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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Shooter Says He Mistook Cow for Coyote |
| 2007-11-23 |
| COLFAX TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A man says he shot and killed a neighbor's cow after mistaking it for a coyote. Good thing it wasn't the other way round: "Hey, Elmer, there's somethin' mighty funky about this here barbecue!" Authorities and the owner are skeptical. Imagine that. The undersheriff in northern Michigan's Benzie County says he doesn't see how anyone could confuse a 1,400-pound, pregnant cow with a coyote, which typically weighs 20 to 45 pounds. Maybe he thought it was Chupacabra and he is too embarrassed at the mistake to admit it now. And anyway, shooting coyotes is illegal during deer-shooting season. Authorities asked the county prosecutor to bring charges. Presumably not for shooting coyotes, though. The 42-year-old man told authorities he was out to shoot coyotes near his home Saturday when he killed the cow, Undersheriff Rory Heckman said. Heckman said the man then tried to drag the cow home. "Gotta' git that pitcher fer the Guinness book, world's biggest coyote. Who is Guinness anyhoo?" "The part of his story he his holding to is he shot at a coyote. I don't know how he hit a several-thousand-pound cow mistaking it for a coyote," Heckman said. Must not be a UFO buff or he would have known to blame the cow-killing on ETs. The cow, named Hannah, had wandered away from her farm. Her farm? Does she have any other calves who can inherit or will it go to the county? "My husband thought that he should go through some therapy looking at repeated pictures of cows and coyotes, because they look nothing alike," said owner DeAnn Mosher. "It didn't make any sense to me." Must be a lib, first thing she thinks of is sending him to therapy. |
| Posted by:Angique Gonque2974 |
| #19 Maybe she meant physical therapy. I recommend extensive parking lot therapy. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-11-23 23:39 |
| #18 Close, A5089. The Sham Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf cartoons were knockoffs of the Roadrunner cartoons. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-11-23 23:24 |
| #17 Thanks #10. I had visions of this bozo trying to drag a 2,000 pound cow away from the scene of the crime by hand. I thought, no wonder he got caught. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2007-11-23 21:02 |
| #16 This bit of foolishness happened next county over from here. Everyone is pretty appalled by the crime, more so by the lameness of the excuse, figuring that even a drunken hunter can tell a small dog sized critter from a cow. The mook in question is being charged with about five counts - attempting to take a game animal (coyote) out of season - no small game license (say, how's that coyote excuse working out for ya?) - the actual cow murder - discharge of firearm too near a residence - some misc. obstruction for lying and trying to hide the crime. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-11-23 17:18 |
| #15 He often disguised as a sheep, when trying to outsmart that shepherd dog, but, as a cow, I dunno. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-11-23 15:16 |
| #14 I couldn't help but think of Wile E. Coyote dressed up like a cow or something. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-11-23 15:11 |
| #13 Shooter Says He Mistook Cow for Coyote Cows Tales Must Be Shaggy This Year In Benzie County... |
| Posted by: Red Dawg 2007-11-23 15:07 |
| #12 Definitely a green horn cattle rustler. I doubt Hannah was coyote ugly. He needs to buy the neighbor another pregnant cow and then pay a fine at the Justice of the Peace Office. This will be a great learning experience for this wanna-be "buffalo hunter". |
| Posted by: Pecos Bill 2007-11-23 13:58 |
| #11 That's sad, cows are nice animals (I live near them), and this guy should be sued off his pants, there's no chance he didn't did it on purpose, and he couldn't even kill her painlessly. So, he's a thief, and an incomptent one too. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-11-23 12:42 |
| #10 It gets better: Family Howls for Justice over Cow's Death The suspect "authorities said, shot the cow but didn't kill it with the initial shot. He allegedly shot it twice more and chained the bovine to his vehicle. "I don't know how he hit a several-thousand-pound cow mistaking it for a coyote," said Rory Heckman, Benzie County's undersheriff. "It's hard for him to explain away shooting it two more times and trying to drag it away with his vehicle." The owner's father said,"I believe if [the suspect] got it to his garage it would have been the last time I seen the cow." "She was the only cow we had " said the owner. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-11-23 11:40 |
| #9 deer dear - oops |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-11-23 10:23 |
| #8 Where I grew up in Nebraska - this was a typical way for good old boys to get brisket material for their 20Keg parties... Only, I don't recall any coyote claim... bad vision dear hunters were a more common claim that was only used if the cops were not interested in a few T-Bones... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-11-23 10:22 |
| #7 the man then tried to drag the cow home. Cattle rustling used to carry a pretty hefty penalty in the West, and still does in some states. But this is Michigan so I'm guessing he gets off lightly. OTOH, the herd should sue him for emotional distress, loss of income (the projected milk production of the cow & the calf, assuming it was a dairy herd), loss of fertilization of the pasture ..... |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-11-23 09:57 |
| #6 The full-grown coyotes around here are about the size of a German Shepherd. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-11-23 09:40 |
| #5 Btw, to get back on topic, with what was he shooting? I thought coyotes, groundhogs and other smallish critters were shot with rifles like .222, .223,... I doubt you can kill a cow with anything less than a full-sized rifle round, especially if you shoot far enough to make such a mistake. wouldn't the weapon used be indicative of his intent? Anyway, he needs to pay, for the cow and the calf... idiot, or criminal, you decide. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-11-23 09:15 |
| #4 I thought coyotes could weight, oh, I don't know, easily 180 lbs and more. I mean, mexicans are not so poor as they used to be, I'm sure they can eat well, and human traffiking is such a money-making business, they've got plenty to spend on food and other stuffs. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-11-23 09:12 |
| #3 i wouldn't have thought a coyote weighed 45 lbs. around here they are the size of a medium sized dog |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-11-23 08:57 |
#2 I've been convinced for a long time that the world has turned into one or more Tom Lehrer songs.
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| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-11-23 08:13 |
| #1 Maybe she meant physical therapy. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2007-11-23 08:03 |