Friday, March 28, 2008

Animal Trap Redux

After I caught the cat on Easter Sunday (see Meow? <*Hiss! Spit!*>), I didn’t have time to re-bait my cage trap and drop it in the crawl space. I set it out back under the eaves by the crawl space vent hole with the torn screen. It was left in the open position, but without bait.

K woke me up at 5:00 this morning, because something out back was making noise. A hit! I had another catch without even really trying, and this time it wasn’t a cat.



The beauty of catching a raccoon is that you don’t have to worry that it is someone’s cherished pet. Since the Humane Society didn’t open until 10:00 AM, I loaded Rocky’s cage in the trunk and headed to Oregon. He now has a new home where there is more space to roam and plenty to eat. It was far easier to get him out of the trap and into a nearby blackberry patch than I thought he would be.

Raccoons are smart critters (though not smart enough to avoid capture), so I am gambling that this one is not smart and motivated enough to travel five miles to a bridge, negotiate the bridge without being pancaked, and travel another three miles to locate the crawl space of his youth. Are raccoons good swimmers? This one would have to be. The Columbia is 500 to 2,000 yards wide, depending on where he tries to cross. Maybe I can successfully capture his entire family and transport them to a happy reunion in that blackberry patch.

Is it legal to transport raccoons across state lines?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday A day late, Trapper John! For your 50th, I am going to send you 2 cats for your trap!

The Mad Tern said...

Okay. I won't use my mole traps on them. Those can be nasty!

I am a pentagenarian. K says that means I am halfway! For some reason, she sets my life expectancy at 100. She says she wants me to outlive her, so perhaps she plans to make it to 99 herself.

Anonymous said...

Mau,you can bring the cats to my house...........we have a hawk that hangs out in the woods behind our house.It would be fun to watch him "play" with your cats. I think he is big enough to have a lot of fun with them.

Anonymous said...

In Nebraska, they are warning us to beware of wild turkeys. One crashed through a lady's windshield last week, hitting her head. They can weigh around 20 pounds and are fast fliers.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ke,
Let's go "hunting ."Maybe we can "get" the turkey on the way to the grocery store to buy the cranberry sauce. LUD, can we put up a fence in your back yard so we don't have to move around to watch the fun?

Gale said...

I knew of a boy who killed two squirrels with his bow. He shot right out his family room window at the squirrels in the back yard. He wanted to get rid of some cats also. For some reason all the cats in the neighborhood like this particular house. That would have been illegal & the owner of the home was very much in favor of abiding the laws.

Anonymous said...

That mom should know that killing squirrels with a bow in the village limits is likely illegal, also.

Anonymous said...

New post, NOW!!!! (please?)

Anonymous said...

Once fishing on the St. Lawrence we pulled up next to a raccoon swimming 200 yards off shore. Does that answer your question?

The Mad Tern said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Mad Tern said...

Oh crap! Darn raccoons can do everything!