Shop with a Cop

I am prone to being judgmental.  One of the ways I fight that weakness is to establish a human connection with the person I am liable to judge.

For example, I will be waiting in the checkout lane at Walmart and will be cussing the snail-like pace.  I will look at the checkout lady and she will be moving more slowly than my expectation.

When I get up close, I usually see that she is tired.  She is dead-on-her-feet, wrung out tired.

Sometimes the checkout lady has the energy and inclination to chat.

I learned that many of them are working multiple jobs.

Even more often they are in a care-giver role.  My personal favorite was the young, single lady who was watching her cousin's five children (a set of twins and a set of triplets, all under age six) so her cousin could go on a two week honeymoon with her husband before he was re-deployed.

Cops.  Lots of them.

Today I was waiting in the checkout lane when I saw cops trickling into Walmart.  Normally, I get nervous when I see several cops entering a store, but these guys were relaxed.  They did not have the Left-Center-Right, Near-Mid-Far scan going on.

An official looking gentleman standing near the entrance appeared to be directing them.

I stopped and chatted with the official as I left.

Eaton County Undersheriff Jeff Cook

The official was Eaton County (Michigan) Undersheriff Jeff Cook.

He said that the department was loaning some personnel to Walmart for their annual Shop with a Cop program.

Undersheriff Cook was adamant that this charitable program was a local (Charlotte) Walmart initiative.  The Walmart employees made the donations.  The employees picked the recipients (this year it was ten families) of the charity.  He supplied uniformed policemen to escort the shoppers, to push the carts and, I assume, to provide some strong parental models.  Earlier,  I had seen one cop carrying a rather clingy 4 year old girl around the store.

I looked around and did not see any local media types.  I asked about that.

Undersheriff Cook reiterated that the program was Walmart's.  It was their call if they did not want to risk media coverage.  It is not the Sheriff Department's policy to go sniffing around for favorable media coverage (not his exact words).

Well, that is just plain wrong

See, I told you I was judgmental.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ ... ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’   - Matthew 25: 35,36,40 NAB Translation

A local business is doing God's work and they are so spooked by ambush reporting that they want to avoid attention.  I also respect that they are helping people for all the right reasons i.e., to help rather than self-aggrandizing.

I also understand that Walmart must be doubly cautious because they are a particularly juicy target for editorials.   The most innocent and altruistic act on the part of any Walmart employee is likely to be fashioned into a missile to further an editor's personal agenda.

I think the general public needs stories like this.  We need inspirational, feel-good stories.  And there is something truly heroic about people working two jobs to make ends meet...and they still find money to throw into the kitty to help others who are less fortunate than they are.

I asked Undersheriff Cook if I could take pictures.  He asked me not to.  The Charlotte Walmart wants to protect the dignity of their shoppers and does not want to pollute the gesture by publicizing photos.

And it is refreshing to see public officials who do not seek the lime-light, who let local business run their own show and who are respectful of people's dignity.

Snaring Varmints

Almost done. 

Close-up of the bottom showing two methods for stabilizing the loop.  Distance from ground should be approximately thickness of a two-by-four.  This distance is one of the critical variables that you will play with to make snaring work for you.

Close-up of left side.  A flap of bark (and sliver of wood) made by a downward cut with a sharp pocket knife.

Close-up of right side.  A stick of pencil diameter (willow, in this case) pushed into the ground.  A split is made fairly deeply and the loop pushed in just enough to catch.

 

A third option for supporting the loop.  A twig that was cut to leave a 1/2" (12mm) stub that the loop is draped over.

Some key points:

• Many kinds of wire and cordage can be made to work.
• Short leads (length between anchor and start of loop) are stiffer and tighten up more quickly than long leads.
• A total length of 18"-to-20" ( 500mm) is a good starting point for length.
• Run the loop like a "6" rather than an upside down "9".  There will be less sawing motion of the loop against the animal as it tightens 
• Regardless of wire/cordage, make the loop at the end of the lasso generous....diameter of your pinky is not too big.  That reduces friction of run-down.
• Many jurisdictions prohibit trapping or snaring of "game" animals.  In Michigan, that includes native species of rabbits.  But in rather convoluted logic, feral European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are considered an invasive alien species (like starlings) and may be taken with a snare.  You are responsible for compliance with your local laws!
• In the absence of "entanglement", the captured animal will usually be quietly waiting, alive, for your return.  Be prepared to release or bring-to-bag.

