I am a rural non-gun owner

[NNN0LHI]

I haven't seen the keys for front door of my house in over ten years.

Don

[Whovian]

1. Same place.

K&R

[NNN0LHI]

5. I was starting to feel like a weirdo because I wasn't all armed up

Don't think I would want to live any other way.

I got my free dumb.

Dom

[zbdent]

2. not rural - suburban ...

got home a couple of times not too long ago and realized the Mrs. forgot to close the garage door when she went to work.

Nothing disturbed.

[Taverner]

3. I'd be more worried about mice if I were you :)

[Indydem]

4. So you don't have any trouble with animals?

Coyotes? Raccoon? Possums? Foxes?

Nothing?

Thank your neighbors and their guns for taking care of you.

[Whovian]

7. You either don't live in the country or you are an idiot.

[Indydem]

10. Um, yes. I live in the country.

No. I am not an idiot.

But this is what I observed:

Growing up, we never had trouble with animals. Our cats and dogs roamed free duringthe day,and we could let the dog out at night to potty and it was fine.

As the "old timers" who had guns started to move away, the animals started to appear.

Deer started eating vegetable gardens. Raccoon started invading buildings. Possums started burrowing under foundations.

I got a gun and have been working for 4 years to re-balance the populations.

So if the OP doesn't have an animal problem, it's not a coincidence.

[Jamastiene]

19. Geez, do you shoot all the songbirds and squirrels and rabbits too?

The birds might be flying through your trees and the squirrels might be running through your trees too. Don't forget to go after Bugs too, Elmer. You are just being knee jerk and ridiculous about wild animals while you are in THEIR territory.

[GreenStormCloud]

33. Squirrels and rabbits are good to eat and tasty too. N/T

[CreekDog]

47. so you shoot random animals from just outside your house?

i have my doubts that you are doing this safely.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

51. Me too. I'm sure the neighbors love some dude popping off at all hours.

[cali]

54. Bullshit. I've lived in the country for a long time.

I lived in a house way in the boondocks for years. Yes, deer nibbled at the garden. Try a freakin' fence. Leave a radio on. put up a scarecrow. And no, I never had a raccoon problem or possums. I delighted in watching the moose and deer and fox in the front field. And no, my nearest neighbor some 1/2 mile away did not have guns.

Now I live in a little house on a dirt road outside of a tiny village. Up road are two dairy farms. I've kept chickens with no problem, just making sure they're in at night. No, my neighbors don't make a habit of shooting pests.

You don't know what the hell you're talking about

[HiPointDem]

66. but you didn't grow up there, i think. i think you said you're a transplant from suburban ct.

[cali]

69. so what? And in suburban

CT we lived on 15 acres. Had an orchard and veg garden. the nearest neighbor was 1/2 mile away. In any case, I've lived in the Northeast Kingdom for 30 years.

[HiPointDem]

70. a whole half mile. jeepers.

[countryjake]

72. I did grow up there, right across the state line...

from where "IndyDem" claims to be from, and I agree with cali. The rural area that I was born and raised in decades ago always had lots of coyotes, raccoon, possum, and foxes, (and badgers, weasels, and bobcats, too) but they generally were shy of people and pretty much stayed away from the houses and farms and vast spreads of cultivated land which made up that particular area of the country. And no, "old timers with guns" weren't all hell bent to shoot nor kill any of them, either; if any particular animal did become a problem, we battened down the hatches on the farm and reinforced every defensive measure available, long before any culling of "the population" occurred, and that was usually enough.

That poster seems pretty uninformed about habitat encroachment and how critters around there have been forced to adapt to the disappearing stands of woods and the wild banks of the streams and rivers where they used to thrive, simply because of human development. And it sounds as tho he'd be satisfied if those animals disappeared right along with their habitat.

[HiPointDem]

73. i didn't say anything about old-timers with guns being hell-bent on killing things. i said that

suburban transplants to rural areas are often hell-bent to turn them into something more like the 'refined, enlightened' suburbs they came from.

when i was a kid, everyone had guns. that didn't mean they used them constantly, but they had them. people also hunted and fished as a routine part of life, and did it on their own and other people's land.

the 'development' i'm most familiar with in the area my family lives from is townies moving out to the country and playing at being english lords of the manor.

[countryjake]

74. Well, when city slickers decide to encroach...

on rural land that once teemed with coyotes, raccoon, possum, foxes, badgers, weasels, and bobcats, I really do much prefer that they come "enlightened" rather than using the native wildlife as target practice.

When I was a kid, we all had guns, too, but I used to help my daddy live-trap the occasional troublesome possum or weasel or coon and haul them back across the river. He wouldn't have shot them dead if his ass was on fire and that was in the fifties. My dogs once killed a badger but they both came out of the woods that day (and a horrific fight) with the battle-scars to prove it; I could have shot it (I was right there with them) but wouldn't have risked hitting one of them by mistake.

