Tim went up to work on the house yesterday. I stayed at home. Laundry. Cleaning. Made a pot of spaghetti sauce.
I got a call about a half hour after he left. He'd staked down the trap before we left and baited it with cat food. There was a raccoon in it this morning. I usually am the person who takes the animal to its new home and opens the door and watches him waddle off into the sunset. Or something like that.
This time, Tim was on his own. He asked me a few questions, and then disconnected.
He called later, a little amazed at how easy it all was.
"So the raccoon wasn't upset?" I asked.
"No," he answered. "He watched me. Never made a sound. I put the blanket over the trap and picked him up. I took him to the top of ------- Hill and let him go in the woods. He headed for the trees and never looked back."
"Good," I said.
"The raccoon was a lot more tame than your kittens," he observed.
Will Raccy come back for his cat food treat?
ReplyDeleteHe's got a long trek before him to do that. Not likely. He went on a 15 minute car ride up to the top of a hill.
DeleteI bet he was a homing raccoon. He'll turn up in a few days looking for some lunch.
ReplyDeleteWell, we hope not!
DeleteYes, he will be back, or killed by the raccoons who claim the territory where you dumped him. Relocating raccoons is not recommended, unfortunately. If other raccoons don't kill them, they starve to death...or find their way back to you. It may take them a long time, but they will come back.
ReplyDeleteI suppose we shall see. I hate to think that we'll have to resort to shooting them. We had to do that with groundhogs. We had so many of them that we couldn't keep a garden to save our souls. We cannot have raccoons taking up residence in the garage.
DeleteIt's the same for our protected possums. They find their way back or they die because they won't have their own territory.
DeleteI would have thought there would be rules shout caring for your native animals. We have to secure our house roof and garage from possums or they move in but you can’t take them out of their neighbourhood or they usually die, and shooting anything in Australia is pretty rare.I have never seen a gun nor know anyone who owns one. It is cats who have been disasterous to our wild life and pet pussies must be kept indoors or on your own property and others are trapped and taken to the local shelter and if too wild to be rehomed are humanely delt with
ReplyDeleteMost of our native animals here have some sort of 'season'. We would not think to take an animal in the spring, for instance because they are likely to have young. But animals can become nuisance animals, and they are allowed to be removed. The problem is not that we encroach on their space...it's more that there become so many of them that they begin to become a problem, including the spread of disease. Where do you live in Australia? Is it an urban or rural setting?
DeleteIf he was that calm, I reckon he has done that ride before!
ReplyDeletePerhaps. Or it could be that he's simply lost his fear of humans.
DeleteI hope the raccoon stays away! While it’s supposedly illegal, we always take the trapped groundhogs across a creek or a river- they say that will keep them from coming back..? But we haven’t been very successful with the traps, so we still have plenty of them here🙄🤷♀️ Hope you’re both feeling back to normal now! Xo, Rigmor
ReplyDeleteWell, we can only hope. It's an awful thing. We've been thinking that it is the humane thing to live trap them and take them to another setting. Perhaps not so.
DeleteI'm sure a racoon can do much more damage than our possums do, like nibbling off flower buds or getting into rooves.
ReplyDeleteRaccoons are actually quite aggressive. They can really decimate a chicken population as entertainment. They can clean out a vegetable garden over night. They love garbage. They will attack and kill pets. They are cute, I give you that, but once they move in close to humans and lose their fear of them, you've got a problem.
DeleteWow! He was lucky. I've known raccoons and possums to be quite uuummmm.... angry and extremely upset when trapped.
ReplyDeletePossums scare me, with their wide open mouths and their hissing. They just look scary. But I do want this shirt: https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjL2Iub7_yIAxU0Z0cBHUKsO4kYABAYGgJxdQ&co=1&ase=2&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjY64BhCaARIsAIfc7Ya9iKhl3BoYhO9QR5Lc4D1YHmtgMUHTmF2sDU0NrH5sMGAVhiz4tkIaAitTEALw_wcB&ei=VCQEZ_7NONOh5NoPnfHS6AQ&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESV-D21T_ggarVOk4KZNe71UGaZsKIU3_mDPHjgs820kDT3fNjE_9X2tMXi8w234WU8ruXwEjeIhJiIZ_Ak39hzObDyGjIPhVwe0_vwICZ75asut8OWYuPPg&sig=AOD64_0o0-dELaTtJUOkSDv1VfJRqTYrDw&ctype=5&q=&nis=4&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwj-x4Ob7_yIAxXTEFkFHZ24FE0Q9aACKAB6BAgFED0&adurl=
DeleteWhen we lived in Peninsula the problem wasn't raccoons, it was groundhogs, tunneling under outbuildings. My brother-in-law dealt with them, and I know he hated it.
