels to be pests.

"Tree rats." I'm not in that group, but I know people who think of them that way. I feed the ones in my yard.

[moriah]

6. If they get inside your house, it can really suck.

Another friend puts poison in his attic because they decided to nest there and eat through wires and such.

I actually like squirrels, but then again, I'm not responsible for getting rid of them if they started causing problems. The reason he was shooting them was he had just spent a ton on soil and such and was trying to do gardens in raised beds in the backyard. Still not an excuse to shoot at things in the city.

But I can see that having gone incredibly wrong on so many levels, especially if the officer had reacted to skin color. I'm wiling to bet a 12-year-old white kid would have been given a chance to put down the airsoft pistol.

[spanone]

7. we're friends of the squirrel....we feed them so they won't eat our house...seems to work

happy turkey day MM

[JimDandy]

11. People kill squirrels for food.

This anecdote may be about a nuisance killing, but we have Americans also now going after frogs, snakes, rabbits, ducks and other small animals to eat. I expect a lot more of that will occur if beef and pork doesn't come down to where the American lower middle class can afford to buy them again on a regular basis. The poor now already can't afford anything but chicken on a regular basis. In addition, SNAP food assistance is not even keeping up with inflation let alone the huge increases in food costs (which aren't included in inflation formulas), especially meat.

[MineralMan]

12. They always have. I've shot and eaten squirrel, myself, several times.

Rabbits, ducks, frogs, too. I even shared a large rattlesnake for lunch once while working in the field with a very nice old Hispanic man when I was in high school. The snake made the mistake of crossing his path while he had a hoe in his hand. He skinned and cooked it, skewered on a stick, over a small fire and we shared it.

People don't always eat small game animals out of necessity. Often it's a choice. These days, I don't hunt any longer, but I used to, and not because I didn't have other food to eat.

[JimDandy]

15. Interesting. I've yet to try any of those myself.

But I may need to if food prices don't come down.

[dballance]

13. Squirrels can be quite destructive. Cost thousands in repairs to attics mostly.

This gentleman had every reason to eradicate them.

[JimDandy]

16. My son is dealing with that problem

in the attic of the house he's renting. I love squirrels myself, no matter what.

[belcffub]

14. squirrels are good eating...

don't knock it if you haven't tried it... we take squirrels when ever we have the chance...

[JimDandy]

17. I dissected frogs and squirrels

in a college biology class. They both had nematodes squirming around in their dismembered thighs. Frogs legs never sounded appetizing to me after that and I like squirrels so...

[belcffub]

19. we've gone froggin a time or two...

just make sure we cook things real good... not a huge fan of froggin because you have to wade through the mud and it smells awful... squirrel hunting is easier and a better bang for my buck...

[MineralMan]

2. Sounds about right.

Now, I feed the squirrels in my yard, instead of shooting them, but I get where he's coming from. In St. Paul, MN where I live, it's illegal to discharge a firearm in the city, including air rifles. However, that law is largely ignored by people who dislike squirrels for some reason.

This morning, I saw about a dozen squirrels in my front yard, including the standard grays, a couple of white squirrels, one black squirrel, and a pair of little red squirrels. They seem to enjoy the whole peanuts in shells we throw on the top of the snow in winter.

I wouldn't shoot them.

[MoonRiver]

3. Glad nobody got killed, including the squirrels.

What a POS, shooting at squirrels in a residential neighborhood.

[moriah]

5. They were getting into his garden. Yes, he was being idiotic.

The point was, though, that had he been of a different ethnicity, I'm pretty goddamn sure things would have turned out differently.

[MoonRiver]

8. Maybe. But I'll root for the squirrels regardless of their killer's skin color.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. Plus they are a good food source for other wildlife

Including large birds, wolves and coyotes, and huckabees.

