This Is the Place We Call Home

Disclaimer: I am supposed to be posting a picture for my Daily Photo Challenge. Alas, I am currently using my work laptop to type this (yes! they encouraged non-controversial use!), and Alan is currently on the phone with India. Well, no, not all of India, but Indian dude that works for Netgear who is supposed to be fixing our home laptop. Seems our $70/45 minute call (Netgear fee) to India last night to get my work laptop set up on our internet messed up our home laptop. Ahhh, technology!

Anywho, a little story to tide you over:

Last Thursday I set out a new "squirrel proof" bird feeder off our deck to make the Boss Lady who was coming over think that our home is extremely hospitable and cozy and cute. Whatever. Anyway, as it turns out, the birdies were immediately smitten with it, and the boys and I loved watching cardinals and chickadees and wrens and tufted titmice come to snack. However, that night a local raccoon also developed a love affair with the bird seed. Such that the next morning, 2/3 of the birdseed had been knocked to the ground. Now, our neighbor across the cul-de-sac has been having a similar problem in his backyard, and over the past couple of weeks has trapped and SHOT eight of the little critters. In case, you didn't catch that, I said Eight. EIGHT. Bad week for raccoons in our neck of the woods. So, here's the deal: I like raccoons, but I'm not spending $6.97 every week at Wal-mart on birdseed to feed a raccoon. And heck, I'm married to a boy whose neck is pretty red, so we do have animal traps in the garage. I got it into my head to trap the one that has been eating our birdseed and deposit him/her in another region of the county.

So, we set the trap and place a birdseed covered peanut butter cracker inside the cage. And promptly forget about it in the flurry of getting boys to bed and cleaning up after dinner and getting lunches ready for the next day. Alan and I finally settled down for a cozy [hulu.com] episode of "Ghost Hunters" when all of a sudden he leaps up like a man with a seizure and dashes out of the room. Only it's not a seizure he's having but very acute hearing. Evidently he heard the trap slam shut and raced into the kitchen to look out at the trap. Sure enough an [adorable] little raccoon is caught inside.

Poor thing - it got caught in the trap about 9:30 that night, and BANG BANG BANG, it kept trying to get out all night. ALL night. The next morning, she was sound asleep as it got lighter outside. She is, after all, a nocturnal animal, but I'm sure her night-time antics wore her out, as well. We went out to check her out in person, and she was all growly and hissy with us. You'd think a raccoon would love my adoring love talk, but um, not so much. I threw in some cat food for her [HHIISSSS - at one point she was upside down growling at me, which was when I was able to see that she was clearly female], and then gave her some peace while we finished getting Matthew ready to go to school.

She rode in the back of the van to Matthew's school (in the cage, not in a carseat) and kept hissing and growling. After we dropped Matthew off, Michael and I drove to The Boondocks and found an isolated area. I opened the cage and after a perfunctory hiss at me (at which I leaped into the back of the van), she took off into the woods. So, the cage is free if any of you need it tonight.

Lovely side note: since the raccoon has been rehabitated, we have seen no birds at the feeder. None. ZERO. Nice, huh? After all my heroic efforts, they are unwilling to eat at my buffet.