I don't know about any english lords or manors, the majority of my ancestors were here, appreciating and respecting the nature around them, long before any of them ferriners showed up.

[sunwyn]

106. Didn't work for me and I live in the middle of no where

I have had to shoot animals that attack my chickens and other animals. And it's not random. My chickens are in their coops at night. We still have problems. I think the sweeping generalizations on this board are ridiculous. Because you don't have a problem, doesn't mean that someone else doesn't.

[loli phabay]

113. we have a rash of dogs being shot recently for going after livestock

The owners get upset that their pet was shot but they are the ones at fault.

[corkhead]

14. he "hunts varmints"

[Sherman A1]

24. I believe

that you comments come across as a bit rude. There is no reason to call someone names simply for having a different point of view.

[NNN0LHI]

8. I am surrounded by them by the hundreds.

What am I going to do? Kill them all?

Don

[Jamastiene]

22. There are people, usually transplants, who move to the country and then decide

they must kill every animal that gets anywhere near where they live. Then, after they kill off all the predators, they will complain because they will have mice coming out the wazoo. Idiots. I can't stand people like that.

[LWolf]

38. When I bought my current place,

there was a large colony of feral cats living in and around the barn. The current owner fed them there. I spent a summer trapping, spaying, neutering, and releasing. I also, as I cleaned up the place, and found mummified cat remains in several places. By the time I was done, the cat population was already declining. Apparently she let them breed because their lives were so short, snapped up by owls and coyotes. By the end of the first year, they were gone and the pack rats and bunnies were taking over.

I'm not going to encourage feral cats to proliferate. Nothing else seems to keep the rodents under control, though. I keep my cat indoors here; they just get taken too easily. I've considered keeping "barn cats," feral cats that have been caught and spayed. The local spay and neuter clinic always has some available. I just don't feel right knowing I'd have to replace them every year as the predators took them.

I've got hawks and owls; they don't make a dent in the rodent population.

[countryjake]

61. +1000

[HiPointDem]

67. and there are people, usually transplants, who move to the country & then decide that the

old-timers are too dirty and nasty in their habits and must be cleansed so that the countryside can increasingly resemble the suburbs from which the transplants came.

[KittyWampus]

111. Ever seen a cat that's been mauled by a coyote or dog pack? Know any families that RELY on deer meat

Honestly, as bad as the gun nuts are their mirror on the left.

[LWolf]

16. My fences

are usually good enough to keep coyotes out. I've never seen possums or foxes, but we do get raccoons sometimes. I've never shot at them. Usually making sure I've got weights on the trash can is enough.

We have had more coyotes prowling the fences recently, since the neighbor next door sold and moved; the place has been vacant, and that seems to embolden them.

I don't have a gun, but I certainly know they are useful rurally.

[Indydem]

18. We are all wide-open where I'm at.

No one really has fences unless they have livestock.

Now that you say that, the old timers had fences too.

Maybe in addition to killing the pests, they were attracting them too.

[LWolf]

37. I have horses and a sheep,

so I have fences.

Even without them, I'd have some sort of fence at least around the house; I want to keep my dog safe.

When I lived in the Mojave, coyotes would try to lure dogs out for dinner. Here, they generally keep out of sight. Maybe only because we have more trees, so they are harder to spot.

I've got one fence down right now, so they can get onto the property. They just don't come too far. My oldest mare has been chasing and attempting to stomp coyotes for 23 years. I keep the gates around the house closed at night so the dog can't get to where the coyotes can get in.

[Jamastiene]

17. Lol, you don't need to shoot every coyote, raccoon, opossum and fox you see!

That's just overreacting to seeing nature. Damn, I've been around all of those animals all my life and they never do anything to warrant being shot. What? You shoot those animals just because they are there? That's just fucking stupid. There are other ways to deal with your fear of animals that want nothing to do with you.

[Indydem]

20. If an animal does something to damage or destroy my property.

I guess I'll just have to let them.

After all, we should commune with nature, not tame it.

Fuck that.

[laundry_queen]

84. I get it.

Shoot everything you don't like, screw nature, screw habitat, fuck the animals. Too lazy to build a fence, huh?

Responsible gun owner. mmmhmmm, I'm so sure.

[geek tragedy]

88. Your approach of killing all wildlife is so enlightened. Whatever justifies owning

military grade weapons I guess.

How has this one avoided PPR?

[Indydem]

99. Maybe because I'm a long time member.

Who has a different opinion on firearms than you do.

Embrace diversity friend.

[geek tragedy]

103. A long time member who somehow takes the conservative side of virtually every issue in discussions

here.

Amazing.

[Indydem]

105. That's malarky

My positions fall 95% with the Democratic party.

