..squirrels and baz..

..I do not normally shoot squirrels..not even for target practice..I prefer to let them be..oh, they are pests alright, feasting and boring holes on young coconuts..much to the dismay of the villagers...but there are coconut-trees everywhere..growing lush and green with each tree bearing 20 to 40 coconuts..what difference does it make if the squirrels feasted on one or two..?..or 10?...

..common snipes..my preferred shoot..
The difficulties involved in hunting snipe
gave the term "sniper", a skilled anti-personnel
military sharpshooter..pakmat wikied this..

..and so, most times, I do not take part in any squirrel shoot in my village..I was of the mind that the damage to the fruit was minimal..and the squirrels deserved their share of the coconuts..but demand for young coconuts are on the rise..at 40 cent per nut, to those whose income is from selling them, a few taken by the squirrels is not an option..

..to the aborigines deep in the forest of Southern Kelantan, Pos Gob or Balar, squirrels are considered a delicacy..along with wild boar..wild boars are trapped.. but squirrels are brought down with a puff from the blow-pipe... as also monkeys that strayed into their line of sight.. darts with tips poisoned with gum of the ipoh tree...chak rayak, big feast followed after the catch..

..you do not get to see any harmed coconuts around their bamboo houses..

..and someone said squirrels is good for aging men like pakmat....the meat is heaty.. being not too sure about its 'halal'ness, pakmat settled with his daily intake of Pharmaton Ginseng...

..but sometimes the squirrels get out of line..they came in packs.. last year they destroyed almost all of my neighbour's durians fruiting on one particular tree..causing them to drop prematurely..bringing consternation to the owner..and this year that tree is fruiting again..and this year they sought my help, with a tentative 'Could pakmat possibly....?'

..I thought about it...it has been ages since I brought the gun out..or purchased shells..but I still have two boxes of number 8's..

..since aging is natural and shooting is optional, I said yes..I will shoot the squirrels...and take care of that particular durian tree..and maybe get some of the adrenalin rushing again..

..nothing in the league of snipe shooting, of course...where the whole senses are tuned razor-sharp as you walked steadily the fields..breathing controlled, and gun at ready...waiting for that first flutter of wings, and the 'squeek' as the bird took off..and in that instance, the gun became an extension of the arm, a smooth swing of the barrel as it followed the flight, overlapped.... and the squeeze of the trigger, with the snipe in full flight..the wings folded on impact.. as the bird took a curving trajectory downwards, the gun is reloaded almost instinctively, eyes not leaving the spot where it fell....but the walk is still steady and unhurried..and the senses still keen, for other snipes, known to crouch at the first shot and will only took flight as you near it...

..as I took out my gun and felt the years slipped by, I suddenly recalled the lines of Baz Luhrmann..

But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself
and recall in a way you can’t grasp now, how much possibility lay before you
and how fabulous you really looked...

..pakmat, 20 over years ago...