Mercy killing with your Spydie?

[Evil D]

Man it's never easy for me to take a life. I grew up in the country and I've hunted lots of things but I've always felt a little grief over killing even when it's for a good reason.

This morning I'm doing some training with a new guy in an empty parking lot when I notice a squirrel laying in some mulch. I can see he's alive but he's not running away as we get closer so I know he's hurt. Sure enough, his back end is squished. He probably got clipped by a car. The little guy was trying to drag himself around by his front legs but he was a fat little dude and he wasn't getting very far in the mulch.

So, it's walk away and let nature take its course or intervene. What would you do?


I've been faced with this scenario many times in my life. I suppose I'm lucky in an odd way because I know what needs done and I've got the fortitude to do it, but it always sucks. When I was a kid I had to dispatch my best friend's cat for this exact same reason, he got ran over and his back end was destroyed.

In the end I hope the little guy went out fast. I just happened to reprofile and put a really sharp edge on my Street Beat so maybe that helped.

[Whitetail addict]

Definitely not an ideal situation, i have faced it many times before aswell. You did the right thing, no point in letting the little fella suffer anymore than he already has.

[palonej]

Been in that same spot a few times with deer hit by cars.
Horrid, but you know you did the right thing.
Joe

[NoFair]

I've done it a few times with one of my Militarys. When it was part of my work (field biologist working with large predators) I'd carry a handgun

[twinboysdad]

I tried to do that on a 7 point buck who had horrible compound fractures on both back legs, only it was with a NAA .22 mag. I put 3 rounds into his neck and was not the coup de grace I had in mind. Also woke up the whole neighborhood

[ThePeacent]

if it had tobe a Spydie I'd go with a Rock Salt or Darn Dao, or a Hossom.
Blunt force trauma or a sudden, strong impact to the brain is instant and painless, like being knocked out. Decisive and quick strike, like stunning cattle prior to butchering.
Cutting,bleeding, beheading, stabbing or piercing (bullets, arrows, etc) is rarely instantly lethal and without suffering, unless the projectile destroys large part of the brain mass/CNS structure, like a well-placed headshot would do.

It's graphic and not pleasant but it's the science behind it.
This applies to all mammals, and living creatures with complex nervous system.

[farnorthdan]

Sometimes its our duty to do this and it does suck, just this week we had to put down the wife's dog, had him since a pup. 14yrs old and in a bad way, only humane thing to do was relieve him of his pain, shed a tear myself as the life went out of him.

[Evil D]

if it had tobe a Spydie I'd go with a Rock Salt or Darn Dao, or a Hossom.
Blunt force trauma or a sudden, strong impact to the brain is instant and painless, like being knocked out. Decisive and quick strike, like stunning cattle prior to butchering.
Cutting,bleeding, beheading, stabbing or piercing (bullets, arrows, etc) is rarely instantly lethal and without suffering, unless the projectile destroys large part of the brain mass/CNS structure, like a well-placed headshot would do.

It's graphic and not pleasant but it's the science behind it.
This applies to all mammals, and living creatures with complex nervous system.

I initially wanted to go that route but didn't have anything on me to get it done. Only other option was to stomp the little guy but I wasn't convinced that would be quick either..

[ThePeacent]

I initially wanted to go that route but didn't have anything on me to get it done. Only other option was to stomp the little guy but I wasn't convinced that would be quick either..

no rock, stick, fence post, steel canteen, fire extinguisher, metal pipe or anything around?
That's a tough one. Sorry you had to go through that, it's never easy

[Evil D]

I initially wanted to go that route but didn't have anything on me to get it done. Only other option was to stomp the little guy but I wasn't convinced that would be quick either..

no rock, stick, fence post, steel canteen, fire extinguisher, metal pipe or anything around?
That's a tough one. Sorry you had to go through that, it's never easy

I looked, didn't see anything obvious. I didn't think of the fire extinguisher

[Bloke]

I’m quite adverse to dispatching anything with a knife.

I would have been inclined to hold the Street Beat by the sheath and bring the handle down in a sharp crack behind the ears. Having said that I’ve never killed a squirrel but I’d imagine they wouldn’t be too much different to a rabbit.

Either way, stuff like that is never fun.

[dreadpirate]

I know somebody that had to slit the throat of a deer that was hit by a car and obviously in a lot of pain. Using a firearm was, at that location, out of the question unless it was by law enforcement.

[PayneTrain]

I wouldn't know what to do there. I'd want to do the right thing and put the poor guy out of his misery, but I'd be afraid of doing it wrong and causing even more pain. Do I bleed him out? Aim for the heart? Poke his brain? Which part? I'd stand their so long debating what to do that he'd probably expire on his own. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to prepare myself.

[curlyhairedboy]

One of the less fun reasons to carry a knife, for sure.

[kwselke]

A pair of pliers, such as on a multitool, applied swiftly to the neck crushing the spine/breaking the neck will rapidly put down birds and small animals such as squirrels. I used to have a pliers like device called a necker for use on wounded ducks, back in my heavy bird hunting days.

[Evil D]

Well hindsight really is a kick in the teeth sometimes. I've had the whole day to think about all the other ways I could have done it that would probably have been quicker. Hopefully he got off easier by my hand than he would have got from mother nature.

[pinepig2]

Wow - I've had to put down an inordinate amount of injured wildlife (including bison) in my career in land management law enforcement, but it never would have even crossed my mind to use a knife!

[Doc Dan]

I think it is our duty as moral human beings to put animals out of there misery if it is obvious there is no way for them to recover. Of course, we have to be careful because they can have diseases. For example, a rabid squirrel may not get out of the way of a car. You try to put it out of its misery and then get infected. I think a long stick and a crushed brain is a good solution. It is fast and sure.

[standy99]

I would go the chicken way for anything so small.
Hard to think without a head.

Have seen some kangaroo,s jump back to life as I am thinking what to do ( after getting hit by a car ) always give them a minute or two and a nudge with the boot first nowdays.
( pouch checking for joey,s or young is a must on most Australian animals )

[spyderwolf]

You did the right thing.In the aftermath,we can spend a whole day thinking about which way is ideal to put a suffering creature out of its misery,but it really doesnt matter if death was 0.2 seconds faster this or that way.