Two Events in One Night
Published#0035
This ends a long and eventful yet unproductive night, with some lessons learned.
At about 2230, the attached photo came in. Greg had already told me that he was available tonight.
(The light colored pig with the spot on its neck was the first hog on camera when we began this enterprise. The first night he was on the camera at three different times. Going forward I’ll refer to him as Lucky, but his luck will run out…)
We met at the normal place. First issue, no more photos had been coming in from either camera since the initial two or three photos. We made our stalk and came away with nothing. We saw cattle in the pasture with the thermal.
Greg had to work in the morning so opted out for any more work overnight.
Just before 0300 the other photo came in. Out the door I go. Earlier, we concluded to park differently to minimize the probability of exposure from the pigs at either camera. Done.
Again, no new photos had come in. Not good. I began my stalk. Again, no joy. I did see the cattle in the same location and did see one or two thermal images way into the pasture.
Since I was up…I walked further along the gravel road that runs along the pasture fence. I did see one thermal image off in the distance at this far end of the pasture.
In response to an early suburban hog control update, Les advised me to be aware of threats that might be behind me as I was focused on looking into the pasture. Perhaps it was that bit of advice that caused me to scan behind me…and downward.
There was something at the edge of the road almost directly behind me within 10 or 15 feet. Immediate response: NOT GOOD. Pulling the scanner away from my eye in the very dim light of the flood light at the end of the fire station building I see an animal with a white stripe: again NOT GOOD. I hear a hiss: NOT GOOD.
Is it possible for a man in his retirement with an AR-15 slung over his shoulder with a thermal scanner and tripod to carry able to run down a gravel road in the dark without falling? Yes: GOOD, make that VERY GOOD.
Les, thank you, thank you, thank you for that reminder to look for threats from all directions. Most likely, that skunk was just as surprised and scared of me as I was of it. I’m very glad to have escaped that encounter.
It would have gone better dividing the tasks between two people. Handling rifle, tripod, and scanner is doable but not optimal. (Not intended as a criticism of Greg. People who work in hospitals need their rest. It’s good to be retired and able to have these interesting hobbies.)
The primary goal of this entire enterprise has been met: keeping the hogs out of city property.
The secondary goal of the “permanent” solution for each individual hog was not met tonight. We may need a different methodology to achieve the permanent solution.
Porcus Hogrelius
Make Yourself a Better Hog Hunter
