Flipping Turtles and Shooting Coyotes

Date Dreamed: 2014-02-16

Dream

These are actually two separate dreams, but I’m only doing one write up since they are both so short. The first dream was about my sister's turtle. His name was Patches, and we were letting him roam around the vegetable garden. I ask what he’s doing and my sister says “He is clipping the asperagus”, but when I look, I see him flipped over onto his back. I place him back on his feet and he starts moving in a swimming motion through the semi-muddy dirt. My sister says “He’s going to call the pile that flipped him over ‘misses’”. I guess he got put on his back by climbing a steep pile of dirt and rolled off of it, and this is somehow analogous to a wife?

A coyote show up in our yard and my dad gives me a bolt action .22 to shoot it with. I deliver a few carefully aimed shots to its head, but it is still running around the yard. The animal is suddenly a bobcat and is showing signs of dying. I keep shooting it but get worried that the barrel of my gun is going to overheat.

Context Explanations

My sister and I had some pet turtles as children, but I don’t think any were named Patches. Never been coyote hunting.

Plot Holes

I know my dad has better guns for shooting coyotes than a .22.

Erection?

Accurately Yes

Analysis

Some mixed messages about the treatment of animals. At first I’m helping one, and then I’m shooting another in the head, multiple times. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for turtles, and it is hard not to be sympathetic to a creature stuck on its back. Turtles also make great pets, as long as you’re not looking for something cuddly. On the other hand, coyotes and bobcats are not nearly as well regarded. They are considered pests in the part of the country where I live, and are often killed on site. The shooting I do in the dream was reminiscent of prairie dog hunting. This is something I’ve done with my dad before and it involves both careful aim and problems with barrels heating up; not to the point where the guns were damaged and not with .22s, but it was something we worried about for accuracy on longer shots. These dreams seem to show that I will help those who need it, but will also harm those that deserve it.

Auguries

I’ve already established that a turtle means I should stay home, but the addition of some small predators adds an element of danger. The weather isn’t very nice today so I think I’ll comply.