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It falls under the category of it seemed like a good idea at the time… Flea infested raccoons move in under our deck, infesting our yard with fleas which we then track into the house which promptly results in our house and indoor cat getting infested (do you know how hard it is to get rid of fleas?!)…but I digress. Three raccoons, so brazen as to come out during the light of day, fighting on the deck at night, living under the space where my children play and my neighbor’s cat sleeps. (A lot.) Every day she asks me—my neighbor, that is—what I’m going to do about the raccoons. I have no flippin’ idea didn’t seem like the response she was looking for at the time…
Not that I blame her. She has an outdoor cat and two dogs, one of which, apparently, the raccoons could eat, and they are, after all, on “her side” of the house. She has every right to be vocally concerned. I’d want them gone, too. And I do, really I do.
So, in the interest of neighbor relations and flea prevention and a rabies alert, I placed a call to Varmant Gaurd, who not-so-promptly set traps filled with peanut butter and apples around our deck. (PB and apples? Who knew?) Last night at one AM, in the midst of being unable to fall asleep, I hear rustling outside our window. Metal rattles, and then, in the dark of the night, the fatal “clink.” Raccoon one, trapped. Fifteen minutes later, “clink.” Raccoon two. I put the fan back in the window to muffle the rattling of their cages (as I already was having trouble sleeping), and drifted off to a fitful sleep, knowing my neighbor would be delighted. I was pretty relieved myself.
Until this morning.
Did you know that raccoons have German-shepherd-brown eyes? And that they shake and chirp when they’re scared? Granted, they growl and spit like a, well, like a caged animal, when you get too close to their trap, but still…
I feel horrible. Fleas and rabies and neighbors and neighbor’s cats aside, they’re kinda cute. And they’re scared. And they’re gonna die.
And it’s my fault.
Tonight the Varmant Gaurd Man brings “stinky fish” and takes the first (innocent?) victims away.
If I can’t sleep, I’ll tell you it’s the smell of the fish below my bedroom window. But you’ll know better. The guilt will be killing me…
>Yikes, I feel bad for you. They are gonna die??? I believe there are some businesses that capture the animals and release them in a wooded area far away. Could you ask them to release them somewhere far away instead of killing them?
>Thanks for the suggestion–I’ll ask!Oh–and we’ve added an o’ppossum to the tally now, too!
>Lorie, I find it incredible and amzing how quickly we all forget the total destruction of these critters we call RODENTS. Lef t to their own, they will find ways into your house a friend had a family of them in her attic and they came ut at night to eat her cat’s food and what ever else they could grab.Yes, they have soul searching eyes don’t you? I think they were designed to lok innocent.It’s a trap. We had then in our house on the farm–in our chimeny insert. When we pulled it out– you want to talk heart breakingly cute–babies. I only saw them go to jail. I do not consider the rest. You are only responsible for incarceration.After that, cast down vain imaginings. Trust me, there are more out there willing ready and able to replace them.Signed, Burned-by-brown-eyes
>Yes, a good reminder, “Burned.” The approximately $500 this has cost us so far is a good reminder, as well…
>I am browsing through reading blogs this evenning. This dialog concerning the racoon, is freakin funny!Ouch, $500, thats rough. that could buy so many cute purses and shoes
>Tell me about it, Angela!