Wire, cordage, etc.

One of the appeals of gaining expertise in snaring is the prepping/survivalist/live-off-the-land angle.

Any technique that requires exotic materials is foolishness as it merely displaces where the user is dependent upon a (potentially fragile) supply chain. 

The wire/cordage must be strong enough to hold the lunges of the varmint.  It must resist or be tolerant of kinking.  It is advantageous if it is not super visible.  It must be limp enough so the animal will tighten the loop without becoming alarmed.  It is desirable for the material to take a set or otherwise not allow the loop to loosen.

Some jurisdictions allow snaring and they often specify what kinds of material you can use. For example, Manitoba, Canada allows the snaring of rabbits but mandates 22-to-24 gauge brass-or-copper wire. Problem solved.

Another material known to work is multi-strand picture hanging wire.  However, 22 gauge florist or paddle wire is too vulnerable to kinking to reliably hold a capture.  22 gauge steel wire that was not dead-soft might work but I have not data.  Snaring is one of those activities where you learn by doing and by making adjustments.

22-to-24 gauge brass and copper wire are rarely "found materials" in my neck of the woods.  So I wanted to figure out how to make "native" materials work.

Oh, look!  A herd of hay bales!

A closer view

An even closer view.  At twelve wraps to the bale and twelve feet to the wrap, that is enough cordage for about 90 snares....on each bale.  And the farmers throw it away.

If it is too much trouble to bend over and pick up the cut pieces, one can buy 9000 feet of the cordage (enough for 5400 snares) for about $30.

The material is plenty strong, it has a knot breaking strength of 130 pounds.  It is somewhat vulnerable to chewing.  Its primary disadvantage is limpness.  It requires much support to hold it up in the proper position.  That is why I took the trouble to show three different techniques for supporting the loop.

If your garden is besieged by Varminticus bugsbunnicus and you have no other means of control, and don't want to go scrounging, nor do you want to buy a lifetime's supply of cord, the synthetic cord given away at big-box, building supply stores will probably work.  This white, poly cord was given to me by Menards.  I like the baling twine better because it is UV resistant but I am sure this cord would work in a pinch.

Finding runs

Snaring is a numbers game.  Not every trail gets used every night.  The key is to identify good places to set up snares and to set up more than one.

One will learn volumes by walking around after a light snow.

Hey Grandpa.  He went thattaway.

A good dog will tell you much if you slow down and let him poke around.  These dogs are telling me something by where they poke their head through the fence.  They are not sniffing for truffles. 

One can bias traffic by opening up a fence loop so it is more generous in size.  One can also jam sticks in other openings to make them less attractive to traffic. Yes, I know that a varmint could squeeze through, but they are lazy.

Good hunting.

A couple of "Atta-boys"

An "Atta-boy" for Shooting Chrony

I shot my chrony last week and posted about it HERE.

Pawpaw, one of my friends and fellow bloggers wrote the following comment:

There are two types of Chrony shooters. Those who have shot their Chrony, and those who will shoot their Chrony. Call Chrony, they're very sympathetic and will send you a new box, pronto. Don't ask me how I know this.

I have great respect for Pawpaw so I did as he suggested.

A helpful lady named Mandy at Shooting Chrony replied and said that I might qualify for loyalty discount if I sent them proof, i.e., the shot-up chrony.  A check and the corpse of my old chrony are now on the way to Shooting Chrony HQ and I am very happy with the service.

I have no business relationship with Shooting Chrony other than as a customer, so I cannot make any commitments or promises on their behalf.  But the loyalty discount was somewhere in the ballpark of 20%. Your mileage may vary.

An "Atta-boy" for Family Shooters Corral

Family Shooters Corral is my local, public shooting range.  I called Russ Nelson on Monday and asked for  price check on .308 Winchester brass.  Later that day I popped in to buy some.  To my surprise he already had it packaged up.  I took it home and started resizing it.  It took longer than I expected.

