Rural gun ownership.

[tularetom]

157. We've had sheep, chickens, dogs and cats become prey for various predators here

Mostly coyotes, but we've also had problems with wild dogs, raccoons and although we've never seen a mountain lion, we've seen tracks in the creek bed.

But the critter we've had to deal with most frequently is the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.

They crawl up onto our warm asphalt driveway apron when the sun goes down on summer evenings and they're still there in the morning when I go down to the mailbox to get the paper. I've found them in my shed and once even in the clothes dryer in our garage. I used to use a .410 ca "coach gun" to dispatch them but lately I've been using .357 hand loaded shotshells in my Vaquero. Some summers I've shot a dozen of them although the past 2 years they have been less numerous.

Without guns it would be a real pain in the ass to live out here. My wife thinks it's a pain in the ass anyway so I don't know how much longer we'll be here.