Prove otherwise or shut your trap.

[KittyWampus]

112. The poster didn't say they shot every animal they see. You are projecting here.

[hunter]

41. I only eat people who shoot at me.

Well, them and an occasional hog.

Neither are indigenous species, you know.

The coyotes, raccoons, possums, and foxes rarely cause trouble around here.



Best wishes, Spot.

[CreekDog]

48. nobody needs to thank you for anything

certainly not for the conservadem posts you put up here.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

57. LOL I live in the Raleigh suburbs and have seen...

raccoons, possums, and foxes on my damn deck. Never did it occur to me to blow their little brains out.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. I just thought I wasnt rural enough.

Do bears, coyotes, fox, deer (and ticks of course) qualify your current environment as "rural"?

[Go Vols]

9. If they are

killing your livestock,I would say yes.

[Gregorian]

11. I don't know where my keys are. We had a murderer running around in my "back yard" not too long ago.

The guy was killing people without any reason or cause. He killed someone I had spoken with not long before it began. He was severely mentally disturbed, and had been to county mental health services, which I imagine were thoroughly worthless.

So I was doing my daily bike rides out in the forest where he was, and was a bit nervous. And someone said police were spotted on a part of my property, because someone said they had seen him here. I never even knew they were here, since my place is pretty large.

And at night I actually decided to lock the door after about a week of thinking what might happen if he were to "drop by".

I have a shotgun, but it's not for people. It's for clay. And even after thinking about it, I left it in the building where I keep it.

To be honest, two thoughts occurred to me. I would feel pretty silly if I were frightened enough to want to carry a gun. AND I'd feel pretty silly if I just let someone walk in and kill me. But that last statement doesn't hold a lot of merit, since I have two legs.

PS- After about a month of this, the cops finally killed the guy. Yes, he actually lived out in the forest for a month. Pretty wild.

PPS- OK, I will admit that one of my best friends is alive because he gardens with a 45 on his belt. This guy is the softest human I've ever known. But one day a bear charged him, and he said it was all too clear that the intent was to kill. So he shot it. And he cried and cried. I don't know. Neither of us are gun people. I think in general it's a pretty easy discussion. No guns is a better world.

[Voice for Peace]

60. thanks

[laundry_queen]

85. My grandmother

used to garden out in the bush. She had a little VW Beetle she used to drive out there to the garden. It was far from the house, because the soil was better near the river. She also did a lot of berry picking out in the woods. She never brought a gun with her despite it being bear country. More than one occasion, she had to chase away bears by banging her metal bowls together (that she used to gather berries with). It almost always scared the bears away. One time at the garden, however, the bear kept charging her (probably because she was picking the raspberries). She realized this bear wanted to kill her and eat her. So, to save her life (keep in mind this was an 80 year old woman) she started running towards the bear, throwing the bowl full of berries in the air, screaming bloody murder, banging the metal bowls, waving her arms. The bear stopped in his tracks and thought, 'WTF? This prey is too crazy for me!" And took off in another direction. No gun needed, although I think she probably should've at least carried bear spray. Her and my grandfather HAD guns (passed down from his father), but refused to use them aside from the occasional air shot to scare away a bear from the house. Yes, their house was truly in the boonies. They always had dogs, however, and that usually kept the small animals away. I agree, no guns IS a better world.

[JoePhilly]

12. Blasphemer!!!!

Sorry ... could not resist.

My view is simple. I think you can have any gun you want. But you need a graded weapons license, and periodic evidence of proficiency to obtain and keep them.

We already have graded driver's licenses. Pilots have to fly a certain number of hours to remain active. Cops have to train regularly to ensure they are ready if they need to be.

So if you want to own guns ... you should have to do some of these same things.

Hell, treat it like Karate, give them BELTS. I'm a AR-15 Black Belt!!!!

But too many dopes can get a gun, any gun, and that's dangerous for all of us.

[corkhead]

13. You must not have a big weapons cache you need to protect

with your big weapons cache

[Jamastiene]

27. Lol

Well said.

[LWolf]

15. I've got the keys.

Why? Because when I bought this place 8 years ago, the seller hadn't seen the keys in 20 years. The last thing to be done before I took ownership...she called a cleaning crew to scrub the place down. When I showed up, I was locked out. I called the real estate agent, who sent a locksmith out to change the locks.

So I've got the keys.

I don't use them.

[NNN0LHI]

21. Only reason I seen them ten years ago is I changed doors and locks

Hadn't seen them for over ten years before the remodeling.

So in reality my keys and I haven't make contact with each other in over 20 years.

Don

[Rex]

23. I am a rural gun owner.

I never worry about locking my car door when I go shopping in town. Don't have to, we have a great police force.

