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It was almost 80F in our kitchen, at 5:30AM. It's an old house, there's no way we could air condition it, and we've never invested in decent curtains for the living room and kitchen, so we're hanging old sheets and blankets over the windows to keep the sun out during the day, and running the fans all night long trying to get the temperature down as low as we can. And it was that warm first thing in the AM, with a forecast of 98F for this afternoon. I rearranged the fans so that the bigger one was in the kitchen, and kept watching the temperature go up outside and trying to judge when it would make sense to pull it. Soon as I made the call and pulled the fan out of the kitchen window, the temp inside went up four degrees in a half hour and I had to put the fan back for a while. I think it's the fridge that makes the most heat. I didn't even want to turn on the stove for tea. I figured I would leave early for my physical therapy appointment and get coffee on the way, and that's what I did.
About 0800 I realized I hadn't checked the have-a-heart trap. We had another woodchuck in the garden the other day, so we're back to this again. Today I found a raccoon in the trap. Poor bandit. Just like the last one I caught, this raccoon was very well behaved toward me, no hissing and snapping like the woodchucks do, though it had clearly been quite upset to be trapped and had torn a huge hole in the lawn, and most of the hair off its own tail. I honestly feel horribly guiltly for neglecting to check until that late, and for catching it in the first place and putting it through the distress. I did place the trap under a tree and with a quarter of a melon as bait so whatever got into it would have plenty to eat.
So, tucked my dress into the top of a pair of pants, put shoes on, got the big leather gloves, and took the raccoon for a ride. I figure if you catch a raccoon you really have to relocate them someplace nice because if they ever are going to become a terror in the neighborhood they're never going to be stupid enough to be caught in a trap again - raccoons are too smart to be caught twice.
I noticed on the ride that he also smelled a lot nicer than the woodchucks. He smelled like coffee. Probably got it out of a neighbor's garbage, I would imagine. I wonder if that's why he was so wound when he was caught? Bit of a caffiene high, perhaps? But that made me want coffee even more. I sang to him most of the way over to the preserve, the seemed to help keep him quieter.
I got yelled at on Facebook the other day by someone who didn't want me to talk about my grandmother having killed a woodchuck. (And this is the same person who thinks it's okay that the federal agents are in Portland, Oregon without the permission of the governor or mayor, making the protests worse. But whatever, I took the post down.) Wish I could live in perfect harmony with nature, but it's kind of us against them around here. We do our best to make the garden such that the woodchucks are not invited in, and the house is far too porous to keep mice out.
I tried to convince Eor that I could catch the wild mice and keep them in a cage, but he was not up for that idea, and he argued a quick kill is more humane. After seeing how distressed animals are in the have-a-heart trap I'm almost inclined to agree. I keep hearing that the bucket traps are great for catching a lot of mice, so decided to try one. I seriously thought I could build it myself, but Eor had a bunch of bright ideas about how to make my plan better, and tools to make that happen, so he actually built it. Still, I have not caught anything.
Although I wonder if maybe I HAVE, actually, and the coyotes and raccoons might be taking the mice out of it, since I set the bucket up outside. I could have sworn I heard a 'bloink!' sort of noise the other night, as of something hitting the bucket rather hard, or almost tipping it over, and I do think I heard coyotes yipping around that side of the house, or maybe down around the apple trees, that same night. I mean, that would be convenient, if the predators would empty the trap for me. I did NOT put antifreeze in the water, as some people say to do to be sure of killing the mice. There's no worry of it freezing at this time of year, and I don't want to poison the predators or scavengers. Even if I set it up inside the house I won't do that, because when Eor tosses out dead mice he always puts them down in the woods in a certain area where the crows know to pick them up. It's another aspect of his fascination with bird watching. I would never have known that blue jays will also eat dead mice if not for him laying out some of them where we could watch them across the yard a couple winters ago. NOT to be done in summer, too stinky. Also, when we're out and around the yard a lot no scavenger birds will come down to investigate.
I didn't finish my coffee before I had to go into PT, but when I came back out it was about 100F in the car and the coffee was still hot to drink, so I figured it hadn't grown many bacteria.
About 0800 I realized I hadn't checked the have-a-heart trap. We had another woodchuck in the garden the other day, so we're back to this again. Today I found a raccoon in the trap. Poor bandit. Just like the last one I caught, this raccoon was very well behaved toward me, no hissing and snapping like the woodchucks do, though it had clearly been quite upset to be trapped and had torn a huge hole in the lawn, and most of the hair off its own tail. I honestly feel horribly guiltly for neglecting to check until that late, and for catching it in the first place and putting it through the distress. I did place the trap under a tree and with a quarter of a melon as bait so whatever got into it would have plenty to eat.
So, tucked my dress into the top of a pair of pants, put shoes on, got the big leather gloves, and took the raccoon for a ride. I figure if you catch a raccoon you really have to relocate them someplace nice because if they ever are going to become a terror in the neighborhood they're never going to be stupid enough to be caught in a trap again - raccoons are too smart to be caught twice.
I noticed on the ride that he also smelled a lot nicer than the woodchucks. He smelled like coffee. Probably got it out of a neighbor's garbage, I would imagine. I wonder if that's why he was so wound when he was caught? Bit of a caffiene high, perhaps? But that made me want coffee even more. I sang to him most of the way over to the preserve, the seemed to help keep him quieter.
I got yelled at on Facebook the other day by someone who didn't want me to talk about my grandmother having killed a woodchuck. (And this is the same person who thinks it's okay that the federal agents are in Portland, Oregon without the permission of the governor or mayor, making the protests worse. But whatever, I took the post down.) Wish I could live in perfect harmony with nature, but it's kind of us against them around here. We do our best to make the garden such that the woodchucks are not invited in, and the house is far too porous to keep mice out.
I tried to convince Eor that I could catch the wild mice and keep them in a cage, but he was not up for that idea, and he argued a quick kill is more humane. After seeing how distressed animals are in the have-a-heart trap I'm almost inclined to agree. I keep hearing that the bucket traps are great for catching a lot of mice, so decided to try one. I seriously thought I could build it myself, but Eor had a bunch of bright ideas about how to make my plan better, and tools to make that happen, so he actually built it. Still, I have not caught anything.
Although I wonder if maybe I HAVE, actually, and the coyotes and raccoons might be taking the mice out of it, since I set the bucket up outside. I could have sworn I heard a 'bloink!' sort of noise the other night, as of something hitting the bucket rather hard, or almost tipping it over, and I do think I heard coyotes yipping around that side of the house, or maybe down around the apple trees, that same night. I mean, that would be convenient, if the predators would empty the trap for me. I did NOT put antifreeze in the water, as some people say to do to be sure of killing the mice. There's no worry of it freezing at this time of year, and I don't want to poison the predators or scavengers. Even if I set it up inside the house I won't do that, because when Eor tosses out dead mice he always puts them down in the woods in a certain area where the crows know to pick them up. It's another aspect of his fascination with bird watching. I would never have known that blue jays will also eat dead mice if not for him laying out some of them where we could watch them across the yard a couple winters ago. NOT to be done in summer, too stinky. Also, when we're out and around the yard a lot no scavenger birds will come down to investigate.
I didn't finish my coffee before I had to go into PT, but when I came back out it was about 100F in the car and the coffee was still hot to drink, so I figured it hadn't grown many bacteria.
From:
no subject
I urge you to get light-blocking curtains, at least for the bedroom. Some of them also block heat. I have one set tied back with the window open. When all four are down it gets stuffy but a fan in the window might help with that. I got them for cheap from Amazon. Make sure you read the reviews.
That heat sounds UNBEARABLE. We're having low 90s and there's no way I'm using the oven.
From:
no subject
Yeah, I won't be using the oven at all until this breaks. This is ... for me, I feel like this heat is horrific. The Gulf of Maine is warming faster, possibly, than any other body of water in the world. I told my climate denier brother in Arizona that you can't fOOl the lobstermen when the lobster are moving north. :(
Yeah, the coyotes and the raccoons seem to live in harmony. I can't know for sure of course! :) We have had two raccoons fighting at our bird feeders before now, and have had a fisher-cat around in summers past, which... they do say that they'll attack raccoons. They'll attack anything, apparently. Fisher-cats are a mustelid, and you know how crazy that family can be. ;)
From: (Anonymous)
no subject
From the time it was found as a baby ....fed it milk with
medicine dropper, then baby doll bottle.
He was very sweet, smart and protective. (He was house broken as well)
Someone poisoned him ....very sad.
Now a days I've absorbed the Alaskan wildlife ethos .....although one my
cherished memories of one summer in Denali was watching a young raven learning to fly and having remember me latter in the summer with a fly by:)
LTA
ps I use cheap emergency blankets in my windows