Humanely Killing Prey

There are a number of ways of killing prey most of which involve the rapid separation of the vertebrae at the neck just below the base of the skull. Some people can do this quickly by hand; others recommend the use of a spoon. Still others recommend blunt trauma to effect immediate unconsciousness and death.

There is, however, an easier way that is less traumatic to the mammalian prey animal, ensures immediate unconsciousness followed almost instantaneously by death. This is done by setting up a tank, be it a deep aquarium, bucket or rubber or plastic wastebasket set aside for this use, and filling it half full of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. Once the tank is thus 'charged,' the prey animal is placed inside (be careful to not get your head too close to the tank as the gas is quite capable of knocking you unconscious, too). It is immediately rendered unconscious and is killed within a few minutes. The killed prey can then be removed (it is recommended that you use long kitchen or barbecue tongs), and set aside to be fed out or frozen for later use. Let the gas dissipate outside by setting the tank outside for a couple of hours.

You can get CO2 relatively inexpensively in a gaseous form in tanks from welder's supply shops, and in solid form (as dry ice) from ice houses; these suppliers may be found in the telephone yellow pages.

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