[Skittles]

25. I don't own a gun but....

I would NEVER keep my door unlocked.......people do that until the local axe murder happens and then they start locking their doors

[CreekDog]

49. locking the doors does keep the axe murderers away

well, the lazy ones at least.

[NNN0LHI]

98. Careful With That Axe Eugene

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?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[kentauros]

55. One reason I've given for locking doors,

partly as a justification of it for some Australian friends, is privacy. They hadn't thought of that aspect.

There are many things we humans do where we don't want someone (even a friend) walking in on us

[Skittles]

63. aw HECK yes

I never even thought of that

LOL when I lived a couple years with my boyfriend on a farm; he was constantly frustrated to find himself locked out - it's just second nature to me after decades of living alone - I don't even think about it

[kentauros]

78. Often, I have to unlock my car

a second or third time because my thumb goes to the manual lock automatically (it doesn't have electric-anything on it.) The rear door I can forget sometimes because the lock isn't near the outer edge and thus, no place to rest a thumb for locking it

We grew up locking the house doors either when we left or slept. Even the front door was kept locked when we were all there (it was seldom used anyway.) I can remember having to climb into a half-bath through the window late at night on occasion when I'd forgotten my keys

[NNN0LHI]

100. All of our friends know we don't appreciate unanounced visits

So that doesn't ever happen.

Don

[kentauros]

102. Also, as you're rural,

I can see why that wouldn't happen, or be welcome. I'm relating incidents of suburban and city living. It wasn't really a problem, just that it would happen at all, and the potential problems of such impromptu visits.

[Jamastiene]

26. I am a rural non-gun owner too.

I do still lock the doors though. I have access to guns, but have never had to go get them for any reason. The cops show up at my door within a few minutes anyhow, because they hang out at the old half burnt textile mill situated, literally less than 100 yards from where I live. They seem to have fixed the place up just enough to have a little station to do whatever police do at abandoned mills when they hang out here, lol.

I still don't get people who shoot every animal they see walking through the damn yard. That's just fucking stupid.

[Ikonoklast]

28. You should have let us known sooner, Don.

We'll be right over to get you out!

[grntuscarora]

29. Small towner here,

population about 600. Not much crime and some folks leave their doors unlocked. Only once was I really relieved that a neighbor had a gun (a hunting rifle)---when an obviously sick groundhog wandered into town, into the parking lot next to my house where my kids and their friends would often roller-skate and play. The neighbor, our town's Methodist pastor, shot the animal, which I am quite sure was rabid. With so many kids in the neighborhood, including three of his own, he didn't feel like he could wait for animal control, and neither did I.

I've learned to live with the hunting culture, although neither my husband nor I are hunters. But assault weapons--- they are an entirely different matter, imo, and I support tough, tough control on them.

[loli phabay]

35. where i live first thing animal control asks you when you have a rabid animal is if you have a gun

And can you shoot the animal. Same with loose dogs bothering livestock as it may take some time to get to you. A good example was today in the snow there where large parts of the county inaccessible to law enforcement so people where on tbeir own for a while.

[Whovian]

39. As if rabid animals are all that common today.

In 60+ years I have run across one. And I did shoot it. I could have easily clubbed it to death as it wasn't all that healthy. It was a 22 long rifle and two shots through the top of this puppy's skull didn't seem to phase it. I eventually planted the stock of the rifle to crush him. So the gun did not save me or others, a simpler and more humane way did.

[loli phabay]

45. lol simpler more humane really

When i deal with suspected rabies i use the shotgun or a rifle. I sure as hell dont try to club it to death. You do realise that rabies is out there and thats why we have to give our dogs vaccines or do you believe its a conspiracy by tbe county animal control and big pet pharma.

[Whovian]

58. LOL???? Really? Shooting a pup is LOL?

I don't even want to know you.

[loli phabay]

68. lol i cant believe you think you handled the rabid animal in any way humane

First you shot it twice then had to beat it with the gun. Yes its funny that you even think this is humane and even more humane than using the proper tool for the job.

[JoeyT]

64. They're not all that uncommon either.

I've only seen one this year, but a few years back I caught three in as many months. Not just guessed they were rabid, but tested positive for rabies. It tends to come in...epidemics probably isn't the right word, but you know what I mean. (I think you're in the same state as me, just on the opposite side.) We had a minor outbreak of it with a bunch of rabid foxes, raccoons, coyotes and eventually dogs and cats running around about fifteen years ago.

I don't think I could kill anything that way no matter what it was or what was wrong with it. Sorry you had to go through that. :/

Like I've said before, if it ain't rabid, a hog*, or injured beyond help I'm not shooting at it. Most things can be kept away with a bit of effort, and if they can't there's always livetraps. And it isn't like I have an arsenal anyway.

