I was finally successful in catching, transporting and releasing Houdini. Here is his story (I'm having issues adding pictures to this so I will add them later):
Houdini was quite clever for a raccoon. Each morning he would brag to his friend Rocky about the previous night’s adventure. One time he told of being temporarily trapped but, being the clever raccoon he was, he simply lifted the sliding door to the trap and strolled off to his next feeding station. “I’m too smart for those people” he said, “They will never catch me—I’m too good”. Rocky told him to be careful out there.
The next morning Rocky didn’t show up at the den.
That night Houdini made his normal rounds. He liked this one place because it always had tasty nuggets for him to eat. It also had some sort of box that, when he scratched and jiggled it, gave him some more of the tasty nuggets. Tonight, however the box had very few nuggets and there was that thing he got temporarily trapped in sitting there with a bowl of water and lots of those nuggets. He remembered the sliding door and just stood over the doorway and satisfied himself with those nuggets that he could reach. He bumped an empty tray of food and the noise scared him and he ran off.
Later the same night he returned to the place and stepped all the way in, feasted on every last morsel—washing each bite in the water—and left for his den to take a long nap on a full stomach. “That wasn’t so bad”, he thought to himself.
The next night the food was replenished and the water was fresh. All the food was deep inside the contraption and it was hard to get it without going completely inside. He thought about his feast the previous night and decided it was OK to go in. If that door closed he could always just slide it open again and leave. Besides, just look at all that food in there.
He stepped in. Just as his tail cleared the doorway it made a loud noise and the door started to drop. Houdini tried to make it out but the door just beat him and closed off his escape. To his surprise one of those human creatures came out of its den and looked at him. After that creature left Houdini tried to slide the door but it wouldn’t budge. He’d have to find another way. After poking all around testing this cage he finally found a weak point. He found he could stand on his rear legs and grab the bars on top of the cage. Using his strong paws and his teeth he spread the bars apart and squeezed his flexible body through the 3-inch gap he made. As he sauntered off he thought to himself “I am good. I am clever. I am strong. No cage can hold me”. He was only a little sore from the squeeze and he did not have enough to eat so he went on to his next feeding stop to eat some cat food at a house up the street a ways.
Back at the den once again he did not find Rocky and began to worry for his partner. “Rocky never was that bright”, he thought. “Not like me. I hope he is OK”.
It was nighttime again and Houdini was once more at the cage. He remembered how good those nuggets were and the fact that even when the door closed on him he was able to get out. So tonight he checked out the box for nuggets and only found a few. Very few dropped when he shook the box. If he were to eat his fill tonight he had to go into the trap. Once again he stepped in but only halfway. “Yummy those nuggets are good”, he thought but he didn’t go all the way in. He stepped out and checked the bowl where he had found water 3 nights ago. It was dry. If he was going to moisten his food the only water was in the cage. So back he went and this time he went all the way in to the water bowl. He grabbed a paw full of nuggets, washed them and ate them. Oh my, this was good stuff! He took another step deeper into the cage and wham, the door closed again. Once again the human creature came out of his den and looked at him. Once the creature left, Houdini went to work figuring out his escape for tonight. He huffed and he puffed but he couldn’t get out the way he did the night before. He kept trying to get out for a couple of hours before settling down to think. Then he tried again and rested. That’s the way the whole night went. It got light outside—he should be back at his den—but here he was still in this cage.
Houdini was quite clever for a raccoon. Each morning he would brag to his friend Rocky about the previous night’s adventure. One time he told of being temporarily trapped but, being the clever raccoon he was, he simply lifted the sliding door to the trap and strolled off to his next feeding station. “I’m too smart for those people” he said, “They will never catch me—I’m too good”. Rocky told him to be careful out there.
The next morning Rocky didn’t show up at the den.
That night Houdini made his normal rounds. He liked this one place because it always had tasty nuggets for him to eat. It also had some sort of box that, when he scratched and jiggled it, gave him some more of the tasty nuggets. Tonight, however the box had very few nuggets and there was that thing he got temporarily trapped in sitting there with a bowl of water and lots of those nuggets. He remembered the sliding door and just stood over the doorway and satisfied himself with those nuggets that he could reach. He bumped an empty tray of food and the noise scared him and he ran off.
Later the same night he returned to the place and stepped all the way in, feasted on every last morsel—washing each bite in the water—and left for his den to take a long nap on a full stomach. “That wasn’t so bad”, he thought to himself.