ReplyDeleteDid you have porcupines eating your outbuildings? That can be a problem too.
DeleteGood punchline there, which I guess is not quite the right word. /AC
ReplyDeleteLOL. On a positive note though, when I went up to feed the little mischief makers today, Tiger and Sigh both came up to sniff my shoes and investigate my hands. Of course, I realize that they were looking for treats, but still, it was a good sign.
DeletePlease think of us here in Florida. This new hurricane is to come on land very close to where I live. It is supposed to hit Wed. morning around 7am. I guess what I am saying if you don't hear from me again the storm was bad.
ReplyDeleteEllie, I hope that you don't take a risk. Can you evacuate? Milton looks like it is going to affect practically the whole state.
DeleteGood luck elliek!
DeleteI don't need to evacuate as I not in a flood zone. I will probably go stay with my son. He is coming here Tuesday to put on my storm shutters on my windows. I will go home with him, I think. He has a new house built to more hurricane specs than mine is. Milton is growing and gathering speed. You have been a good FB friend, and I thought I should say something to someone. I think I will be ok. There was so much flooding with the storm 2 weeks ago. Just keep me in your thoughts. I will send you a note as soon as I can after this is over. Thanks for letting me ramble on so many times.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen it that way, Ellie. I am always glad to hear from you. I just read that Milton is a cat 5 now.
DeleteMy son insist that I come stay with them while the storm passes. I am going to do that; I think it will be Wed. night.
DeleteCapturing a raccoon and releasing it away from home - all in a day's work.
ReplyDeleteIs that your way of saying you would like a raccoon at your house? :)
DeleteI wonder how well raccoons cope with being relocated. (Still, it's better than the alternative!) Dave made spaghetti sauce yesterday too. It's a good meal for autumn!
ReplyDeletePennsylvania laws permit trapping raccoons and taking them to a natural habitat. Whether it is the humane way, or whether we are simply deluding ourselves that it is the humane thing, I don't know. It just seems kinder to let them have a fighting chance that to just kill them.
DeleteLordy yes, raccoons are cute, but the damage they can do is just too much. My Hubs has live trapped and relocated dozens, as well as possums, even though it is illegal to do that where we live. They cost $50 per animal to have them removed. Not doing that. Since we have a bird feeder, it attracts them both. Not unusual to get a Ring Camera notification nightly and see a possum waddling by.
ReplyDeleteWe don't mind the possum. I have one living under the greenhouse right now. The raccoons are a different story all together.
DeleteKittens could do with some raccoon lessons!
ReplyDeletePerhaps that is the problem. We should trap the kittens, relocate them and keep the raccoons!
DeleteA couple of weeks ago my little 7 lb. Yorkie did not return from his nightly duties in a timely manner. We have doggy doors. I went to investigate. Discovered him face to face--- less than a foot apart!--- with a possum. A young one, but about the same size as the dog. Neither one would move when I called. I picked up a nearby 4 ft plant stake. Thought to prod the possum and make him run off. Nope. That guy was absolutely rigid with fear. Even poking under a front leg did no good. oh, well. If he isn't moving, nothing to fear. Picked up the dog and came in. Made for an interesting night! We have relocated several possums mistakenly trapped instead of the nuisance armadillos!
ReplyDeleteThat's what possums do. That is their defense! Funny dog. Not going to give an inch, was he?
ReplyDeleteYour possums are different to Australian ones: https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/common-brushtail-possum/
ReplyDeleteJust glad we don't have raccoons, armadillos etc. (just highly venomous snakes, red-back spiders...) :)