Accidents happen when an overzealous hunter thinks he sees a deer and fires his gun before confirming the target. But it’s doubtful anyone will accept the argument that a cat was mistaken for bigger game.

Two cats in the region have been fired upon in recent days by hunters using smaller weapons. In Turner, a cat wandering near its home on Meadow Lane was pelted by several BBs.

In Lewiston, a cat shot with an arrow clung to life for days before succumbing to its injuries.

A local man was charged in that case with aggravated animal cruelty.

An investigator has no idea what spurred the back-to-back attack on household pets.

In Turner earlier this week, a woman brought her cat to a veterinarian after the animal began acting strangely after its normal outdoor ramblings.

“Something was wrong with the cat, so the owner took it to the vet. They found several pellets lodged in the animal,” said Animal Control Officer Wendell Strout.

The pellets were not lodged in the cat’s vital areas so the animal doctor decided to leave them rather than risk surgery. The cat returned home and is said to be recovering nicely. The cat in Lewiston was not so lucky.

Strout said a man in his 20s was drunk on whiskey and fooling with a bow and arrow when a cat wandered into his view on Marston Street. Thinking he had no chance of hitting the animal, the man drew back the bow and let the arrow fly. It was a direct hit.

Injured, the animal took off running, arrow still lodged in its body. The cat was later taken for treatment but could not be saved.

The shooter confessed and was summoned to court. In Turner, the person who fired not once but several times at a roving cat remains at large.

-Mark LaFlamme
‘100 whole drops’

For many adults, it’s a good job, a successful child, a nice house, a well-groomed yard.

These are things that make us proud.

For 5-year-olds, it is much more simple.

As 23-year-old Becky Hopkins was talking about the flood that damaged her Oxford Street apartment last September and left 19 families homeless, her 5-year-old son, Austin, couldn’t wait to talk about his role in responding to the flood.

As water poured from the ceilings of every room in the apartment, the boy emptied his blocks from their big container and placed the bucket under the leak in his bedroom.

Then he stood there, waited for it to fill up, and counted.

“It could hold 100 drops,” he said. “Can you believe it? One hundred whole drops.”

– Lisa Chmelecki
Vets share thoughts

In my beat I talk to a lot of politicians. It’s not often that I get to talk to veterans.

Since Tuesday was Veterans Day we had the opportunity to seek some out and ask their thoughts on the war in Iraq.

Those we spoke to at the American Legion in Auburn weren’t happy with events. When asked about his military experience, Marcel L. Roy piped up: “ETO, European Theater in World War II. That’s where I learned to run,” he said, followed by laughter.

Don Linscott, 72, who served during the Korean War, wondered how U.S. service people can compete against those who have been brainwashed to die in suicide attacks.

“If my grandson came to me and said, ‘I’m in the National Guard and I’m afraid they’re going to send me (to Iraq), so I’m going to Canada,’ I’m sorry but I’d say, ‘OK, kid. Go.’ I never thought I’d come to the point where I had to say that.”

– Bonnie Washuk


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.