[MineralMan]

10. Squirrels are funny. In Minnesota rural areas, they're small game,

and people hunt them. In Arkansas, too, I imagine. Lots of squirrels going into the cookpot in both places, I think. But, in cities, they're sort of wildlife pets for a lot of people, who enjoy feeding them and watching their antics. The trees in my 60 year old neighborhood are full of squirrel nests and you can't walk your dog without it seeing a squirrel every few feet. My beagles go nuts over squirrels.

I feed ours. A few of them will come to me and take a peanut from my hand. I didn't teach them that. They taught themselves, after seeing me come out to throw peanuts. On the other hand, I've eaten my share of them. Rabbits, too. We have those in abundance in our neighborhood, as well.

I guess it depends where you are. If you live in the country, squirrels and rabbits may just be food for the pot. In the city, that's less likely.

[helpmetohelpyou]

18. Was it legal for your friend to fire a shotgun on his property where he lived?

Did he have enough property to do it?

[moriah]

21. Not sure if it was legal or not. Still, the cop didn't feel threatened, apparently.

Considering that an air rifle in Wal-Mart was so terribly threatening they sent in what looked like a SWAT team when it was a black person, and didn't even take the time to ask Tamir Rice to put the weapon down... a 12-year-old boy.... I think it does demonstrate how cops react differently depending on the person's race. Unarguably my friend was doing something far more stupid, and more dangerous to the public, than taking the orange tip off of an airgun.

It probably was illegal, but he didn't get a ticket or citation from it either.

Now, my grandfather would use his pellet gun to kill birds that were getting into his fruit trees in the city when I was a child, so I don't know how *long* it's been illegal, if it is so. Most ordinances that bar shot or bullets also bar pellet guns.

[helpmetohelpyou]

23. If a cop showed up by his neighbors calling then I would guess also it wasn't legal

I'm amazed that he wasn't arrested and put in handcuffs

I live outside of a city but it's still considered a residential area where we have homes about an acre apart

If anyone here took a shotgun and started firing into his garden not only would he be arrested
but there would be a lot more than 1 cop responding to the call.

[ileus]

20. I recommend a nice 22 caliber air rifle for neighborhood use.

[Wella]

22. Your friend was lucky Mariah. Other whites have not been as lucky:

Unarmed White Man Shot By Police
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58287556-78/taylor-lake-police-salt.html.csp

Black police captain kills white Marine over racial slur:

White Parents call police for help, cops show up and kill their 18-year-old son
http://triadnc.twcnews.com/content/news/coastal/703279/boiling-spring-lakes-father-says-18-year-old-son-shot--killed-by-officer/

Unarmed white woman accidentally shot in head by police during raid
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20131212/NEWS01/312120009/Officer-s-errant-shot-struck-woman-head

White man beaten by police during arrest:
http://www.cleveland.com/parma/index.ssf/2013/12/parma_police_release_dash-cam.html

Police kill 80 year old white man in meth raid (and there was no meth)
http://ktla.com/2013/10/10/widow-to-sue-over-fatal-shooting-of-husband-80-by-sheriffs-deputies/#axzz2hhs0vpGC

White father arrested for trying to pick up his kid from school

Video shows Marion corrections officer slamming (white) inmate's head into concrete wall
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/marion-corrections-officer-charged-with-beating-inmate/23423718

(White) Man dies of food allergy in Shohomish County Jail (after guards ignore his dairy allergy--guy in jail for non-violent marijuana possession.)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/man-dies-food-allergy-shohomish-county-jail/nbhYh/

(White) Man forced to undergo anal medical procedures because police mistakenly thought man had drugs in his anus.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/david-eckert-enema-colonoscopy-drugs-traffic-stop_n_4218320.html

(White) homeless man beaten to death by sadistic cops

THE POLICE ARE OUT OF CONTROL, NO MATTER WHAT YOUR COLOR IS.

(Let's stop this obsession on one case, sad as it is. The cops, in general, are behaving like criminals in many cases.)

[Aerows]

24. He was on his own property.

That pretty much clears him, unless there is an ordinance against exterminating pests or discharging a firearm. Right or wrong, that's the law.