*Hogs are a special case. They're the only thing more destructive to an environment than humans. We've got a handful of ground dwelling endangered species here that the hogs are annihilating. Course there wouldn't be so much need to get rid of them if the fucking hunters would stop carting them around and turning them loose.

[Robb]

30. I used to be that guy.

Back when I lived in the sticks.

Finally had to start locking the front door because my idiot friends would let the dog out when they stopped by.

I miss the country.

[southernyankeebelle]

31. Thank you for sharing that information. I also leave in a rural area and never owned a gun

of any type. I never clock my door either. Even if I had a key I can't lock it. At times am by myself at night except for my dogs. They are the best alarm.

[slackmaster]

32. When I was six years old, my mom used to give me money for bread and milk, and let me walk alone...

...to the store. We lived in a suburb of San Diego.

A lot of things aren't the same. I live in a decent neighborhood, but someone would be foolhardy to not lock the front door.

You are lucky, Don, to live in such a safe place.

[DeschutesRiver]

34. Curious - what do you consider rural? How many acres do you live on; how close are neighbors? nt

[loli phabay]

36. i use if you are on a well and septic system and not on google maps

Or if your mailbox is far from your house.

[DeschutesRiver]

40. I thought about those distinctions, but just that alone doesn't really address density

I've always lived where I was on a well with septic and the mailbox was far from the houses. Well, with a small break when I was in college and a few years beyond.

I'd call some of those locations suburban maybe, and others rural, but it was more based on the density of humans rather than what services we had or didn't have.

I'm not certain that what a lot of people think of as rural is what I think of as rural, so that's why I'm asking instead of assuming.

[loli phabay]

46. i remember some poster talking about his rural apartment block and was wondering if thats really

Rural. For me its stuff like wells how close to town. If you live on dirt roads. And stuff like that.

[DeschutesRiver]

90. Dirt roads would work as a criteria.

And I hear you on the "rural apt. block" deal; it seems we all have a different definition of rural, and I think for the gun issue, it makes a difference. At least it does to me.

[JoeyT]

65. Being on a well doesn't work anymore.

Red states and counties took a bunch of that hated federal money to extend water access in rural areas. My parents have city water and the nearest store to them is twenty miles away. I have a cousin that lives in the suburbs of Mobile that has a septic tank.

In Alabama you can count the number of houses and the number of churches: If the ratio is less than twenty to one, you're rural.

[NNN0LHI]

71. I can step out my back door and take a leak without being seen by anyone

I own only about a third of an acre. But I can take a good pair of binoculars outside with me and can't see anything but farm fields and trees as far as I can see with them. Nice view.

Pretty rural.

My wife and I like listening to the coyotes howling at night time when they are hunting. Its soothing.

Don

[DeschutesRiver]

91. I've never lived where you couldn't hear the coyotes; this is probably the first place where

we were sitting out having coffee, heard yelping, then screaming as we watched a coyote flash over the top of our ridge (about 200' away), down the steep side to the wooded copse at the bottom, and kill a fawn. Then bam out of that wooded kill site came the coyote, running as momma deer came after him with a vengence - the two of them weaved all over the nearby cleared sagebrush area, the coyote bobbing and weaving, the deer getting close enough to leap and strike. She never completely caught up with the coyote. While I've seen the aftermath of many things get eaten here, I'd never seen it in progress.

Yesterday, dh heard a bird just screaming. He ran outside, and by our pumphouse, there was a very small barn owl making a meal of a robin. He said the owl slowly turned and looked at him, like, what? I gotta eat... and then went back to finish his very fresh meal.

This happens daily, and is as it should be - I am with you on enjoying things just as they are and as they come into view for us, too. Soothing is a good word for this experience. We don't have any meaningful diminishment of wildlife out here, because there really aren't many souls out here. I've heard we have feral pigs around here now, though I haven't seen them. And I won't have that here on our land, due to the concerns that others have already expressed elsewhere. That is some bad juju. The bears and cougars bother me not; that said, if I come across them in a kill while out and about on our ranch doing things, and am threatened (only way I can think of where I'd be in danger), I plan to survive it.

We do have rabid animals way out here, even more unusually for here, rabid bats in the last couple of years (that we've sent out for testing). During years where rabies cases are noted, we even vaccinate our horses with annual rabies shots. We are far enough out that we are our own first responders, for fire, police and medical, though we do have a life flight membership like the rest of our neighbors do (we've seen LF choppers land here and there nearby). The choppers get here way more quickly than we could drive to the nearest hospital, and we have a cleared area where they can land pretty close to the house. While we have put out a small lightening fire on our "ranch", and helped to put out others nearby, fire department support for our house is pretty much not possible due to the time it takes to get out here. In most directions that I look, there is nothing for 100s of thousands of acres. But being this remote, I am realistic.

