LAPORTE, Ind. - A 78-year-old woman tired of squirrels raiding her bird feeder got out her shotgun to kill the critter, but instead accidentally shot and injured herself. Alberta Jones loaded her 16-gauge shotgun Sunday and carried it with the barrel pointed down to the back door to take aim, police said. The gun accidentally discharged, police said, and shotgun pellets ricocheted off the floor.



Both of her legs were struck by the pellets, and one in her knee required surgery Tuesday to remove.


Her hospital condition was not available Tuesday evening.


"I've tried everything to shag them away, and they keep coming back," Jones said of the squirrels after the incident.


Conservation officer Jerry Shepherd with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said it is not squirrel season, and that hunting game out of season is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum 60 days in jail and up to a $500 fine. Authorities are not pressing charges.


Jones vowed to keep shooting at squirrels and using firecrackers — as she has done several times before — to discourage them from getting into her bird feeder. She also shoots groundhogs and other animals she considers a nuisance.


"My neighbors call me Annie Oakley," she said.

I just don't know how to feel about that...

On one hand I really like squirrels and wouldn't want to see it get shot, on the other hand I don't want to see the old bat with the shotgun hurt herself either.

After much thought I think I am going to have to side with the small woodland creatures. They are cuter and generally less violent.

I bet that little squirrel got away and had a great laugh with his little squirrel buddies...

Good, I just hope the next time she turns a weapon on a defenceless animal she does the job correctly and the ricocheting shoots her through the head.

Bravo! Talon S.

I have a bird-feeder, so I'm speaking from experience when I say that absolutely NOTHING will keep squirrels away.Apparently they have an IQ of 275. My advice for the crazy old lady would be to learn to live with it or take down her feeders..

My grandfather has a birdfeeder on a pole. Once in a while he puts grease on the pole to deter the squirrels from climbing it

I have never seen something so funny in my life. They could make it about halfway up before sliding back down...this goes on for hours. Persistent little buggers

Since then, the squirrels have learned to climb the surrounding trees and jump onto the birdfeeder's small platform, which is almost as funny considering that the platform is all of about 2 inches wide and about 6 inches long.

Forget trying to shoot them this worries me...!!!!

Shag them away ??
Thanks for pointing that out emmy !!



Tis a sad state when squirrel shaggers commit suicide.

This is what happens when people use terms they don't understand. . . . . Though, with a vivid and very visual imagination like I have. . . . I'm glad I'm repressing that thought right now.

What a hypocrite , haveing a birdfeeder too feed the birds , yet shooting at squirells , serves her right what happend

Believe it or not, some people actually eat Squirrels. I've never had the urge to chow down on a rodent myself, but there you have it..

In light of information provided by Falco Rex, Britannica will now excuse herself to vomit.

Sorry about that..I won't even get into how they eat Rats in India. Or how the Chinese eat Giant Salamanders. Or the Termites in Africa, or...Oh, sorry! Was I doing it again?

I'll just have to be more careful about not eating before I start browsing UM.

She could always get another feeder left on the ground for the squirrels to eat out of.

Hell it saves her money on shotgun shells and hospital fees.

Thank god the squirrels weren't hurt...well, that day

Did she expect that after picking off a squirrel or two that the rest would be too scared to come back? Anyway, I think if someone needs to shoot a squirrel, or any other small/harmless animals, then they deserve to get shot. Especially if they're stupid enough to shoot themselves.

Wow... Me, I just shoot 'em with my paintball gun... Teaches 'em a lesson and they walk around the neibourhood in a nice shade of orange. They dont ever come back to my bird feeders too.

Want to keep squirrels away? Keep a cat or two works like a charm.....

It took me 11 seconds to find a squirrel-proof bird feeder (used google).

Thanks for the thought Cercea, but...With the pressure sensitive feeders the squirrels just learn to eat from the roof and never touch the bar. The cage models they either knock down and break or sometimes chew through the bars. And only a couple of kinds of birds will eat from tube feeders. And squirrels learn to jump to the ones with the shield. (Told you they were smart)
The only ones that realy work are the flippers. But I don't have 80 bucks to spend on it. I'd rather just feed the little Tree-Rats....

i'm not sure if it only showed here but did anyone see a documentry called Animals Behaving Badly? that had squirrels eating from bird feeders on it. they put grease on the pole that the feeder was on and stuff like that. the cheeky buggers still got to the feeder though.
luckily we don't have squirrels here. and if we did my dog would chase them away . although she would probably chase away the birds as well

*Giggles* What some hicks wont do for some entertainment...

Then again... I sit on the porch and watch my twin cats tree squirrels then cry because they can't climb up to get them. *my cats are too fat...*

Sorry to hear she got hurt, but You know what... Killing squirrels with a shotgun... Yeah... RIGHT!

Why do I see the scene in A Christmas Story where the kid's kicked down the slide after 'santa' says "you'll shoot your eye out."

And ewwwwww Beastiality.... Yuckers....