{"id":5763,"date":"2020-09-15T22:20:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T02:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5763"},"modified":"2020-09-15T22:20:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T02:20:29","slug":"episode-119-porcupine-and-last-shot-of-the-22-calibre-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5763","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 119 PORCUPINE AND LAST SHOT OF THE 22 CALIBRE RIFLE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODES 119  PORCUPINE AND LAST SHOT OF THE 22 CALIBRE RIFLE.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept 2020<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I know this is a summertime picture.  Imagine no leaves and an icy day in<\/div>\n
midwinter.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
The older I got the more guns I saw. Especially on visits to the farm.<\/div>\n
It seemed every teen ager used guns and  loved hunting just for<\/div>\n
the thrill of the kill.  Groundhogs were the most common  target because<\/div>\n
there were so many digging up farm fields. Now there are hardly any.  None<\/div>\n
on our farm.  None on the fields of the fifth line.  In  1950 they were as common<\/div>\n
as hen\u2019s teeth and therefore worth killing it seemed.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Porcpines, however, were rare.  And I thought they were protected. i.e. not to<\/div>\n
be shot.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
One winter  day, however, I ran breathlessly back to my Grandparents farm house.<\/div>\n
\u201cGranddad there\u2019s a porcupine in the big pine deep in the back swamp.\u201d<\/div>\n
His response startled and unsettled me.  \u201cWait until I get the gun. Then we<\/div>\n
will go back to the bush and get him.\u201d   I did not want to do that.  I loved<\/div>\n
the discovery of a live creature high in a tree.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Granddad was old by then and  had to walk with help of a crutch.  He did<\/div>\n
not get out of the farm house much in the winter unless they needed firewood<\/div>\n
from the pile back near the pump.  So this was exciting for him.  Not for me.<\/div>\n
We hobbled our way to the back bush.   I hoped the porcupine had moved off<\/div>\n
but it was still there.  High up.  \u201cHave you used a rifle before, Alan?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d  \u201cWell this is a chance to learn\u2026aim and shoot.\u201d (22 calibre  single shot rifle)<\/div>\n
I aimed and deliberately missed a couple of shots.  Granddad would not give <\/div>\n
up so my third sot was a killer shot.  \u201cYou hit him\u2026but he\u2019s not dead\u2026you will<\/div>\n
have to climb the tree to get him down.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
What an ordeal.  I climbed the tree easily but as I got close to the porcupine<\/div>\n
blood began dripping onto me.  Felt terrible.  With a stick I tried to knock him<\/div>\n
out of the tree but no luck.  Some Porcupine quills fell on me as well as the blood.<\/div>\n
No luck.  Left him there and we hobbled back through the snow<\/div>\n
to the farm house.  Defeated.  I think he was disappointed in me.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The next week there was word goiing up and down the farm line about dogs<\/div>\n
getting into tussles with porcupines.   Quills stuck in their muzzles.   Both Granddad<\/div>\n
and I kept our mouths shut.  This was no doubt my porcupine who finally died<\/div>\n
in the tree and  fell to the ground.   I felt a lot of guilt.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
After granddad  died the 22 rifle was  part of  our inheritance.  Mom hid it.<\/div>\n
When she died the rifle was supposed to go to our boys, Kevin and Andrew. <\/div>\n
Instead  Marjorie insisted we give it to the OPP for destruction.  End  of the rifle<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODES 119  PORCUPINE AND LAST SHOT OF THE 22 CALIBRE RIFLE. alan skeoch Sept 2020 I know this is a summertime picture.  Imagine no leaves and an icy day in midwinter. The older I got the more guns I saw. Especially on visits to the farm. It seemed every teen ager used guns and  loved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}