If any of our livestock gets terminally injured, it will take quite a while of suffering for any vet to get here, and you can't transport an immobile 1200# animal to town, so we would be the ones doing the euthanisia, and that won't involve torturing the poor animal with a club as someone else mentioned. To each his own, of course, but I won't watch suffering and screaming go on for hours while we wait for someone else to do the heavy lifting. We raise our own cattle, and they are slaughtered here as well, either by dh or the mobile service, because I don't like what happens to feedlot cattle. If I buy anything, it is because I know where/how it is raised, fed & slaughtered (so I don't get much other than our beef).

Our nearest neighbor is a couple of miles away, and the rest are probably 5+ and beyond. You mentioned seeing nothing but farmland, so I assume you have no other nearby neighbors on smaller lots? Out here, there is no light pollution and there is no noise, not from cars, people, nearby equipment, streets, nothing. At this point in my life, I'd find it hard to be anywhere, even in a civilized rural area like yours, where people/noise/lights are any closer than 2-5 miles away, but as we age, that may change when we are physically unable to keep up here. And I sure feel that more and more as the decades pass by.

I guess there are many valid definitions of rural out there. But I can see that I have a lot of equipment out here that we use that most people, even those with other definitions of "rural", don't have or wouldn't ever need.

[NNN0LHI]

92. That first scene with the fawn and coyote would disturb some people

Not me.

Baby coyotes have to eat too.

Don

[DeschutesRiver]

95. It would, but that is how nature works.

I've seen many other things out here that I'd never expected to see first hand, even though I grew up in the countryside (people a lot closer than where I am now). That was one of the most unreal experiences, though, esp. to be that close to its unfolding. Sure, I've always known they were out there hunting when they vocalize, but there it was, pretty much start to finish right in front of our astonished eyes (the rest of them came around a bit later for their share, which was also very cool to watch).

Out here, you just never know what you'll see each day, but it will be memorable in some way, for sure. It may sound odd, but I believe I am privileged to see such things work like intended.

[panader0]

42. Me too Don

I live in the wooded boonies 15 miles from Mexico. Don't own a gun. Jeannie makes me lock the door at night, but when we're away I leave everything unlocked. If someone wanted to get into my house they could easily break a window or knock the door in.
I have nothing anyone would want to steal. "You want that old POS computer? That old TV? Really?" My one possession that I value is a guitar. I do not live in fear at all. No one wants what I "own". I've made through 62 years without shooting anyone and don't intend to in the years I have left.

[PavePusher]

43. That's nice.

My grandmother lives less than 2 miles from where this event took place:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Dartmouth_College_murders

My mother grew up there. I lived there for a while.

My father used to be a teacher at the high school those two murderers were in.

So, yeah, that's nice.

[Warren Stupidity]

53. The violent crime rate in my state of New Hampshire is vanishingly small.

Generally ranks 48-50 among states. It is actually one of the last places you need a gun to protect yourself from crime.

[PavePusher]

82. Which doesn't make the occasional need any less real or more predictable. n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

86. Got it, so you need semi auto guns in rural areas because the crime rate is so low.

[PavePusher]

89. Have a great day.

[riderinthestorm]

44. Same, including the keys.

I could never think of shooting anything since I have dogs, cats and livestock that are all about. Same with my neighbors. I'd feel terrible if I thought I was shooting a coyote and instead shot the neighbor dog!

Wild animals are dealt with as they come - racoons, possums etc are trapped and released at a forest preserve on the other side of the highway. Coyotes are kept away by the dogs. The deer are a nuisance in the gardens but we simply have learned to cope with them.

I dunno, its never seemed to be a necessity.

I will qualify my "non gun" owner part by saying my .22 I inherited from my grandfather is sitting in the ceiling tiles of my office and has never been shot by either my husband nor I in 20 years of ownership. We don't even have ammunition. We're simply caretakers of it til someone (if someone) in the next generation shows any interest.

[mainer]

50. Doesn't anyone around here own a German shepherd or something?

If you have one of those, you don't need a gun. Takes care of the deer, the squirrels, the woodchucks, and any convicts who happen to wander by. The only reloading necessary is Alpo.

[Raven]

52. Me too. I know I had them but

I have no idea where they are. I have two dogs and a shillegha for my protection.

[xmas74]

56. Also rural,

also a non-gun owner.

Nice ta meet ya!

[Dems to Win]

59. Rural, no guns, but I definitely lock up the house when I leave and at night.

Saw a bobcat out the window the other afternoon, had no need to shoot it. Sometimes see foxes, no need to shoot them, either.

The vegetable garden is fenced to keep out the deer.

[beevul]

62. Rural...very rural...gun owner here.

Probably as rural and possibly more rural than anyone else posting on DU.

