It's been a while since our last infestation, but last week I startled a trio of juvenile raccoons nosing around the back yard. This morning, as I was checking on the rabbit we keep on our back porch, I surprised a much larger 'coon who tried to hightail it back across the roof and patio cover only to get stymied at the front of the house trying to get onto the garage.
When I came downstairs to see if it had figured its way out, it was sitting at the end of the patio cover hissing at me. Since my wife had to go that way to head out to work, I decided to give it added impetus to leave through the open front gate and gave it a wack with the flat of a sword (reach is a good thing).
One good hit and the raccoon drops like a piñata but bolts directly for the cat door in the garage. The 'coon is so fat, it gets stuck in the door and opens the larger door – slowing it down. It comes nearly nose to nose with my outdoor cat, Regina with the result that they both scare each other and they bolt past each other with Regina winding up outside and the raccoon crammed into a ridiculously small corner of the garage under some lumber.
Fortunately, my neighbor has a trap cage which I frequently borrow to take care of the possums that come through periodically. Trusting in the hot weather to make the garage unbearable, I place the cage against the cat door and drop a couple of small pieces of ham onto the trip plate.
A few hours later, there is a very large, upset raccoon crammed into the cage – and he soiled himself. Pheeuuuu! I thought possums and possum crap smelled bad, but raccoon dump is almost toxic.
I drag the cage out and air out the garage. And, while it vents, I start calling around.
Animal Control is closed on Mondays. Fortunately, my client/friend who is my cats' vet is married to one of the animal control specialists so I make a phone call to him. As it turns out, Animal Control no longer deals with relocating wild animals due to budget cuts. But, they give me a couple of resources. If the animal is declared a nuisance, it will be picked up and destroyed – but not on Monday. This raccoon qualifies having gone into my neighbor's kitchen this morning through their dog door and ransacking the container of dog food – inside a drawer. But, since I don't want to kill (or have killed) an animal needlessly, I call the numbers they gave me.
The first one is a bust as they cannot pick up animals out of area. They give me the numbers of two local privately-run rescue/rehab services, but it turns out that they can't relocate animals due to concerns about spreading rabies.
Great.
So, if you catch a wild animal on/in your property you have two choices – have it killed or dispose of it on your own.
(UPDATE) as I was writing this, my neighbor came over and we put the cage in his pick-up and we run the raccoon out to where I usually drop surplus possums – on the edge of a nature area on the outskirts of town.
I had been reluctant to do this myself as raccoons are unpredictable – and vicious. But, the cage was well designed and the raccoon took one look at all the brush and bolted straight into the shrubbery.
That was easier than I thought.
One more job skill to add to my resumé.
I just hope I don't find more tomorrow.
Wyatt
goes to sea with the Terrain Mat.
ers.
