War Zone Update

We found our closest neighbour and gave him the 3rd degree about the gunshot the other day and about  his young corn plants and hungry bunnies.  No, it wasn't him.  He said if he had fired his gun from across the road then the 'shrapnel' would have made holes in our roof tiles.

So K phoned another hunter-neighbour who lives just across the valley.  We found the culprit.  He said he shot into the air to scare a flock of seagulls.  The 'boom' sounded a lot closer.

We often notice the seagulls over there.  There must be a draft of air coming down the valley.  They soar and swoop making loud seagull noises.  All those seagulls over his house make an awful mess of his car, his balcony and his outdoor furniture and he had just had enough.  The shot worked because we haven't seen the seagulls since though I am sure they will return.

It just goes to show how far a bullet can travel.  It must have landed somewhere near us for me to hear the ping, ping, ping of stones on the side of the house.

Letting off a volley of rifle shots has been, in the past, a part of celebrations at weddings, baptisms and the like, especially in the island of Crete.  However, those bullets come down to earth again and can kill.  A few years ago a stray bullet took out the bride at her wedding.  A child in a school playground was killed the same way and there have been lots of very nasty accidents.

I can understand his annoyance.  We hear shots from down near the bay when marrauding goats invade someones vegetable garden or even when a hare is seen darting out of the pine trees.  He will still be shooting but not into the air.