Blast from the Past: The Punt Gun

A punt gun is a type of extremely large shotgun used in the 19th and early 20th centuries for shooting large numbers of waterfowl for commercial harvesting operations and private sport. A single shot could kill over 50 waterfowl resting on the water’s surface. They were too big to hold and the recoil so large that they were mounted directly on the punts (a small skiff boat) used for hunting, hence their name. “Used for duck hunting” isn’t the right expression for aiming this piece of artillery in the general direction of a flock of ducks, firing, and spending the rest of the day picking up the carcasses.

In the early 1800’s the mass hunting of waterfowl to supply commercial markets with meat became a widely accepted practice. In addition to the market for food, women’s fashion in the mid 1800’s added a major demand for feathers to adorn hats. To meet the demand, professional hunters  custom built extremely large shotguns (bore diameters up to 2″) for the task. These weapons were so cumbersome that they were most often mounted on long square-ended flat-hulled boats (punts).

 

Hunters would maneuver their punts quietly into line and range of the flock using poles or oars to avoid startling them. Generally the gun was fixed to the punt; thus the hunter would maneuver the entire boat in order to aim the gun. The guns were sufficiently powerful, and the punts themselves sufficiently small, that firing the gun often propelled the punt backwards several inches or more.

To increase efficiency even further, punt hunters would often work in groups of 8-10 boats. By lining up their boats and coordinating the firing of their single shot weapons, entire flocks of birds could be “harvested” with a single volley. It was not unusual for such a band of hunters to acquire as many as 500 birds in a single day. Because of the custom nature of these weapons and the lack of support by the weapons industry, they were often rather crude in design.

In the United States, this practice depleted stocks of wild waterfowl and by the 1860s most states had banned the practice. The Lacey Act of 1900 banned the transport of wild game across state lines, and the practice of market hunting was outlawed by a series of federal laws in 1918.

Source: www.rarehistoricalpictures.com

How to train a budgie

All over the world the budgie is an extremely popular house pet. The reason for their popularity is that they are cheerful, cheeky and good companions to human beings because they enjoy relating to people.

It is an inexpensive pet and easy to maintain and are sought after by owners of all ages. Another discovered attribute of the budgie is that it is a highly trainable bird. 

Here are some tips on how to train your budgie:

1. As with any living creature training should start at a very young age. Therefore get hold of a budgie that is about 6 weeks old – just weaned from his mother.

2. The best option is that the budgie should preferable be trained by only one person of the household. It is a known fact that budgies learns best if it can bond with one person – combined with the relative young age at which you must start, the budgie will learn to accept that person as another member of his flock.

3. The secret of success is that from the start, it must receive a lot of attention, continuously. This will assist in also making it tame. 

4. There must be constant contact with the budgie. It must be in a cage but the best then is to put your hand in the cage for long periods. As time goes on you can start stretching out your index finger – this resembles his perch and with time and encouragement it may well hop onto your finger. 

5. The next step is then to get the budgie to accept to be held in your hand. This can be established by first to stroke the bird gently along its back. As soon as it is accustomed to this human touch, go over to gently lay a hand on its back. 

6. As soon as it has accepted this step, you can then gently grasp the bird safely in the palm of your hand. 

7. Then it is time to control the bird in your hand. Use your first and second fingers to control its head. With your other fingers and thumb you can control the wings to avoid them flapping excessively.

This is the basics. It will take some time but once tamed and used to your hand and cuddling it you can proceed with more difficult training, for instance they can be taught to perform tricks like climbing a ladder, ring a bell, etc.

As part of the parrot family a budgie can also be taught to mimic human sounds.