Another Squirrel

 I've been baiting and setting out the live trap again. It's not that we've been seeing a lot of squirrel nests in the area trees this spring. But some of my spring bulbs are up and preparing to bloom, and I really hate when they get dug up and chomped after the work and expense. Last fall I lined the newest plantings with hardware cloth, held down over winter with a combination of old lumber and rocks. I did manage to remove the covering before the new shoots actually grew through it and risked deflowering when the hardware cloth was removed. It was a very near thing.

But with the protection gone, it was time for the live traps again. I loaded the trigger plate on one of them with a wide smear of peanut butter to entice a critter inside, before setting it out where most traps were effective last year. Nothing happened for a couple weeks, but even in bad weather, when I didn't want to do more than poke my head out, I could see from the front porch if it had been sprung. Finally the peanut butter disappeared, but oddly the trap hadn't sprung.  (How did they do that? Did I set it wrong?) I didn't bother to reset it, or re-bait it, or even check on it multiple times daily for several days. 

Yesterday morning the emptied garbage and recycle bins had to be hauled back from the curb to their spot a yard from the trap. Even so I didn't bother to look at the trap until that errand was over. It was sprung! No food had been in it, not even tiny traces of peanut butter, since it had rained a couple times since the previous visitor had eaten everything.

I was  getting ready to run an errand with a couple friends who needed a lift, so I put the full trap with its rambunctious squirrel inside on the back seat, taking care to put it so the solid metal door faced my future back seat passenger to prevent chances of the two occupants of the back seat coming into direct contact. I also made sure my heavy suede gloves were still there, as I make sure to wear those before handling a full trap. I don't wish to get bit by some crazed critter which is half teeth, especially now that Trump has closed down the part of the CDC which identifies varieties of rabies. It not only gave info on how to properly ship samples for testing so the diagnosis will verify rabies or not, but also gave the best treatment information available for the specific variety of rabies for proper treatment to save a life. Now you just get an error message instead of the former pages. It might not seem to matter so much when everybody vaccinates their pets, but nobody vaccinates wild squirrels. Somebody will die from it again and people will start noticing.

The dropping place for rehoming the squirrel was on the way to the riverside park we were heading to, so I picked both friends up after confirming both were OK with where it was in the car. I was willing to move the cage back into the hatch but one of them would have to close it for me twice, as my shoulder limitations are less than the power needed with the new hydraulics. Neither one objected to being close to the squirrel, though one teased me about wanting to pet the squirrel. Hard no! Then she wanted to be outside the car when I opened the trap. Another hard no. I also insisted windows remained up.

After driving to the drop, I pulled the cage out to the hood of the car where both could watch from inside. I warned them to look sharp because it should be over fast. I have to both stand by the trap's door end and stay out of the path of whatever animal it releases. You may recall it has also housed a rabbit and coon besides squirrels last year. Without exception, the split second there is room to escape, the animal is out in one long leap down into the ditch, and up the top of the  hill in two more. You won't catch it on camera. The whole process, from door to hill top and vanishing, is about two seconds, every single time. They never stick around to either bite or thank me (LOL), nor wait for me to change my mind.

Both my friends were impressed with the speed, as well as the chosen new home.  It's the same oak forest and cattail swamp as last year. As we left we had several blue heron sightings, a pair of sandhill cranes, and a large gathering of what were most likely trumpeter swans, but too distant to identify. This was a new route on back roads for both of them, going past the local apple orchard where both were making plans to hit the you-pick strawberry patch on the premises in summer. Unfortunately the park we went to had no visible wildlife, as well as a much too present cold wind, despite the early morning promises of the weather stations. All of us were home an hour earlier than anticipated, but planning another excursion as soon as we can, this time up to Crex. I'm planing to go on my own with my camera even sooner. Once taxes are done of course.

Of course I am left with the question of the day: Since an unbaited trap caught a squirrel, do I really need to sacrifice more peanut butter for the next time? Or was this one just looking for a free trip to visit its former neighbors? It has looked a bit lonely squirrel-wise around here lately. That will likely change when some snowbirding neighbors return and set out feed for them again. Almost any given day that's not too wintery, one can see them within two blocks in any direction. That's better than in the garden of course... for just a few days.