There was this occasion when the spring thaw came to Wisconsin, and my brother and I helped Dad drag the irrigation pump out of storage and set it up on the backyard well. It had been a long winter that followed a bountiful harvest; we had a lot of food stored in the same area where the well pump was located.
When we went to move the pump, I heard my Dad jump back with a startle I had not seen before and haven't since. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed (not empty words coming from my Dad-- no doubt it was an urgent prayer) as we moved the pump back. I saw a lumpy silhouette dash for cover over in the corner.
Our food supply in the basement had been pillaged all winter by an uninvited guest-- the largest rat I have ever seen. That thing was easily over a foot long without the tail and as fat as a hog. When we moved the pump, it took off for the corner probably as startled as the three of us in that room, adrenaline flooding our bodies.
Lacking normal weapons, we took to weapons of opportunity, but eventually settled on pellet guns by a process I don't remember. I do remember it took a remarkable number of shots from a rather high powered pellet rifle to subdue that beast of a rat.
The rifle that saved our family from certain doom from the killer beast was a gift from a lady in our church by the name of Bernie Irish (I think she was German :-). We never new what kind of rifle it was, only the rumor that is was some old antique German rifle.
I believe I have found that exact make and model of rifle. Turns out it it probably just a Benjamin model 392. I don't know where the rifle is (no doubt in Arkansas storage somewhere), but I was stunned to see you can still buy a shiny new version of the same rifle.
1 comment:
Hah, I laughed at the rememberance of that RAT. You are correct in that it was HUGH, having eaten apples and potatoes and whatever else a rat will enjoy!
It would be neat to find the "rifle" once again! Ask your mother, she may remember!
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