The nearest town is an unincorporated town of 23 - if you include the local store owners cat having had kittens - or so the joke goes. Our nearest neighbors are 1.5 miles away, and police response would be 20 to 30 minutes to our location. We live several miles to the south of this town, smack dab in the middle of farm fields. Around us, live several packs of coyotes. You can go out on the porch in the evenings and listen to them call back and forth to each other.

While I don't much expect them to try to take an adult human, they have taken some of our cats, and tried to take some of our precious pommies, once even off a leash. They are brazen, aparently having become semi-accustomed to human contact/presence. We see them run across the road all the time, when driving the dirt roads and even the highways, and they're very very common to be seen, after having been hit by a vehicle.

I have hunted them, killed a few, but this is generally ineffective in getting them to stay away. Urinating along our property line - don't ask, it involved drinking large quantities of liquids - was more or less ineffective. We have them run right past our front steps from the tree line, through our yard, and out the driveway, while we were sitting on those steps...and they give a glance, and lazily keep trotting on their way. They are not alarmed by our presence.

During the warm season, we've taken to being armed and alert when we let the dogs out, paying careful attention to the dogs and keeping them close. This, in the past has led to having to stand between a coyote or four, and our little ones whom they wish to make a meal of, before we took to being armed. They still fear the sound of gunfire.

We have lost several of our babies, in spite of our efforts.

As a solution to the coyote problem, we are considering this (a pair of them, in fact):



No, thats not a mutated 'pit on steroids lol. Its a boerboel. They call them "lion dogs", and they are very much protector dogs.

That being said, we also live in a corridor that seems to be the preferred escape route for prisoners when they escape the local correctional institution, so I'd still rather have a gun in the house than not. Those that know me hereabouts on DU, know that I own two functional firearms - a 17 caliber rifle, and a single handgun.

This being an old farmhouse, the windows are large, and though I know where they keys are, breaking in would be trivial for anyone that really wanted to, whether we were home or not.

[jdadd]

81. Get a Jackass....

I had a neighbor that would pasture a Jackass with his sheep, Kept the Coyotes and stray dogs at bay...

[guardian]

93. That is a beautiful dog you have

My friend had one about that size. He thought he was a lap dog and constantly wanted to lay on me. Even when a dog likes you, it is a bit intimidating when they greet you and put their front paws on your shoulders, and then look down at you. Especially when they could put your whole head in their mouth!

I like big dogs. I just don't like their short life spans. I become too attached.

[beevul]

104. Sadly, that isn't our dog, just an example. We would like to have a pair of them though.

These are our extended family:



Thats buddy, an american eskimo dog that some asshole dumped on a busy road. He had twigs worked into his fur down to the skin, and roughly 3-5 hundred ticks when we brought him home.



Thats our little taffy as a puppy, though shes all grown up now.


"

"Is that big kitty really going to sit on me?!?!?!"



This is my little girl, Foxy. Shes a very sweet, calm quiet little girl, and very attatched to papa.



The jack russel, magic, was another dog some asshole dumped, and we adopted. He took to the name within 3 days, and is very intelligent, and is the fastest running dog I have ever seen short of a greyhound. He was living on garbage and roadkill for several months, we found out from some locals, after we started looking for his owner.

The pom, is bearbear. He is one of the dogs we lost to coyotes. Thats as much as I'm able to say.



This is baby sugar. Shes a very sweet energetic outgoing little girl, all grown up now. Shes taken it upon herself to be the "cat police" of the house.

We also have an eskie/pom mix rescue, and a schipperke rescue.

I totally agree with you about the short lifespans. In general, thats one of the down sides of having a large "family", is that you spend alot of time, too much time, greiving for them when they pass.

We aren't totally decided on the boerboel, but we have been looking with some interest, at many of the different "guardian" breeds. The other issue we have, is that we already share our bed with 6 dogs, and even though they're little ones, they're bed hogs, and I don't know how we'd fit a pair of 125 plus pound behemoths into bed with us on top of it lol.

A jackass as another poster suggested, is something we may explore as well to keep the coyotes away, though the local farmers have lost adult cows to coyotes from time to time, so I'm not sure, but it is worth looking into. I cringe at the thought of losing another dog. Its bad enough to have to bury them intact when they pass, let alone pick up the..."pieces" after the coyotes get them. Thats horrible in a way that I can't put into words.

Most likely, the next addition to our family will be an alaskan klee kai, probably a rescue if and when one becomes available:



I grew up and spent a great portion of my life as a cat person, never really having been in a situation where I could become close to a dog. These icelandic breeds - the poms, and the eskies - have stolen my heart. They can be a handful to someone that is not prepared to live in a "pack environment", particularly the eskie - they are VERY strong willed creatures, though the pommie girls not so much. It probably could sound like nonsense to someone that doesn't own dogs, or someone that owns non communal dogs which do not exhibit pack behavior, but when you own icelandic breeds, it becomes very clear that you do indeed live in a pack environment, and that they view you as the leader of the pack - assuming you assert yourself and your SO as the alpha and beta.

