Man vs. Raccoon, Part IV

In my last post, I explained my failed attempts to draw Rocky Raccoon in with sliced fruits of various types, so the menu last night was going to be a delectable fish, accompanied by honey glazed carrots. I carefully laid out the trap, used it to block the cat door (even though Idgit wasn't inside yet) and retired for the night. Idgit, I figured, was on his own; plus, it would be interesting to see if he learned his lesson, having gotten himself trapped the last time.

Well, I got another hit, but not Rocky.


See, when I got up this morning and checked the cage, it was empty. Then I cut through the house to turn on the front sprinklers, finished making my coffee and ended up coming back out to the garage five minutes later.

Idgit, having learned his lesson last week, sensibly avoided the cage this morning. Fraidy (pictured above) did not. When I came out, she was disconsolate, but not so much so that she didn't manage to eat the fish and lick most of the honey off the carrots. My upside is that - them both having been caught in the trap - I will now leave the cat door unblocked so as to allow them to come and go at night, on the theory that they've both learned their lesson. So, it seems that this has become primarily an interesting study in Cat psychology, and only secondarily an exercise in actually catching a Raccoon.

As to Fraidy, she's a stitch when she gets in situations like this, as she takes any and all slights personally. Some times the indignities are real, such as her getting caught in the cage this morning. Other times, it's a product of her paranoia, monomania and lack of self-esteem, such as her discontent when Sharon and I don't scratch her ass the entire time that she's eating.

As to capturing Rocky, I'm making progress, after a fashion. It seems he's got a regular route he traces through the neighborhood, only hitting our house every two or three days (so many cat doors, so little time), so I'll put the cage out again tonight with fish, honey glazed carrots, ham, marshmallows and slice fruit; in other words, an antipasto in the classic meaning of the word.