City Boy TRAPPER??????

By Posted in Backyard Chickens Tagged , , 19 Comments

003For the last few weeks there has been a raccoon “visiting” our property.  He has left his messy calling card at my garbage bin several times and my wife informed me that he even paid a visit to the chicken coop in the middle of the afternoon last week.  The deal breaker came Sunday afternoon when he attempted to scale the property fence in order to sample my free ranging ladies.

As you may have guessed, our dog, Stanley was fast asleep inside the house on every occasion when Mr. Raccoon dropped by.  I say this because I can’t blame the dog.  No animal (not even a squirrel) will venture into the backyard if Stanley is on patrol.  But, age is catching up to old Stanley and sleep has become his favorite pastime these days.  Now that I think about it…..sleep has always been Stanley’s favorite pastime.009

So last night, I borrowed a trap from my brother and then proceeded to bait it with a delicious aromatic sardine.  Like clockwork, Swiffer woke me with her dreaded EGG SONG this morning and I stumbled outside to take a peak at the trap and……….GOTTCHA!002

Ya… I know there’s a bunch of you out there saying “Oh…he’s so cute”.  Well…it wouldn’t be too darn cute to wake up one morning and find that buddy has gotten in to the coop and killed my hens.  Not to mention that free ranging during late afternoons and weekends has been severely curtailed now that Mr. Raccoon is boldly walking around my property in the middle of the day.  So much for being a nocturnal animal!

Well Mr. Raccoon….you are officially being EVICTED from City Boy Hens!   So off we went, wife (camera person), myself and one freakishly stinky raccoon for a “little drive”.  Note: My brother passed on this great tip. Make sure to put a plastic liner (tarp) down before placing the trap in your vehicle……just in case Buddy decides to leave you with a thank you present for the relocation favor.  Pick up trucks and trailers would work great in these situations because the trapped raccoon would be outside of the vehicle’s interior, thus preventing the “present” from stinking & staining  your vehicle interior.

Once you arrive at your destination, point the front of the trap towards a covered area.  This will help the raccoon  feel that the odds are in his favor for a successful escape.

Next…carefully open the door to the trap.  You’ll need to have something on hand to keep the door open at this point. Your hand is probably not a good choice!   For me, my 1986 Titan 1020 hockey stick was the perfect tool for the job.006

“And down the ice comes Sittler…….He sees a break in the defence.    He moves to his right…..fakes a shot……….He shoots……He scores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!007

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Oh…I almost forget…….Make sure you wear your best flannels and steel-toe crocks for the job!  It’s always important to look your best in your safest gear!

19 thoughts on “City Boy TRAPPER??????”

  1. Aweome story! The hockey stick was probably the best choice of tool given its defensive qualities when an opponent (or angry raccoon) tries to take you out!

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  2. I’m seeing more and more raccoons, one moves out another moves in. Keep the trap out, you will catch more.
    I didn’t know there was steel toe crocs. Good Fathers Day present!

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  4. Way ta go, City Boy! I’m sure your style of flannel and Crocs with hockey stick and glove accessories will shortly picked up by hipsters the world over – they’re all gonna want to be City Boys! Great story 🙂

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  5. And a happy ending for all 🙂

    I felt that exuberant the day I used my brand new 72″ snake stick to remove a 7 foot snake (looked like a rattler but didn’t have a rattle) from my garage. My husband was like, “I am not getting anywhere near that thing!” (city boy, hahaha) but I was anxious to try out my new stick. I grabbed just behind his head and lifted him up to walk out with him but the snake was not going. He wrapped himself around my husbands power tool box and I couldn’t get him off so I dragged them both out of the garage. Just before getting completely outside he let go of the box and wrapped himself around an 8 foot tall bundle of trim molding. I had to get hubby to pull one end of the molding so I could get him off of that (he wasn’t happy about having to participate but he did it).

    Strong darn snake! And HEAVY too. I almost couldn’t hold him up at the end of my stick. I carried him down the hill from our house about 50 yards then let him go in an old pile of tree slash. He must have liked his new home because he didn’t come back.

    I would have been terrified of letting the raccoon out while standing so close…that hockey stick doesn’t look that long and I bet the raccoon could move much faster than the snake. Glad your wife (the camera person) came along so we could all enjoy the trap n release!
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  8. I would need something longer than a hockey stick to do that! Glad you were able to capture the trespasser. : )

    Thanks for linking up to The Creative HomeAcre Blog Hop!

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  9. We don’t have racoons in Australia…I saw one eating from rubbish bins in surburban Seattle on a holiday once. I was surprised that they are so happy in such a setting. They do look rather cute and conspiritorial in their bandit gear but I would be devastated to lose a chook to a predator. So good on you for trapping him humanely and relocating him. He does seem to be slinking off rather sheepishly in that sequence.

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    • HI Fiona,
      Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, we have lots of raccoons in Ontario, Canada. The good news…our dog generally earns his keep!
      Hope you’ll drop by again.
      Regards,
      CB

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