I awoke from my nap today as my wife was just getting home from shopping. She was in tears and holding a bloody, 8-inch butcher knife. My genitalia obviously being intact (and no reason not to be) I was obviously curious as to the preceding events and wether or not I needed to load up the AR15 and prepare for a standoff. She had come across a badly injured racoon on the road crawling around and screaming so she dispatched it with a couple of stabs to the heart area. Pretty ballsy with an injured coon if you ask me. She hunts with me sometimes (fishes a lot) and never has a problem killing, and she'll butcher anything I manage to kill and bring home, but we both have difficulty killing something that is in pain and suffering like this. I've always assumed the responsibility myself though, this was her first in the 12 or so years we've been together. Just thought I'd share.
That is very gutsy of her. I can't tell you how many animals over the years we have had to "put out of their misery." Doing it with a knife makes it that much more up close and personal. My advice is if you can legally have her carry in her car, do it. Putting something down with a .22 is a lot quicker, and I am sure more humane. Give her a hug and a pat on the back from us. She showed a lot of intestinal fortitude.
At least one state, probably many more, don't condone that action. They require a cop or fish and game officer be called. I nearly ran afoul of the CT state police (a long time ago, things may have changed since then) when I stopped to help and elderly lady that hit a deer. Deer was not dead, my passenger went to call a cop. After a while (too damn long) I got a knife out of the car and as I was headed to do the coup de grace, the cops showed up and made it pretty clear that I was about to commit a crime. Given the response time on a heavily travelled highway (Rt 44 west of Hartford for those that know the area) if that old gal had been injured in the crash, she would not have survived a hangnail.
My wife saw an auto induced injured deer in our neighborhood and stopped at the local donut shop to let the fuzz know about it.{;^) The game warden asked why she didn't put it out of it's misery. No gun she replied. A local redneck jumped up, asked exactly where the deer was and volunteered to get it. The warden shrugged and said help yourself. Nothing but a blood stain when she returned later in the day. jim
While putting down an injured animal is commendable I think your wife should be more worried about her own safety here . Coons often carry rabies , here in St. Louis County as a rule the only animals found with rabies are coons and bats every year . Coons and opossums also have very sharp teeth and claws and can tear you up pretty quickly . Large coons kill hunting dogs with a fair amount of frequency imagine if it had been able to jump on her face or neck the damage it could have done to her . I would at the very least get her a high powered air rifle to be kept in the trunk of the car for such things .