[William R. Moore]

After I got home from work Friday morning, I changed clothes, had a bowl of cereal and then let the junior pooch out for his morning constitutional. When I went out to see just what he was barking at, I was startled to find him watching a snapping turtle of about 20-25 lbs. I'd never seen one of these critters in the yard in the 20 years we've lived there. It was a real attention getter for all concerned.

There were several learning experiences that morning (esp. counting the various dogs), but the big thing is the illustration that you can't ever take anything for granted. It could be hazardous to one's health. I was expecting to see the little guy yapping at one of the duty squirrels, that's not what the situation turned out to be.

In a quiet moment at work tonight, the thought struck me: Surely I didn't walk past that critter on the way into the house. Gonna have to ramp up the level of detail of the area scan on the way in and out of the house.

 

[ExSarge]

We have many around here. They will not bother you unless you bother them. Cutting my neighbors lawn
last year one scampered out of the way of the lawn mower moving at a rate I never saw a turtle move
before.

Down in Md a few years back a lady came to a panic stop in the road in front of me. She jumped out of the
car and actually flagged a trash truck to a stop which was coming the opposite way. She was yelling to the
driver, "Don't run over it!". "It" was a medium sized snapper lumbering across the road. I picked it up and
put it into the grass along side of the road and we all went on our way.

One guy up here was always bugging me to catch him one. He said they make a great soup.

 

[t-star]

After I got home from work Friday morning, I changed clothes, had a bowl of cereal and then let the junior pooch out for his morning constitutional. When I went out to see just what he was barking at, I was startled to find him watching a snapping turtle of about 20-25 lbs. I'd never seen one of these critters in the yard in the 20 years we've lived there. It was a real attention getter for all concerned.

There were several learning experiences that morning (esp. counting the various dogs), but the big thing is the illustration that you can't ever take anything for granted. It could be hazardous to one's health. I was expecting to see the little guy yapping at one of the duty squirrels, that's not what the situation turned out to be.

In a quiet moment at work tonight, the thought struck me: Surely I didn't walk past that critter on the way into the house. Gonna have to ramp up the level of detail of the area scan on the way in and out of the house.

had you grown up in snake country you'd have noticed that "rock"

 

[William R. Moore]

I've spent a lot of time in snake country. Upon reflection, it got where found during the 20 minutes or so I was inside. I once watched one positively run to the double line on the road before pulling itself into the shell. Good thing, it was about the size of a garbage can lid.

The junior pooch was funny this morning. He stopped on both the porch and sidewalk and looked the yard over very carefully before starting his search for the proper tree.

 

[Charlie Petty]

I like your title and have an example:

Many years ago I interviewed a young officer who had just been involved in a perfectly righteous shoot with the proper outcome...

just a few minutes into the conversation the kid launched into a tirade about how poorly his gun/ammo had performed. He had a very clear memory of the events leading up to the shoot and how the subject poointed a shotgun at him from a distance of a few feet. The officer fired two shots both of which struck the subject- one in the abdomen the other midline sternum. The subject was DRT...

I asked him what was wrong and his response was "all he did was fall down...". (paraphrased ?)

Of course the young man had seen countless shootings on TV and in movies and everybody knows when somebody is shot with a .45 they fly through the air and since his hadn't looked that way he was peeved...

expectations...

 

[William R. Moore]

There's a lot of that going 'round Charlie.

On a related note, the Force Science Institute's latest newsletter carries a study about comparative reaction times if you're holding a weapon on someone with a weapon in their hand. Sobering reading. IIRC, the best you can hope for is to break even if they decide to be uncooperative.

 

[Diamondback]

There's a lot of that going 'round Charlie.

On a related note, the Force Science Institute's latest newsletter carries a study about comparative reaction times if you're holding a weapon on someone with a weapon in their hand. Sobering reading. IIRC, the best you can hope for is to break even if they decide to be uncooperative.

Unless you can somehow throw them off their OODA loop and distract or confuse them for a second... which is something that as one of the "young pups" in gunfighting, I'll take it if it gets a chance to work but I ain't gonna bet the wad on it.

 

[Al Thompson]

We have alligator snapping turtles around here. Definitely something not to be trifled with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_snapping_turtle

Diamondback, movement is your friend for resetting your opponents OODA loop. Sucking chest wounds work too.

 

[Diamondback]

Good point, Al, but if it comes down to a dead-heat on first trigger-pull that's still not a kind of "tie" I want--since you can only speed your own draw/aim/fire cycle so much the next best thing is to slow the other guy's. If you both already have 'em out... lateral/diagonal movement help, and I might even consider pairing that with a full Screaming Banzai Charge, or grabbing a nearby trash-can lid to throw at 'em or pushing the can at 'em, something completely unexpected and just Off The Wall.

"If it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid."--Larry Correia

 

[shep854]

Cherlie, your last post reminded me of a dashcam video I saw not too long ago, where an officer was trying to subdue a drunk with a knife; when the drunk threatened him, the officer shot him in the abdomen with his .45. All the drunk did was ask, "Whatja do that for?" and kept on fighting.

 

[bestseller92v2.0]

My grandma always said that if a snapping turtle bites you it won't turn loose til it thunders. Of course, in this storm season that wouldn't take long....