Wednesday, August 02, 2006
THE UNWELCOME GUEST
We have a new backyard pet. He's furry, black and white, and likes to eat what the birds have thrown out of the feeder. He appears out there around dusk and is not particularly bothered if we clap our hands, yell at him to go away, or blow a whistle. He just goes right on eating. Of course we make all that noise from our open kitchen window, since his furry backside is resting about five feet beyond the deck. Fortunately the neighbors have been staying inside during our heat wave and probably haven't yet heard us making fools of ourselves.
We have a new strategy for returning home after dark. First we drive in with the headlights pointing directly into the backyard (this is not as easy as it sounds), then we stop to survey the territory carefully, back up and realign the headlights to illuminate another portion of the yard. When we have lit up every square inch in this way, and have not seen any glowing eyes, we park the vehicle and proceed to the back door. So far that has worked.
He has not yet treated us to the scent of his presence. We, on the other hand, have treated him to the scent of ammonia soaked rags pushed under the edge of the storage shed since each time something disturbs his dinner he heads right for it and cowers until the danger passes. Last time he tried that he put on the brakes about a foot away and made a detour around back.
We haven't figured out where he lives yet, but there are plenty of hiding places in the ivy and shrubbery that divides yards on our street from the yards on the next. You can guess I'm not about to go back there and pull the weeds anytime soon!
My husband called several urban trappers only to discover they charge $100 just to come out and see whether you look worthy of being rid of your problem or not. If they actually catch anything, the fee goes up from there, and black and white fur is pricey. They even charge $20 a day just to make sure the trap is still empty.
The ammonia strategy was the suggestion of the only lady trapper in the phone book, and it may be working. She suggested it because she thought he might just be passing through, and she wouldn't want to charge us $20 a day indefinitely. I suspect she also may not be eager to deal with this particular specie. In any case she came across as the most honest of the bunch, so you know who we'll call if we call a trapper. Isn't she lucky?
Our neighbor who walks every morning between 5 and 6 suggested we not bother with trying to get rid of this fellow because he saw seven of them in the neighborhood the other morning. He seems pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, but happened to mention that his neighbor's dog learned the hard way what to leave alone. He also chuckled at the owner of that dog who thought it was a good idea to bring the dog inside to clean him up. Took 'em three months to return the house to human smell.
