I'm So Upset About These Raccoons

This thing with the raccoons has turned into a nightmare. I'm totally regretting catching the mother and leaving the babies. I trusted that the wildlife people knew what they were doing--but now I'm not so sure. They wanted to wait and see if the babies would come out on their own instead of cutting the wall. I could tell after the first night they weren't going to come out--they're probably just too young--but the wildlife people wouldn't come yesterday.

So the guy shows up today with some equipment, prepared to cut the wall--and he wasn't able to get through. Apparently there was more than just drywall there. So, after talking to Don, I went to the hardware store and bought a tool to cut the wall. Tonight Don attempted to cut it but it wasn't working so he tried a different location--right under where I always hear the raccoons--and he was able to cut a nice-sized hole.

There was NOTHING there! We saw evidence of the raccoons--they had shredded up the insulation for bedding, etc. and we could see lots of scratch marks, but no animals.

So now I'm really upset about what's happened to them. I hope they got out and that they are old enough to find food on their own--but there are two traps out there with untouched food. Last night I could hear them moving around, but tonight I have heard nothing. I just hope something bad didn't happen to them and I'm mad at myself for waiting so long for these dumb wildlife people.

Poor little babies...this is so stupid!

Raccoons and Sex and the City

So I had these big plans to see Sex and the City on Sunday. I was going with a friend and there was going to be sushi afterwards and possibly a wine tasting--all very Sex and the City-ish! But my friend canceled and I ended up having a very un-Sex and the City-ish Sunday...shuttling kids around, eating a gross piece of cold pizza for lunch and cleaning.

Last night I decided to just go to the movie by myself. I really wanted to see it before I overheard some of the plot surprises and once I got the baby to bed there was nothing pressing going on around here--so off I went!

I haven't been to a movie by myself in ages and it wasn't too bad! Once I had my popcorn and Twizzlers and a nice seat it didn't really matter.

I LOVED the movie!! It was so nice to see "the girls" again and it was so much fun to see what they'd been up to these past few years. I liked the way Carrie seemed more together and mature--same with Samantha--her character has evolved and she seemed more real to me than she did in the show. I wish I had a friend like Samantha in real life!

The Vogue shoot with the wedding dresses was SO much fun! Just beautiful to watch all those amazing gowns! Of course, all the girls' clothes were great and made me totally jealous. Oh how I wish I could be a size zero and wear 4 inch heels! I was not crazy about Charlotte's high-necked maternity dresses, however--that was not the best look.

The movie was definitely a tear-jerker. The woman next to me was literally sobbing--not just sniffling--she was hysterical! I could have easily cried but I kept it together-- I did not want to sit in the theatre alone crying. But it was super emotional...

So when I got home, Don announced that we had finally caught the raccoon! While I was at the movie he had put in the usual treats and fiddled around with the trap so it was super sensitive which, I guess, did the trick.
I went out to look at the raccoon and she just looked at me with her sad little raccoon eyes and I felt SO guilty thinking about the babies who were now alone in my ceiling and how worried she must have felt knowing she wasn't with them (apparently raccoons are very maternal). Then I started thinking about the movie...Mr. Big in the closet, Steve on the Brooklyn Bridge...and I started crying--like the woman in the theatre. Don seemed confused and was saying stuff like "But we can't let the raccoons stay in our house."

I put I towel over the raccoon's cage because it was drizzling and called the wildlife place to tell them we had caught her and to make sure they could get here ASAP to get the babies out.

I was just about to complain about how they weren't showing up--but they just got here. They took the mom away and we are trying to figure out what to do about the babies. The trick now is to determine if they are able to come out on their own and get food, so another trap has been set. I'm also supposed to listen for any crying or whatever from them tonight.

So the raccoon saga continues!

More Raccoon Shenanigans...

When I was talking with the raccoon guy yesterday, I told him that I thought maybe our raccoon was too smart to go in the trap--it's been set for a long time after all--and he said "trap smart" raccoons do exist but he hoped that wasn't the case because it will make catching her extremely unpleasant.

Well, this morning, all the marshmallows and Kisses were gone from the trap (the liver was still there, though)--so I think we're dealing with a pretty smart raccoon here.

Apparently, Petey is what's known as "trap dumb."

I even sent the kids into the yard to watch the dogs this morning--but he still managed to get himself trapped. What a dope!!

Raccoon Update...Sort Of

Very little going on with our raccoon family. I have been begging the wildlife people to come and rethink our traps--but they are busy every day catching other people's raccoons!

They finally showed up today and didn't do much--moved one trap and added another. I did something though: I added mini-marshmallows and Hershey's Kisses (to the existing beef liver) into one of the traps--I know this raccoon has a sweet tooth!! So let's cross our fingers!

The wildlife guy told me he had a baby raccoon on his truck and he let me see it:
Awwww! Don't you just want to feed it with a teeny tiny bottle?? I do!!

Raccoons!!

So a couple months ago I heard a scratching noise in the walls of my bedroom--usually early in the morning when I was still half-asleep so I would end up forgetting about it by the time I really woke up.

Then I started hearing the noise in the ceiling of our family room in the afternoons--furious digging/scratching sounds that sounded like a largish animal. I promptly called a "wildlife" place to come and set a trap for our little friend and I told them I was pretty sure it was a raccoon--it just sounded like a raccoon!

So they set a trap but a couple of weeks went by...nothing. The scratching episodes continued. Then one night, just as American Idol was starting, we spotted "our" raccoon in the apple tree right outside the family room window. It was heading towards my daughter's discarded Salerno butter cookie that I had thrown over the fence before we got in the car that day.

Realizing that whatever the wildlife guy had put in the trap wasn't working, I made a trail of Salerno butter cookies from the apple trees to the trap. Smart, right? Well, we did catch this:
Apparently we had more than one visitor. Oh, and turns out this was a mother opossum with a "pouch full of babies" so really way more!

Another trap was set in a different location for the raccoon and I told the guy to put butter cookies in it--but he just looked at me like I was crazy. It's been about a month since that trap was set...and nothing...the raccoon is way too smart.

But the opossum babies got me thinking that perhaps the raccoon was making a nest in our family room because she was haing babies too...

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago...Don (husband) and I were watching Into the Wild (a really great movie, btw) and I heard a little whimpering sound from the ceiling--raccoon babies!

The dumb thing is that I have made no move to evict them (except for the trap that sits empty). I guess I feel a bond with the mother and feel guilty about disrupting her...but then I started researching raccoons on the web and apparently the majority of raccoons are infested with this parasite that doesn't hurt them but is fatal to humans! So if this worm gets into a human it "wanders around" and ends up in your brain or your eyes--no joke!!

So now I'm desperate to get the raccoon family out. In fact, I'm calling the wildlife place now! Will update...