Masked marauder struck!

[Lardeelion]

Blaaaargh! Woke up to my smaller pond half empty and the 2 shubunkin gone. He must have knocked a hose out of place with his big raccoon butt while he was licking his little piggy fingers. My favorite shubby from my bigger pond is gone too. Critter Control came out and set a trap. I saw him for the first time the other day at 10 in the morning wedging his big posterior under my porch.

I'm sitting out here in the dark until I can no longer stay awake. Stakeout. I hope my fish are smart enough to hide. They're so friendly when my kids put their hands in the water.

 

[Priscilla]

Yikes! So sorry! Good luck tonight!

 

[j.w]

Bummer on losing the fish. Time for Mr or Mrs Rocky to go for a long ride. Wonder if you only have one or lots?

 

[Tula]

Oh no, so sorry.

 

[sissy]

hopefully trap will get him before he decides to invite friends over .

 

[Big Lou]

Sorry. Rocky needs to take the first bus out of town.

 

[addy1]

Darn bummer.........

 

[HARO]

Been there..... Done that!
John

 

[Mmathis]

Does anyone remember the old TV show, GET SMART? I wish there was some kind of "cone of silence," or invisible force field we could put around and over our ponds to keep the [bad] critters out. It would have to be programmable, though, so the songbirds, frogs, and beneficial insects could still gain access...... It could also be programed to keep leaves out -- now THAT would be GREAT! And for heron control, how about a cloaking device that makes the pond invisible from the air!

Dream on, Maggie.....

 

[Lardeelion]

Cone of Varmint. Or perhaps a series of moving lasers...

This morning all fish were accounted for. I even sprinkled flour along the cap boards of the pond to see if any tracks appeared but of course it rained. Any evidence was washed away, but the recycling bin had been rummaged through. I think it's only one. Hopefully Critter Control has a loaded trap when they come to check. A case of rabies was discovered recently about 20 miles down the road. Creepy.

 

[Lardeelion]

Now I feel guilty.

 

[sissy]

He will be going to a better home with lots of places to roam .Good gosh don't bring him here ,please tell them that .

 

[Lardeelion]

I wish he were, Sissy. By law he has to be dispatched, since there was a rabid raccoon caught in our county. If I'd trapped him myself I'd set him free. He was just too close to my kids. The pond thing was frustrating, but second on the priority scale. A second raccoon was also caught.

I feel terrible.

Edit : Though not as terrible as getting my child rabies shots. When my youngest was 4 days old we had a bat in his nursery. It escaped and the doctor said we had to give him rabies shots. It sucked beyond measure.

 

[sissy]

That's the only bad thing once one animal has rabies there is no way to tell .They have put down several foxes here because of rabies .They are cutting trees again here and it drives them out to peoples houses .They have now taken out over 700 acres here and still cutting going on .I can hear it from my house

 

[Lardeelion]

That's sad on all accounts, Sissy. I'm sorry to hear that.