Bizzare encounter with zombie rabbit

[chopchop]

OMG, I’ve always had doubt about .177 effecting a clean kill on rabbits. It was clean alright. I shot at the head, it keeled over instantly and never moved again. On closer examination, there was not a drop of blood, no hole, and the rabbit’s pupils were constricted. How is this possible?? Did I miss, and ended up killing it with intense hatred alone (they ate hundreds of dollars of plants)? And what’s with the pupils? Aren’t they supposed to dilate after death? Is this common?

-Tonia

 

[intenseaty22]

Well, the Brits get them all the time with Sub 12fpe .177 Airguns. With the right shot placement there’s no reason why not. 

Did you examine it closely? The hole from the pellet can be very small and technically close behind the pellet, add hair to the equation, and you have a zombie wabbit. Perhaps you severed the spine. 

 

[chopchop]

Yeah, I couldn’t sleep worrying that the rabbit was only paralyzed, not dead, so I went back out there with a shovel. Basically spent the rest of the night googling about pupils.

 

[JohnL57]

I take it you didn't process for food-I usually see my shot placement after skinning if it's not obvious. A neck shot would drop the rabbit and be hard to see.

 

[W4c]

I have shot a squirrel in open mouth from front once. Dropped on spot, same couldn't find entry or exit hole till I noticed broken lower teeth.

 

[TiredRooster]

You can scare a rabbit to death. 

A little of an exaggeration of course. But, they are one of the easiest critters to kill you'll ever run across. One of the best eating too.......boy are they good.

 

[ptthere]

Well if it was a "zombie" critter, I assume it would have arose from the dead by now lol.

 

[chopchop]

... what a waste it is to not eat them after having raised them with gourmet plants! Gotta learn how to prepare them.

 

[Motorhead]

Cotton tail rabbits are FRAGILE ! .... period !I I have killed so many threw the years that I can honestly say you can darn near scare them to death .... body shots very frequently are DRT.

Now JACKS are a whole other story where they either fall and die or seem very zombie. Couple years ago had a big jack in our backyard that took 3 JSB 18's right threw the heart lung area while it simply sat there not even flinching as i watched dirt fly up behind it. After the the 3rd shot and actually 10 seconds or so it fell over DRT. upon inspection and dressing out all 3 shots were within an @ 1" random area ALL PASSING right on threw. Figured he was dead on his feet after the 1st shot and simply did not realize it.



ODD very odd.

 

[Glem.Chally]

Ive shot and killed rats and squirrels before with not a drop of blood and no hole i can find. Strange.

 

[Hunt4Dinner]

Possibly a hit to the head that didn’t penetrate but caused brain damage?

 

[chopchop]

Possibly a hit to the head that didn’t penetrate but caused brain damage?

I’ve been wondering about that, too. Since I’m a crappy shooter, I frequently missed the brain and ended up hitting the cheek or the eye, but they (squirrels) always flopped around after getting hit, which I take as a sign of brain damage. It happened every single time until I used a pointy pellet. It went into a squirrel through the eye, no sign of brain damage. The squirrel was making what seemed to be purposeful movements for 20 secs before expiring. Probably missed the brain altogether. So I suspect high impact pellets may be more forgiving than high penetration ones because they can make those evil little zombie brains knock around inside those evil little zombie skulls, as long as you hit them in the head. I used a hollow point on the rabbit. No idea what kind of effects to expect.

 

[Hunt4Dinner]

I've always chalked it up to that when I could never find blood on something I shot. I was talking to a friend yesterday and he told me of a turkey he shot out to 60 yards. When he cleaned it he found no bb's and our friend says he just gave the turkey a heart attack! I'd bet a bb or two bounced off his head though..