They take care of each other, and us, in ways that you'll never see a non-pack type dog exhibit, and though I do love all dogs, these little descendents of the working dog and the wolf, are in a class all by themselves.

(sorry for the thread derail there, I do get to rambling about the family when someone gets me talking about them.)

[guardian]

114. great photos and info

thanks for sharing

[madokie]

75. Rural but do have close neighbors

No gun but I do have keys
Get the so called assault weapons off our streets no matter the cost. Raising my taxes to pay for buying them back from the owners would be fine by me too. Just get them off our streets

[graham4anything]

76. We have deer and squirrels and a bear or three every once in a while

and its funny the deer don't eat our grass or flowers or veggies

yet my father in law before he passed away, loved to hunt and kept 3 deerheads mounted to his walls.
Funny thing is he has deer too, and every year since he moved out here, they ate his garden and no matter what he did, they ate it.
Of course, I like to think they saw their mate's head on his walls, and well, put 2 and 2 together and they bother his garden and leave ours alone.

animals ain't stupid.

and having lived in NYC prior to moving out here, in the bad, bad 60s and 70s I freely rode the trains and left my car open, and only once was it broken into.
Once in decades and decades and decades and decades

living in fear and needing a gun for the boogie man means you are living in prison and not enjoying life to the fullest, in fear
How does one sleep with knowing they need to know where there gun is 24/7/365
seems they would always be tired sleeping with one eye open
(and if they have kids and also say they keep the gun safe away from kids, how the 'ell do they have time to get the gun anyhow.


no, there is another reason for guns, not any of the easily debunked ones.
and it is loonytunes conspiracy theories end of the world/coup'd'etats.
Not for protection, but to attain something

btw, as Al Sharpton said the other day
How many bullets do you need to kill a deer to eat?
Too many bullets lead to not being able to eat it.

and I can't stand anyone who says they shoot squirrels.
They are so much fun to watch, why would anyone want to kill one in cold blood?

[Warren Stupidity]

80. +1

[aandegoons]

77. I was getting ready to change the name of this place to NRA Underground in my bookmarks.

I read the rural gun nut thread. What a bunch of lies and distortions. Often you will find there are some who go out of their way to shoot things. That poster is one of them just a short jump to gunning down a human or two now for them.

I do own a gun but damn if I can't pick up the phone and call the DEC or an animal control officer when needed.

I know rural land owning hunters that shoot less critters than some of the sick and perverted supposed rural folks on DU. The hunters I know are more likely to take a camera out and take a picture of a bear eating the bird seed from the bird feeder than gun it down. I know right wing nut jobs who do more to not shoot the neighbors dog and cat than some of these murdering freaks.

Oh yes I do know the certain few that constantly tell stories how they had to shoot that kitten cause' it was about to charge and all the other nonsense too. The thing is it is always the exact same people. Even when you know that their mom or dad who lived in the house for 60 years before them had no such problem. Even when you know their sister or brother who owns the house a 1/4 mile down the road does not have the same problem.

I often wonder why they don't own fire trucks. They are more likely to need them than the cops or animal control officer. And usually it takes even longer for them to show.

I want to see the constant news stories to back up their claims of losing hundreds of cattle to a bobcat. What a bunch of right wing child murdering bullshit NRA talking points they post. They carry the water for the NRA just like this site does. What a sick and fucked up world we live in when a supposed democratic board does more for the NRA than the dead children in Pakistan.

Ohhh great spaghetti monster in the sky why did I log back in this freaking site.....

[PavePusher]

83. Well, you certainly came for rational conversation.

Oh, wait a minute....

[Resonance_Chamber]

79. OK your choice your life

Live your life as you see fit just don’t annoy the neighbors.

[Warren Stupidity]

87. Because they will shoot you?

[Resonance_Chamber]

94. It happens but not annoying the neighbors is just a good way to go through life

[Warren Stupidity]

96. So you actually think you should be armed in case of a war with your neighbors.

What a odd paranoid world view. How unpleasant that must be.

[Resonance_Chamber]

97. No but my neighbor IS a paranoid teahadist nutjob with guns

thanks for asking.

Have a gun; don't have a gun it is your choice to make in life.

I just like being prepared for any and all eventualities.

One never knows what will happen next.

[NNN0LHI]

108. I would move if I found myself in that situation

[Resonance_Chamber]

109. Well his house is 1,225 yards from my property line

no sense in moving.

[bongbong]

101. You're not the NRA's target audience

They aim for the scared cowards, who are terrified of crawling out from under their bed unless they have gun(s).

[Jim Warren]

107. Lots of priveleged people here.

...

[Resonance_Chamber]

110. Priveleged in what way?