Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Uninvited House Guests: Part Two



Yesterday morning, awakened by loud scratching and screaming sounds outside the sliding door in my office, I jumped out of bed to investigate its source.

My heart was beating wildly as I found a very upset and frightened young raccoon staring up at me, begging me to release him.

Hands trembling, I immediately called Aaron, our wildlife technician to report that "we had raccoon" and to please hasten to our house to retrieve her. He told me that he would be there in a few minutes, and to "hang tough." Sure.. easy for him to say.


Upon his arrival, Aaron checked the trap immediately, informing me that the trapped masked bandit was not mama. There was another raccoon in another trap outside the far end of our screened in pool area. I had no idea about that one!

Mama raccoon was not a happy camper as I rushed out to snap her photo. She hissed and growled threateningly . . . a scary critter. But she was not upset at all about the other raccoon in the cage next to her, and he was now as quiet as a Church Mouse.



Aaron checked the attic and found one very frightened youngster moving around too fast for him to manually extract him. Before he left, another trap was baited to hopefully catch the other baby.

So now we have saved Mama raccoon and one baby. Let's hope that tomorrow brings a great result so all of them can be reunited at the wildlife preserve.

I tell ya, that flat screen tv is but a fleeting memory . . . and let's hope that soon all of this will be, as well.

I need a hug!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know all the bad things about raccoons (having rescued and raised a baby raccoon kitten on our ranch 30 years ago), but they are still one of my favorite critters! I can speak "raccoon-ese" with the best of them and I love their chatter! I am glad that you are opting for a live catch trap that will allow for this masked family's relocation to a more suitable habitat. Hopefully your house will once again become just your home!! Besides, flat screen TVs are wildly over-rated!
Sheila

Kathy said...

Wow!! What a situation. I, too, am pleased that you are using a humane trapper to relocate this furry family. Good luck and thanks for the pictures/update.

Vicki said...

I am so glad you caught two of them. Gosh, what an experience this has been for you. But I am so glad you choose to capture them rather than kill them.

Anonymous said...

Poor you!
What a scary morning. They are cute though- lol. Hope you get the final one so they can all be together. You did the right thing!

Anonymous said...

Hugs to you, Jo, for choosing to relocate these critters rather than the alternative. And they don't even know how lucky they are to have moved into your house instead of someone else's!!

Skylark

Anonymous said...

Thank you for choosing and modeling the "relocation" approach. Also, I invite other readers to join in with me, visualizing that flat screen TV for you :))))))

Min