Based upon the recent threads about trapping vs. shooting feral cats and the fact that the county that I live in has recently begun to allow property owners to shoot wild hogs on your property without a limit or even a license, I began to think about some of the other animals that are pests on my property.
I have a mole eating my lawn that I laid out poison for. I had a mouse invade my house at one time and get his foot stuck in a trap that I had the privilege of drowning. I spray the wasp nests with poison and squish the occasional cockroach that I see. No one gives the killing of these animals a second thought.
However, people react to killing cats even on another’s property. Or suppose there was a stray dog getting into my yard. Would it be ok to shoot it or lay out anti freeze? What is the line that says what animals I can kill on my property and what ones I can’t. Don’t say that the laws of my community tell me what I can kill, because on some of the property here, you could almost kill anything and the neighbors would never even know, because they have rifle ranges in their backyards.
You know, you go around talking about how your neighbors have rifle ranges in their back yards, you’re gonna spread the image of Texans as being wild-eyed, gun-crazed peckerwoods. May be all very well in a cultural sinkhole like Paris, but in the sophisticated salons of Waco (The Athens on the Brazos), they yearn for a less explosive esthetic.
But, hell, you got a river around there, don’t you? Lively population of snapping turtles, no doubt? Well, there you go! The Creator made the snapping turtle as an example of vicious uselessness, armored malice with a shit-ass attitude. Great targets, too, just show their heads up out of water at whatever range, size of half-dollar at twenty to fifty yards. You miss, the head disappears, you hit, the head disappears but there is a gratifying display from whats left. You hit one of them from forty yards out, well, you’re a pure-D shooter!
My Uncle John did it all the time, I did twice. He said it was because I ruined my eyes with all that reading.
I t depends entirely on your locale. I grew up in a rural area and stray dogs were shot on site. Nobody had any objection. that’s probably not appropriate in urban areas.
IMO if you don’t want animals on land that you own you have every right to destroy them humanely.
Of course IMO anyone who would drown animal or poison it with antifreeze is a psychopath. Those are not humane methods.
Skunks, but only with a baseball bat. At night. (It was my uncle’s hobby growing up. He later became a lobbyist.)
More seriously: Anything rabid, anything that threatens your household. Eg, I feel relatively little regret for shooting the nutria that were eating the ducks in the pond at night. I also feel relatively little regret for killing mice in my pantry.
Beyond that, if it doesn’t significantly threaten you and yours… and it ain’t good eatin… I say, don’t do it.
Having a rifle range in your backyard automatically makes someone “wild-eyed” and “gun-crazed”? And a “peckerwood”? Shooting is a sport; if someone has the land to have a shooting range in his backyard, more power to him. What is it with your fucking elitist and rude attitude?
Well, the thing is- cats have been made into domestic animals, pets to be exact. And, you’re not killing it for food, thus it’s a little uncool to kill them. They do not endanger you at all.
Insects are always fair game.
Mice should be disposed of humanely, but of course they do spoil your food, chew wires and possible spread disease.
In other words, I more or less agree with E-Sabbath.
You are right. Except Starlings are not protected. They are an invasive species and you can shoot as many as you want. However, they are smart and learn quickly, so you can’t get many.
This is what I was going to say. I’m certainly no birder, but if I saw something GLIDING in the air above 50 feet, and it’s wingspan is bigger than 2 ft., I’m assuming that’s it’s illegal to kill it.
Land based animals- I think you’re pretty much safe unless you kill a buffalo or a neighbor’s dog.
I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for killing poisonous snakes on their property in areas where they are common. If you have a pond, turtles often infest them and they make for good target practice all day long. There can be thousands in one pond alone. No one likes Water Moccasin snakes (Cottonmouths) either. They are the only aggressive poisonous snake in North America and they make wet areas unsafe. Rattlesnakes are pretty but they are usually justification for calling for the shotgun rather than animal control. If you do any sorts of agriculture at all, the list may expand a great deal. Farmers can shoot deer on sight in some areas if they pose a threat to crops. The same goes for rabbits. Wolves are usually very protected but not the nasty coyotes. You can usually shoot those with justification.
Your state and local laws may vary but there is the concept of “varmint shooting” in some states. Prarie dogs multiply like crazy and can be used for target or sport shooting in parts in the U.S.
Check this link for your state. For example, in North Carolina, there are some serious penalties for cruelty, but they do not apply to “(4) The lawful destruction of any animal for the purposes of protecting the public, other animals, property, or the public health.”
Unfortunately, I’m not sure how that turns out in practice. What constitutes lawful destruction? How is “public health” defined? Surely I can’t set a stray cat on fire because I worry that it has fleas.
I see this thread splitting off into two directions. “Can” is ambiguous.
Is the OP asking “What animals **can **I kill?” in the sense of “What animals am I legally permitted to kill without facing jail time or other legislated punishment?” or “What types of animals are ethically or morally protected, and which animals are so reviled that no one would blink twice at them being squashed?”
Cuz you’re gonna get two different answers, at least around this board.
IANAL so I won’t touch option 1, and as far as option 2: Personally, I don’t have a problem with any death so long as it’s quick and painless. Everything dies. That pig that provided the bacon for my BLT wasn’t immortal - it was going to go, one way or the other, eventually. But we are morally and ethically obligated not to force that pig to live in squalor and misery in the meantime, and if we ARE going to kill it, to provide a swift and humane death.
