So I went on line to see about doing it ourselves. I studied traps and bait and how to handle trapped raccoons. Then I found that we could buy a Havahart Trap off the shelf at Ace Hardware.
So we did.
We closed the trap while we were away at Whidbey, not wanting to leave a trapped animal that long. Last night Tom placed the bait outside the trap as well as inside, but not close to the back or sides of the trap.
I went out to check last night at 11:00, before going to bed, and saw two sets of eyes staring at me from across the yard. There are three raccoons, two mostly grown kits and their mother. I got a flashlight, and sure enough, one of the kits was in the trap.
We were up early this morning so that Tom could take the raccoon on a little ride. The instructions were to talk softly to the critter, cover the cage, and wear leather gloves.
I don't know what will happen next. We will reset the trap, but the other two may not fall for it now that they know. Or maybe the other kit will find the marshmallows irresistible. Or maybe they will not come back at all.
To be continued.
We have a trap just like that and use it to catch possums herein Texas! It works well. Goodness! This summer the possum came INSIDE the house and I set the trap up in the sewing room. Caught it! Thank goodness because we were going down to the ranch for a few weeks and I sure didn’t want to leave that Critter in the house the whole time we were gone!
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I’m like you. I feel some sadness that it’s so difficult for wildlife and humans to share the same resources. If my yard looked like yours I would more likely share Tom’s view. You could look at it this way. You could have shared the space if the raccoons had behaved. They were not greatful for the wonderful source of water you gave them, but instead became greedy leading to an unhappy ending for everyone. Hmmm, that also describes a lot of humans doesn’t it?
ReplyDeleteGood for you!! I saw one of those live traps at a garage sale and wanted to buy it in case we ever needed it but DH vetoes my idea.
ReplyDeleteI have one of those traps and they are great. You never know what you will get but they do work. One time I caught a very young feral kitten. Still you are one down and two to go. Congrats. PS I use peanut butter.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! Hope you catch the others quickly.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you'll be able to catch mom and the other kits and reunite them. Hooray for one less lawn digger.
ReplyDeleteYou can hope they will come back and fall for the trap again. Otherwise, maybe they will stay away. I'm with Tom: too bad for the kit but it will unfortunately probably survive too. I'm not a fan of raccoons.
ReplyDeleteYou will catch the others. They cannot resist the bait. I thought you'd have done this long ago.
ReplyDeleteI had to have someone trap an armadillo in Florida this past summer. The cost was $125 which included filling the burrow with rocks and covering it with soil afterwards. Well worth it for the peace of mind. Even if I'd been here at the time, I would have paid to have it taken away. I didn't even ask what happened to the the critter. I prefer to think it is in a better place -- whether armadillo heaven or out in the swamps, I don't care as long as it is not under my house.
ReplyDeleteIt's seeing those eyes that breaks my heart too. But Poppy is like Tom, it doesn't bother him. Poppy traps the raccoons that get in the chicken lot, or kill the guineas, or tear up his deer feeder. He uses the same kind of trap, then carries the raccoon down the road and sets it free on the creek. He uses a can of cat food as bait for the trap. The raccoons love it!
ReplyDeleteSuch a lot of damage. Despite your kind nature something had to be done, hopefully you will manage to trap them all and you will get your beautiful garden back to some normality.
ReplyDeleteWe use a trap similar in our yard:)
ReplyDeleteThe abject cruelty of this is beyond the pale. I am crying as to how this was done and how you probably doomed this family and any other offspring to death. As I said, from my wildlife rehabber classes, my friend who was a rehabber and talking to the DEC and SPCA. Relocating in cruel period. Introducing an animal especially in fall into an unknown territory with no known food or water is usually deadly. Territories are carefully chosen and defended to the death. You may have also introduced disease into a new area. And as I said that poor possum does not dig and eats 100's of ticks. You could have used motion detected water or other light or other methods as explained to me by our local SPCA wildlife department. This was not kind at all. They probably would have been better to have been killed than to starve this winter. Really, Really angry about this as so many people do this because they don't want wildlife in their yards. I did not know you were one of them. Maybe providing correct information in a comment will help some poor animal. Skunks dig and they dig a lot. If I see digging and I know we have raccoons it is a skunk looking for grubs. He finds the food and then moves on. I have reported people here for relocating wildlife that is protected. Maybe I should shoot the rabbit that eats some of my plants or better yet, trap it and drop if off down the road to die. Furious. I will hope that no wildlife comes and disturbs your garden again and we end an 8 year online friendship Linda....Maybe next time google relocation of wildlife as information from people who know wildlife.
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