Gracuious Mike, they are like the 'Clarks' over there. ya kill one , no matter why, and they are duty bound to kill one of your family. The actual gun men are kids fron to their early teens, they think that they are showing their statement manliness or lo loyalty to the group.
As far as the ones to the south, our present 'unaccompanied minors, many are from the gangs, and they are required to kill for entrance to the gang, the are identified by their tattoos.
When I first went to Mexico to explore the then unknown barrancas and the Yucatan to look for Mayan ruins, you only had to worry about a few scattered bandits
Just today they found the charred bodies of the kidnapped Mexican Congressman and the prosecutor of the of state of Jalisco .murdered.
Authorities in the western Mexican states of Jalisco and Zacatecas said forensic tests show that two completely charred bodies found this week in an SUV are those of a kidnapped congressman and one of his assistants
Your squirrel hunting ability don't apply here, these kids just haven't learned that they too are mortal.
Mike you sound as if you are a guy to ride the trails with. Gracias