The next night the food was replenished and the water was fresh. All the food was deep inside the contraption and it was hard to get it without going completely inside. He thought about his feast the previous night and decided it was OK to go in. If that door closed he could always just slide it open again and leave. Besides, just look at all that food in there.
He stepped in. Just as his tail cleared the doorway it made a loud noise and the door started to drop. Houdini tried to make it out but the door just beat him and closed off his escape. To his surprise one of those human creatures came out of its den and looked at him. After that creature left Houdini tried to slide the door but it wouldn’t budge. He’d have to find another way. After poking all around testing this cage he finally found a weak point. He found he could stand on his rear legs and grab the bars on top of the cage. Using his strong paws and his teeth he spread the bars apart and squeezed his flexible body through the 3-inch gap he made. As he sauntered off he thought to himself “I am good. I am clever. I am strong. No cage can hold me”. He was only a little sore from the squeeze and he did not have enough to eat so he went on to his next feeding stop to eat some cat food at a house up the street a ways.
Back at the den once again he did not find Rocky and began to worry for his partner. “Rocky never was that bright”, he thought. “Not like me. I hope he is OK”.
It was nighttime again and Houdini was once more at the cage. He remembered how good those nuggets were and the fact that even when the door closed on him he was able to get out. So tonight he checked out the box for nuggets and only found a few. Very few dropped when he shook the box. If he were to eat his fill tonight he had to go into the trap. Once again he stepped in but only halfway. “Yummy those nuggets are good”, he thought but he didn’t go all the way in. He stepped out and checked the bowl where he had found water 3 nights ago. It was dry. If he was going to moisten his food the only water was in the cage. So back he went and this time he went all the way in to the water bowl. He grabbed a paw full of nuggets, washed them and ate them. Oh my, this was good stuff! He took another step deeper into the cage and wham, the door closed again. Once again the human creature came out of his den and looked at him. Once the creature left, Houdini went to work figuring out his escape for tonight. He huffed and he puffed but he couldn’t get out the way he did the night before. He kept trying to get out for a couple of hours before settling down to think. Then he tried again and rested. That’s the way the whole night went. It got light outside—he should be back at his den—but here he was still in this cage.
That human creature came out and started moving the cage. He lifted it onto another contraption that had those wheel things and Houdini found himself rolling across the backyard, around the house and into the front where he was loaded cage and all into the back of one of those big 4-wheeled monsters that roll around on the big hard black paths that were all over this territory.
Houdini didn’t understand what was happening but he was moving and being jostled and bumped around. After a short while everything stopped, the back door of the monster opened up and Houdini saw the human lift the sliding door open. Houdini could see a big lake. Rocky had told him about lakes but he had never seen one. All he had in his territory were those square pool things that had funny tasting water in them. But here was a real lake. Houdini wasn’t sure what was going on so he stayed deep in the cage. Then the human opened a door and was right there next to the cage. Houdini decided it was time to go.
He crawled halfway out of the cage and looked around. Yep, that was a lake all right. He jumped down and walked quickly to the lake and took a drink.
Wow! That was good water. The human just watched. Houdini turned and scampered into the woods. He was thinking that he got out again. No cage could hold him.
It was a little scary in this new territory but he found a nice log to sleep in. When it got dark he awoke and started to explore his new territory. He was surprised when he went down to the lake. He saw another raccoon—a familiar raccoon—it was Rocky! The two raccoons jumped around and played and were happy to be together again. Rocky told Houdini that he had found the perfect den and it was big enough for both of them. He said the lake was full of little fish that you could catch and there were roots and berries all over.
Back in the new den the next morning Houdini explained how no cage could hold him. He told Rocky the story of how he outsmarted that human creature.
It was a little scary in this new territory but he found a nice log to sleep in. When it got dark he awoke and started to explore his new territory. He was surprised when he went down to the lake. He saw another raccoon—a familiar raccoon—it was Rocky! The two raccoons jumped around and played and were happy to be together again. Rocky told Houdini that he had found the perfect den and it was big enough for both of them. He said the lake was full of little fish that you could catch and there were roots and berries all over.
Back in the new den the next morning Houdini explained how no cage could hold him. He told Rocky the story of how he outsmarted that human creature.
1 comment:
great blog! he's so cute for being such a troublemaker
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