Why did the chipmunk do this with it's tail?

I shot a chipmunk with my bee bee gun at about 3 yards, head shot. After the hit it jumped about 1 yard and its tail stuck straight out while it used it's paw to scratch at it's head. Why did it do this? Before you get soft on me, this chipmunk is responsible for about $600 worth of landscape damage, stolen bird food and 34 missed bee bee shots.Why did the chipmunk do this with it's tail?
umm.....when did ';light it on fire'; become humane?





The tail sticking out is a danger signal much like a white tail raising it's tail when frightened.





You can just simply startle a chipmunk and it will do the same thing with it's tail.Why did the chipmunk do this with it's tail?
The pellet will have caused massive neurone destruction and release of neurotransmitters within the damaged brain. This causes a sudden firing of nerve impulses to all areas of the body, including the tail. All the muscles will contract simultaneously leading to a rigid body. The strongest muscle in the tail obviously makes it stick straight out.





A similar thing happens during electric shocks or epileptic fits.





I see a lot of animals injured by pellets. They die horrible, painful, slow deaths if you don't get a clean kill.
As far as the tail thing goes, it's tough to say for sure. A lot of weird things can happen from sudden brain trauma. Could have just been from nerve damage or just a reaction to getting hit.





As far as the shooting goes. I could believe $600 in damage and the shoot sounds justified. I also have chipmunk problems. They chew the rubber seal off the garage door to get inside, especially during summer and fall. The worst was that one chewed threw the seal, then through drywall in the garage and fell into the wall and died. It stunk up the garage and living room for a month. That is a typical problem for me with mice, but they aren't as big and don't rot and stink as long as a larger chipmunk.
Tail-straightening is chipmunk profanity. He said, ';You 4545453636362727288857575656!!!';





Frankly, I think you DO have the right to shoot someone who steals from you. I trade my time to earn property. You take my property, you take part of my life.





I'm getting ready to rant, so I'll stop.





Thank God for the Second Amendment.





It's a blasted rodent. If it were smart enough to build a gun, it'd shoot you too. People who think nature is like Disney need to grow up. Nature perfects itself by killing the weak.





That's just the way it is.
Pretty obvious isn't it


You knocked it silly





And yes Chipmunks are destructive little pests and can easily do $600 in damage in a week





I had a house that had cute little flying squirrels in it


The destruction wasn't noticed till they caused a flood in the kitchen that cost a couple thousand to repair


The homeowners called me in to kill the little rats after they did it a second time a week later


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I'm still laughing over the sticky trap and setting them on fire being humane comment
I have no idea about the pointing tail, but I do have a recommendation.





Get a more powerful airgun to kill vermin.





The little bugger might be wreaking havoc on your flower beds, but even pests like chipmunks deserve a good clean kill, and a BB gun lacks the power for a fast humane kill.





Doc
its a balance thing, they always do it when they jump. if they jump for a long distance it slows down their descension so they dont hit the ground so hard. watch a flying squirrel or a cat . . . they do the same thing when they jump.
how the hell did a chipmunk cause $600 worth of damage?





anyway, you shot it in the head, so it was trying to feel its head to see what was wrong, like when you get stung by a bee you go to grab your self right? same thing...
Ok As i'm LMAO i think you pissed it off and it was scratching his head where you hit it. Now he is calling friends and relatives to come and invade your house. Hope you have a plan and something stronger than a B B gun. LOL
You probably caused some nerve reflexes when you hit it in the head causing the tail to straighten out. It also could've been out of shock.
Well if someone shot at your head, in the moments before you died you'd probably be wondering where the hell half of it went.
Chipminks do damage and it sucks so you were in the right for killing it





And yes it was most likely a nerve reflex
probably from the shock. should use a pelletgun. a lot more accurate and humane. 34 misses is not good!
So if you ever do $600 worth of damage should some shoot you too? Next time be more humane and use sticky traps or flypaper. when you see one stuck just club it or light it on fire. Dont ever shoot anything, leave the shooting to gang bangers.