At 16, he stalked and shot a raccoon at night. He had noticed that something other than his dog was eating the dog food outside. He had a crossbow, with which he had been practicing. Arming himself, we waited one night until the raccoon came calling. Alone in the dark, using only the light shining through the house windows, he carefully and quietly moved to a position from which he could safely engage the intruder and loosed a bolt. Crossbow bolt 1, raccoon 0. No more problems with disappearing dog food.
With only a little coaching, he was able to neutralize a threat to his animals from a safe distance without endangering anything or anyone else. He turns 20 tomorrow. Next year, LTC.