By Sherman Shifflett
Dark shadows were creeping across the shooting lane in the cutover as the sun was setting last Saturday afternoon. Greg Barlow and I were deer hunting near Cuckoo in Louisa County. A small animal emerged from the cutover about 30 yards away and stopped in the middle of the shooting lane. Although visibility was not good, I could tell it was not a squirrel, no a rabbit or chipmunk. I saw “something” I have never seen while hunting.
This was shortly after I saw a mountable buck 200 yards across the bean field within 15 yards of my tree stand where I considered going. Luck of the draw.
Deer were scarce when I was a kid, but I have hunted the white tail for half a century. During the past 50 years while hunting, I have seen nearly every critter imaginable. In Virginia, I have seen deer, rabbits, squirrels, coons, possums, red and gray foxes, flying squirrels, bobcats, bears, beavers, otters, a mink, chipmunks, skunks, groundhogs, coyotes, wild turkeys, bald eagles, snow geese and Canada geese. I have seen house cats with collars and feral cats in the woods. I even saw pack of feral dogs in Holly Grove. We had to eradicate them because they were killing livestock. I saw a pot-bellied pig rooting in the woods near Mineral not far from a house and I saw a snapping turtle.
While bear hunting in Maine, I saw porcupines, moose, pine martins and plenty of bears. On an elk hunt in Idaho, I saw snowshoe hares, elk, red squirrels, elk, and goshawks, black squirrels with tufted ears, spruce grouse, magpies and color-phase bears.
When the small animal stopped in the middle of the shooting lane, I leaned forward to get a better look since I forgot to bring my binoculars. As the animal moved forward, I finally determined what it was – a huge rat! I have never before seen a rat in the woods, or in this case, a cutover. I’ve seen some two-legged rats in the woods, but never a genuine rat. This one was huge.
As Dad would have said, “You can chalk this one up for the books.”
(Ed. Note)
Be sure to check out Sherman’s new book “Remembering a Blue Ridge Mountain Father”. It’s a wonderful account of a lifetime of tales and witticisms of his father, George “Harvey” Shifflett, as he described living and growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
You can order a copy directly from Sherman. They are $16 each, $20 with shipping. Send a check to Sherman Shifflett, 161 White Walnut Road, Louisa, VA 23093.