Then I counted out the brass.  He gave me 200 rather than the 100 I had requested.

I called him up and we sorted it out.  Apparently there was a second fellow who called up and asked for 200.  Russ counted them out and assumed I was the customer who wanted the 200 pieces. 

He told me to keep the extra.  It is his policy that if he makes a mistake then he would do everything in his power to ensure that his customer does not end up holding the dirty end of the stick.

Family Shooters Corral is not that far from my house.  I took the extras back because I share his attitude about the businesses I patronize and dirty sticks.

Karma is a bitch, but only if you are.

Old news, knock-out game

---I belatedly looked at the publication date.  This article was first published in November 2013.  But the information is still pertinent, so I intend to leave it.---

In the local news, a man waiting at the bus stop for his six year old daughter in Lansing, Michigan was targeted for "the knock-out game."

Fear not, he had a concealed weapon permit, was carrying and demonstrated good situational awareness.

“I saw the van circle twice and the second time three came out. I didn’t suspect anything. I hadn’t any enemies, or any reason to believe they would be looking to do anything to me,” the “victim” told local news station WILX. “He shoved something into my side. I wasn’t sure what it was. It had some force to it. I wasn’t sure if it was a knife or a gun.”

And from the attacker:

He says he used to play it because he was usually dared, while high and with a bad group of friends.

Weaver said they liked to target crowds because it would be easier for them to get away. It could be played during the day or night, and it didn't matter who the victim was, man or woman, old or young; anyone could be a potential target.

The intended victim extracted his weapon and shot twice.  The attacker survived and was sentenced to one year in prison.

Belladonna is going to be a Laker

Belladonna decided to attend Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.  She looks pretty happy.

Based on their logo, I wonder if they offer discounts:

It looks like a great fit for Belladonna.  It has good academics.  One of the selling points is that there are no bars or liquor stores within walking distance.  It is fifteen miles from her birth parents, fifteen miles from Lake Michigan and 90 minutes away from our refrigerator, washing machine and her German Shepherd. 

So it looks like the ERJ family will have Spartans, a Bronco and now a Laker.

Too much information

In his prime, Alex Karras was one of the most feared defensive players in professional football.  He had an uncanny ability to find, and destroy the ball carrier.  He was a heat seeking missile.

He was once asked the secret of his success.  His answer surprised many people.

"I am almost blind without my glasses.  All I see are blobs and motion.  I am impossible to fake out with eye motion because I cannot see eyes.  I don't fall for head-fakes because I can barely see heads.  I see blobs and motion and patterns.  That is how I find the ball carrier."

Too much information or too much data?

It is easy to become overwhelmed with too much data.  It is easy to mistake "data" for "information".

The first few shots that connect with paper are both data and information.  After thirty (or so) shots, we continue to collect data but the incremental information becomes smaller and smaller.

Simple questions

• Does your weekly grocery cart take a bigger percentage of your take-home pay?
• Do you trust your neighbors?
• Do you trust your leaders at work, in government, house-of-worship, your children's schools?
• Do you have time to show your spouse that you love her/him?
• Do you have time and freedom to make connections and build friendships with people at work and in the community?
• Do you have time and resources to add one new skill a year to your portfolio?
• If things are getting better, are you banking "karma"?
• If things are stretching thinner, do you have a plan?
• If you are investing, will you be happy with the outcome if nobody ever comes along and offers to buy it off your hands?
• If you died tonight, will your soul be consumed by regrets or will you be able to say you ran a good race and fought a good fight?

Civics lessons

Kubota is taking Civics this trimester.  He has a big test on Monday and I am helping him study.

I learned two things today.

Aristocracy

The literal, Greek translation of aristocracy is "Rule by the Best".  Meritocracy or Technocracy are near equivalents.

The original incarnation of aristocracy did not include inherited privilege.  Just like democracy was before Adams, Kennedy, Clinton, Bush, Daly, etc.

Authoritarianism

I also learned that "Authoritarianism" is a government where citizens are expected to obey laws and rules.

Do tell.