Man vs. Raccoon, Part III

Well, no sign of Rocky the Raccoon in the past week, so we thought we were rid of him; then, blam, he makes an appearance Sunday night, eating all of the Cats' food and sliming up their water. I swear, he must bathe in the water bowl, it looks so grimy, but then, they do have those opposable thumbs, so I'm assuming hand washing is an option after a midnight snack. In the department of Small Ironies, Sharon had put Idgie's de-wormer meds in his food bowl before bedtime, which Idg promptly ignored. All the cat food was gone in the morning, so in addition to getting fed, watered, sheltered, and for all I know, laid, Rocky is now getting health care from the Smith household.

It can't be too much longer before he gets an allowance.

Now, previous readers of these blogs have chastised me for using cat food to catch a Raccoon, claiming that they prefer fresh fruit, veggies, meat and similar things; and while I don't doubt that this is true, it's interesting to note that Rocky likes simple cat food just fine when it's in our garage, but not at all when it's in the trap I've laid for him.

So, a couple nights ago, I tried some apple slices. No luck. Last night I rebaited the trap with fresh Pear slices. Both nights I sequestered the cats in the garage with a fan, and used the trap to block the Cat Door. Not even a nibble. Tonight, I shall attempt a more sumptuous selection of foods that are more pleasing to the Raccoon palate. To prepare myself, I Googled "Raccoon Bait", and the internet yielded the following menu of Rocky's favorites:

-Fish, fresh or canned
-Honey or sugar covered vegetables
-Smoked fish
-Watermelon
-Sweet corn
-Cooked fatty meat
-Crisp bacon
-Marshmallows!

I think tonight we shall start with a delightful fish medley, followed by some honey covered vegetables and some sweet corn. It's time to roll out the big guns. We shall hold the marshmallows in reserve, though, as I refuse to serve him an entire meal, including dessert, without actually catching him.

Given history-to-date, I'm not holding out much hope for success. This is one discriminating Raccoon, and maybe it's just me, but I think this whole transaction is taking a trajectory much more to Rocky's liking than mine. See, the sequence of events was supposed to be: set cage, capture Raccoon, transport Raccoon to another place. It was not supposed to be: set cage, Coon avoids cage, Coon continues to eat cat food, Man names the Coon, Man provide him medicines, Man diversifies Coon's diet.

The Raccoon has won all the battles, but not, so far, the war. If, however by the next time I post, the garage contains a pet bed with the name Rocky stenciled on the side, then you will know that he's won.