Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Routine

Coffee. Wake up. Toss the two mice on the glue trap from inside the truck into the trash. Fetch raccoon number two from the deck next door for release in a more populated section of the county where more options are available for it to annoy someone else.

The trap is reset with my last piece of used corn. I sure hope this is not a large extended family of raccoons and that ten miles closer to town is far enough out of the wilderness to keep them entertained..




















Off to work I go. By 11am the first signs of rising thunderheads peak over the mountains. The rumbling begins. I work for hours while listening to an ominous sky. Some where close by it is pouring rain. I may get spritzed on. I may get hit by a deluge. It will definitely rain at my house at some point during the day. It's steamy out there.


























Go home. Feed Miss Collar her roll call canned food dinner. Feed the new babies a spoonful of canned food to get them in the routine of expecting it at a certain time. Feed the humming birds. Feed me.

It is still light enough at this time of year to check on the roadside vegetable garden and snap a few pictures to paste on the world wide web.


























Sit. Take a bath. Sit. Read stuffs on the interwebs. Blog. Time for a sugary snack. Sit.


















Start yawning. Go to bed. Repeat.

25 comments:

Lola said...

Neat routine. Things around here are at that point. Hope there are no more raccoons. DIL's hubby killed a moccasin on their front step. It was charging at her. So big, all are trying to find dry ground around here. Scary.

Barry said...

Those Havaharts work very well - but I found this in Gardenweb:
Posted by Elly_NJ NJ z6 (My Page) on Fri, Dec 30, 05 at 19:40

Well, I think I have experience as a wildlife rehabilitator with wildlife rehabilitator friends who know the natural history of the mammals they treat and the laws.
Many people on this forum and others may jump at relocating or killing animals, and that may be their experience, but it doesn't make it right.

From the Guelph Humane Society web site:

Live Trapping

Although live trapping and relocating has been widely used as a method of wildlife control, it can be inhumane as the animals may suffer severe injury and sometimes death in their attempts to escape. It is not a long-term solution. Most wild animals are territorial, so relocating them somewhere else will not only fail to solve local problems, but often creates new problems at the release site by upsetting the natural balance of existing populations. The resident raccoons may attack and sometimes kill relocated raccoons to defend their territory. Studies done by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources have shown that 60% of relocated raccoons do not survive. Relocation also facilitates the spread of disease from one area to another.

From the Portland Humane Society:

Relocation is inhumane: Although many people perceive relocation as a humane approach to resolving conflicts, it is in fact just the opposite. Relocated raccoons have to fight with already established raccoons for territory, food and shelter. Many raccoons do not survive relocation and those that do disrupt already established populations. Relocated raccoon kits are almost always abandoned as it is near impossible for a mother to carry and care for her young while also establishing herself in a new territory.
I just hope someone else up or down-road from you isn't booting "Rocky" catches near you!
The balance of nature doesn't trump one's personal environs, particularly since those varmints can't read or respect KAPU postings!

sallysmom said...

Are the new babies staying at your house?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

My BIL killed 6 racoons after they beat up his dog a couple of times. they can be ferocious. I bet you find many more.

Christopher C. NC said...

Lola we are lucky our snakes are few and far between.

Pomaika'i the other alternative is a gun.

Sallysmom the new babies are staying next door. I need to keep introducing them to Miss Collar when I have the time.

Lisa I doubt I will ever be rid of raccoons. These that think Bulbarella's deck is their personal pantry must be culled from the herd's memory bank.

Lola said...

What town is Watauga Co. courthouse in?

Lola said...

Oops, just found out it's in Boone.
Thanks. Have a great day.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

We had some mice when we first moved in. We had a humane mouse trap....took it up across the street (driveway isn't quite as long as yours, but close) Kept having more mice. Daughter suggested spray painting to mark them....to see if it was the same couple returning to the house. Finally got the 'other kind of trap'.
As for raccoons, I would take them at least 10 miles (and mark them with bright pink paint) to see if they return. :-)

Jordan said...

Please tell me you don't throw a live mouse in the trash still attached on the glue trap for it to suffer and slow and painful death. It should be humanely killed first before "throwing it away".

Christopher C. NC said...

Jordon usually they are already dead after a night stuck in the glue trap. If not, yes I throw them in the trash alive stuck to the glue trap to suffer a slow, agonizing and painful death. They are vermin. There is an endless supply of them. I don't have the time to add another process to the procedure.

Jordon said...

Don't have the time? Bulldust. It takes less than a second to end the suffering (via a heavy object). Doesn't matter if they are "vermin", the animal still feels pain and it doesn't entitle you to torture one to death, or make its death unnecessarily slow and painful. Get some empathy and humanity, saying there's "many of them" as an excuse to be cruel like that is disgusting.

trish said...

" If not, yes I throw them in the trash alive stuck to the glue trap to suffer a slow, agonizing and painful death."

THAT is cruelty. Intentional cruelty I must add.

You might have to remove/kill mice, but to just leave them alive on those glue thingys in your garbage... how's that necessary again? They'll break their legs on these things, try to gnaw them off, rip off their faces, etc. if left on them for too long. Mutilation and starvation, yeah real nice isn't it? Kill them first before plopping them into the trash, it's not an inanimate object and it's not like it takes any effort.

Have some decency, please.

Unknown said...

If not, yes I throw them in the trash alive stuck to the glue trap to suffer a slow, agonizing and painful death

They are vermin.

You bastard. That's not an excuse to be an evil prick. If you're gonna kill an animal, get some fucking balls and do it properly. Throwing out a live mammal stuck on a sheet of glue and letting it die slowly is absolutely disgusting. And don't go labelling me a "tree hugger" either, I've had to kill many mice before, including with glue traps. A hit to the head or a break of the neck with a shovel gets the job done. Lights out. Quick and efficient, job done.

But what you're doing is torture. I find glue traps very useful, I use them a lot in pest control. But people like you are the reason why these traps will be restricted eventually, and why moronic groups like PETA find a voice. And you fucking justify it because you "don't have the time" to add to the procedure? Right. Yet you have the time to pick up the trap, then walk to the bin and chuck it in there. Oh gee, can't spare a minute of your precious time to do the right thing - to put it out of its misery?

No wonder people are pissed off. I have no problems killing mice but what you just admitted, speaks volumes of your character.

trish said...

But Cale, obviously he's 'hard pressed' for time between taking the trap and throwing it away. He's probably going to read the newspaper afterward or water his plants. It takes a few days for them to die sometimes. So pretty much it's "I didn't kill it because I'm lazy and irresponsible".

Not to mention the fact the mouse may escape the trap and cause even more havoc, so practically it is better off dead. What an a-grade idiot.

Christopher C. NC said...

Jordon, trish, Cale all of you can bite me. Spare me your indignation. Cale you in particular have crossed a line of good manners.

It is apparent you are all on some sort of hysterical tag team. Go be rude to someone else.

I'll kill mice anyway I see fit.

No of your characters are exactly shining with this incredibly misplaced outrage.

Buzz off!

Unknown said...

Tell ya what trish, it's people like this that makes me seethe. Sometimes conventional traps do not work, so glue traps are often resorted to when those kinds of methods fail. I think it's important to be diligent with an animal trap, especially if it involves an animal that can outsmart them. That means checking them and putting any live animal out of its misery. I don't know what is in the mind of our friend Christopher, but it's not the kind of behaviour that should be encouraged.

I have no issue with people using glue traps, when done properly. People who use glue traps, but use them like that, should not use them. Period. It makes the animal suffer more than it has to, it gives the animal a chance to escape, and it gives traps a bad name. So much that lobbyists issue for their ban.

What kind of person would want them to intentionally suffer a prolonged, painful death anyway? It's sadistic. I would not like to see glue traps removed from the arsenal of pest control tools because some psycho thought it'd be a good idea to torture one to death on it. They are too useful. Can say the same with most animal traps, really. There's always a few nuts who make it bad for everyone else.

Unknown said...

Haha what? Did *I* cross the line now? Don't you dare speak of good manners when you think it's acceptable to slowly torture an animal to death on a piece of plastic. There's no misplaced outrage here, people are upset because you just admitted to killing an animal in an unnecessarily cruel and ghoulish way. It's plain barbaric, simple fact. Perhaps it's misplaced to you because you weren't born without empathy or compassion, I guess if you put it that way, I understand.

And as for shining character, heck, much better than yours. I don't torture little animals to death, I kill them swiftly whenever possible if they're a problem. If you don't like what people say about certain acts of behaviour, then maybe you should stop being an asshole? Just a thought.

trish said...

You speak of rudeness, yet you'd rather let an animal starve and mutilate itself on a glue trap in your garbage bin rather than put it out of its misery?

You seem to be missing the irony here.

Christopher C. NC said...

Last call for comments Jordon.

Nice how you people can have such grace an empathy for a mouse and treat a fellow human being with such crass, rude, vulgar and judgmental rhetoric.

Jordon gets one more shot than all further comments from you foul people will be deleted.

Jordon said...

People are being crass and rude because what you did was pretty shocking, and not necessary. You did not even take valid points into consideration (ie. unnecessary suffering, that the animal might escape). Comments on a blog comment detailing how cruel you are, and how you should get some humanity after you flat out admitting torturing something is not worse than super gluing a mouse onto a piece of plastic, and chucking it into the bin for it to suffer more.

Oh geez, sorry for being so judgemental. You don't give much room for that after your disgusting comment (and reply after being called out). It's not ok to torture a mouse on a glue trap at all. It's disgusting. It shows a lack of empathy and morality, shows no respect to another living creature. That'd you'd rationalise it by saying you don't have time to add to the procedure just makes you look worse.

Perhaps people would treat you better if you didn't act like a callous, unfeeling person when it comes to stuff like this? You talk about crass and vulgar, but the method in which you used to kill the mouse is all that and more. To an animal that's capable of feeling fear/pain. That alone is a reason it should be swiftly killed. Why make it suffer so?

Christopher C. NC said...

Ok we are done now.

Fuck off all of you.

Dennis said...

Hi there. I hope you don't delete my comment, because I don't want to be seen as rude.

But they do have a point.

I work in a wildlife rehab centre, and we deal with lots of native animals stuck in glue traps. Like hedgehogs, birds and reptiles. Many animals that come in have been stuck for hours, and their injuries are so severe that they have to be put down. Just last week I saw a bird on one with a broken leg and dislodged eyeball because it panicked so much to try and get off. Like a sick game of Twister.

My point is, that it is extremely cruel to leave any animal alive on these traps. They suffer plenty, and the sad thing about it is, that it can be avoided. So please, next time you use them, show some mercy and give the mice a bop on the head with something. It's more humane than leaving them to starve to death. Mice can't help being mice, they have no ill intent so I don't see the wisdom in punishing them like that.

While I do agree some of these comments are pretty harsh and rude, I have to agree with the underlying principle at hand. I'm not judging you or anything, but when you're saying you don't show such mercy because you don't have the time, I don't really know what to say there. What is that supposed to mean? It's not hard to kill a live mouse - they're very fragile animals. It takes seconds.

A quick, relatively painless death is much better than a slow and painful one. Which brings me to this next point - why not snap trap instead? They're pretty effective too, just put them in a bait station or container and you're set.

Thank you for your time and good luck with your pest problems. :)

Christopher C. NC said...

Dennis your civil comment actually makes me think perhaps I should smash the still live vermin with a big rock before I toss it in the trash. It is a much more effective approach than the vile comments above and the vile comments still coming in that will never get posted.

Christopher C. NC said...

Because I know none of you people are regular readers of my blog and won't get past here, I'll direct you with a link to another post of my thoughts about you all and mice and glue traps.

PaulF said...

Having no empathy isn't even a good reason to willingly inflict unnecessary pain to another animal. That's where you make no sense. What sense is there in this, anyway? What do you have to gain by it? You have already caught the animal on the glue trap, it is no longer freely roaming, so why not put it out of its misery?