Thursday, April 13, 2006

Raccoons and Aluminum Foil (Squirrel Count: 6)

Happy Passover!

This morning I'm going on a bicycle ride with my wife. Hooray for a holiday-Shabbat!

We have at least one raccoon living under our deck. It ambles around our back yard in a very nonchelant manner. If we yell at it, it does not bolt like one of the squirrels, but simply backs away a few steps while watching us with what seems like an amused expression.

Unlike the squirrel live trap, our raccoon live trap has not yet been successful this year.

I realized one problem is that while the squirrel trap has a solid roof, the raccoon trap does not, and the the open can of cat food we are using as bait got flooded with rain water. Yesterday I put in fresh cat food as well as some peanut butter, and then wrapped that end of the raccoon trap in aluminum foil to keep out rain. Now it looks like we are trying to trap a Buckrogersian Space Raccoon.

This morning we had our sixth captive squirrel. I just found out it does not work to attach the live trap to my bicycle pannier rack with bungee cords. (So I'll drive the squirrel a suitable distance from home later.) If empty, the trap could be strapped to my bicycle without problem. But a large, upset squirrel makes it lurch about enough that I'd worry it might fall off just as we are crossing a street.