A moment in the life...

[draggonlaady]

It's dusk. I'm crouched in the grass, right hand holding a bloody knife, left hand supporting the chin of the deer who's throat I just slit. Left knee braced against the doe's shoulder, stretching her neck so she'll bleed out faster. All quiet, if not exactly peaceful.

A mini-van, driven by a pleasant looking, middle-aged lady in lawyer's-office-style casual suit pulls up. The lady very politely asks if everything's ok, or if I need some help, and we have a brief chat about living in the country and deer and animals in general. The whole time, I'm still crouched on the doe.

Does anybody else have these totally weird moments where civilized life randomly overlaps with the necessary macabre?

Comments

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

I think I've met Joey, yeah. didn't remember her name...Just called her Scooter.

Yes, I know moose are big and dangerous...hence the approach from behind/above, where she can't kick or trample you. As I said, I'm not trying to run down the guy's intentions...I just think it was poorly done.

If the sheriff didn't have someone that was good for the job, they should have/could have called in someone who was. Why, for instance, didn't they have Fish and Wildlife (or whatever they're called in Idaho) there? It's more their job than Sheriff's anyway.

I am not really in a job that I should need to know this, but I could easily call more than half a dozen people who could come take care of something like that, and do it right... have a gun big enough to penetrate through the shoulder, know where to put the bullet, and could be there in a reasonable time-frame.
Which I guess says something about my family and raising...I just hope it's a good thing to say ;)

[sphynx-again.livejournal.com]

They did call Fish and Game. Nearest office is in Lewiston, and they wouldn't send someone up to take care of it. I'm not sure exactly what Fish and Game does consider to be their job. Pretty sure it doesn't include Moscow though. At least that's been my experience. As for me personally, yeah. I do know several people who could have done as well, quite possibly better at dispatching the injured moose. However, nobody is real keen on shooting something on private property, without permission, etc. Everything anyone ever will tell you about such things, and in fact what I have been instructed to tell people who call the humane society with wildlife concerns, is to call Fish and Game in Lewiston for wildlife complaints, or orphaned babies. In case of injured wildlife that simply needs shot, call the Latah County Sheriffs Dept. So for an entire day while I was at work, I told every person who called me to call the sheriff instead. After work, I drove out and checked on the moose myself. I then called the sheriff. Near dusk, the moose was still dragging herself along up the hill, so I called again. And pretty much told them that if they didn't send someone out to dispatch the moose, the Humane Society would hold them accountable for the animal's suffering. (What exactly does that mean? I have no idea, but it sounded good and it worked!)

I have since learned that the owner of the vet clinic I use is an avid hunter. Mostly elk, but if something like this happens again, I'll just call him. Screw the law.

Speaking of mooses, I haven't seen my own little pet moose, Oliver, in several months. He was living here in the trailer park for about 6 months, when his mother was killed in the highway last late summer. He was pretty young, but I have an apple tree that produces copious amounts of fruit all fall. He continued nosing them out of the snow beneath the tree most the winter too, as well as eating whatever he wanted out of everyone else's gardens as well. He was pretty fearless for a baby moose, I used to just step out on th front porch and talk to him while he was eating apples. I once scolded him for nibbling on my peach tree limbs too. He didn't listen. He even played with Toad. At any rate, I hope he's done ok for himself, though I suppose a trailer park full of children probably isn't a good place for a young bull moose. :)

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

If it's private property, that's actually much easier than public. Contact the owner of the land, and get his permission, and as long as you're not shooting at the highway or someone else's house, you can shoot all you want... Well, except for the whole inside city limits thing...

Fearless for a baby moose? honey, mooses (meese?) ARE fearless. :P