I'm kinda torn on this one. I wasn't there to assess if the animal was injured or acting rabid so I have to take the officers word on it. In the same light, I'm not so sure I trust all officers.

I'm gonna go with over kill. (Pun intended.)

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"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix

The "The animal is fine. It’ll wake up tomorrow and it’ll be like this never happened." comment is gold!

I'm confused. Why was the cop trying to arrest the groundhog in the first place?

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Jaywalking

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

I don't know about Maryland, but where I grew up (Midwest farming community), groundhogs are simple vermin that everyone kills with no second thought. They destroy farm vehicles and make a mess of crops. My grandfather carried a Remington 223 in the truck. He would stop on the side of the road and kill them on sight. As far as I know, my brother still does the same thing, and when I go home, I still look for them.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

It's brown.

Yup in farm country, farmers pluck them all the time.. but for a cop to do it in front of potentially city families, probably not a smart move.

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

One groundhog can reduce the bushel of an acre of soybeans by more than 50%. They will do more damage from a bushel/acre standpoint than a white tailed deer. They were kill on sight and my father and grandfather would pay me for everyone that was dead.

I'm left wondering if this officer is a part time farmer, or is he a farmer who's a part time cop?

My dad keeps a running tally of how many groundhogs, skunks, stray cats, raccoons, etc. he kills in and around his barns and farm. It is a bit macabre.

But it seemed odd that he would stop at all for a groundhog and I was thinking that shooting your firearm twice with a lot of people around for a groundhog might raise the hackles of his bosses.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Yeah I grew up in a small farming town in the Midwest so killin' varmin is no big deal and taking that old hound for a walk in the woods and coming back without him is considered humane. But in this day and age pulling that 9mm in front of a whole bunch of folks with phones is probably something this officer will reconsider the next time. This is a sad statement but it wouldn't be surprising at all if some ptsd lawsuit showed up.

Oh it's definitely brown. And if you turn up the volume to 10 you'd hear 'paws up don't shoot!'

How? By getting caught in the blades?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Burrow holes will break a axel in a heartbeat.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Gotcha

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin