Yep, we have one, a raccoon in the attic. 

 

Now, I’ve heard lots of stories of one person or another having to deal with a raccoon and/or its young living in a basement or attic.  I’ve even seen animal television shows featuring such critters and I was creepily mesmerized as to how, what, when and where such instances could and do happen.  However, I never thought that we would have one right here, in our attic, on our neighborhood street in rustic, woodsy suburbia.

 

You see, my husband’s wood shop is  an outbuilding on our property.  Having noticed a slight molding effect, a growth, last summer on the north ceiling of the shop, we kept our eyes on it, realizing that a new roof would be in order “one of these days.”   We didn’t think too much of it, but one of our eyes glanced at it occasionally.  After all, it was such a small growth looking like more of a water stain than anything else.  No big deal.  It was ignored. We went about our business as usual.  However, our calculations ran a bit short.   

 

Mold, caused by dampness, further weakens its host.  Well, the day has arrived, this day, to-day!   Mold feasts on damp-to-wet sheet-rock/dry wall.  A lesson has been learned right there!

 

As my husband was doing his usual puttsing in this, his beloved shop, just this morning, when, after tweny minutes or so, what to his wandering eyes should appear, but a section of caved-in ceiling!  Closer examination with a ladder and flashlight concluded that there is a hole in the roof, right through to the big glorious blue sky.  Further examination revealed poop droppings, bigger than a rat or mouse’s.  AHA!  there was a twinkling eyed raccoon nestled in the insulation. 

 

After calling ‘Mo, Curly, and Larry’ (sarcasm for two area businesses that supposedly deal with such conundrums) about this finding, one guy wanted $160.00 to come out with other $85.00 to trap – but not remove – the critter.  The other guy never called back.

 

So hubby, in his infinite wisdom, rushed over to Harbor Freight Tools, purchased a specific type of ‘racoon trap,’ put dog food and peanut butter in it because that is what his brother told him to use, and somehow rigged the trap to the roof.  For some reason or another, there is a yellow nylon rope  securely fastened from the north side of the structure to the south, extending about 10 feet.  I didn’t ask.  Neither did I inspect this rigging apparatus but trust he knows what he’s doing.  I certainly do not have the know-how and would end up paying big bucks for the critters disappearance!

 

So, I needed to share this with you.   Hubby has been checking the trap every couple of hours.  But I know what’s going to happen: after we settle in for the night, a loud crash, bang, boom will sound meaning that the raccoon is caught in the trap and unhappy – unhappy is the key word.  And the rest you can probably imagine for yourselves.

 

Ahh, such is life and living in the woodsy, nature filled suburbs.  It’s okay, though.  I chaulk this up to another one of our wonderful adventures!  I look forward to sharing the outcome in days to come!

 

A. K. Buckroth

 

Hope all is well with you both!  Hopefully I will have a good ending to this story very soon!

 

Andrea.