Last night we caught 1 raccoon.  The other two were nearby watching so they may already be too smart.  Usually when the newbies from last year are here, it isn't too hard to catch them.  Once they are older than a year, it becomes almost impossible.  I'm using yummy bait (wholewheat bread soaked in bacon juice, salmon skin from our last night's dinner and cut up apple. 

I was reminded yesterday when listening to Scott Conner's Gardening Northwest (AM 1090 on Saturdays 10-noon) that the traps need to be set for the raccoons we want to rehome.  Given that the females start having their babies in March, that leaves only a few weeks.  We won't be able to trap again until November (when the babies are grown). The 4 "have-a-heart" traps have been baited almost every night for several weeks, so no more procrastinating because of the weather.  During our cold early December we would see the raccoons together during the daytimes heading for the bird feeders or getting craneflies out of the lawn and twice sleeping in the big firgrove just above the main bird feeding station.

The reason they need relocated, is that they will all have babies. We relocate as many as 10 a year to a creek about 10 miles away with lots of dead salmon, crawdads, near an old deserted orchard overrun with blackberries.  Hopefully, they or their offspring never find their way back.

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