- 100_5229.JPG (738.85 KiB) Viewed 6343 times
- 100_5228.JPG (840.53 KiB) Viewed 6343 times
Just prior to the Easter break, I was contacted by the owner of a pretty large (for this area) property, and asked to go as often as I can, to
try and nail feral dogs with the aid of my recently purchased thermal site.
They have been hammering his sheep pretty bad.
To the extent that they have killed and mauled just on 200 ewes in the last two or three months.
I've been out there 4 times, (three nights before Easter, and again last night, 27th April)
The first night, I saw no feral dogs, but shot 2 foxes, 1 feral cat, and a runt sucker pig, all of which had come in to a sheep carcass.
The second night I heard the dogs howling about a kilometer off into the rugged hills and timber, for just on an hour, and then all went quiet for
the next three hours.
I usually sit for about 15 mins between turning the site on, and having a look around to see what's about.
At just on 4 am I had turned it on again and was delighted to see 3 very large feral dogs running at quite a speed, and headed towards me.
I thought this is gonna work out great,,, but in a split second, all 3 simply vanished.
Feeling very frustrated, I waited, but they never came back into view.
After the sun rose, I went for a walk, and discovered that there was a small cutting that ran off at 45 degrees and led
straight up into the bigger hills behind,,,,, well then I knew how they seemed to magically disappear.
The 3rd night out was unremarkable with no sighting of feral dogs, and no howling either. Just before dawn I managed
to drop another fox, as I had given up waiting for the dogs.
I went away for a couple of days at the end of Easter, and then returned to continue the quest for feral dogs.
I sat all night, and frequently checked out a large mob of sheep that had camped nearby, but the dogs weren't about.
( They must be due again very soon, because the owner said he hasn't had an attack now for a while.)
So just before dawn, I decided to break the silence by putting an end to this grunters days.
It took 3 rounds through the heart and lungs before stopping and falling over.
It looked fairly big in the thermal, and when it was daylight I went down to inspect the tusks,,,,, and was disappointed to
find that it was a sow.
Oh well,,,,,,,, maybe tonite it'll be a dogs dinner,,,,,, and a dogs demise.
I do not fear death itself... Only its inopportune timing!
I've come to realize that,,,,, the two most loving, loyal, and trustworthy females in my entire life were both canines.