On 5/24/2014 9:49 AM, songbird wrote:
Frank wrote:
Keeping in standards for naming the garden pests.
On my deck after sunset. I've got a lot of small plants and seedlings
out. Opened slider to yell at him and all he did was move to the side.
Went in to get firecrackers and he was off deck by then but I still
popped off a couple. Ratcoon is too big for my Hav-a-hart.

we've tried to trap them here too with a large
live-trap, but rarely do they get caught. they
are certainly the most active and varied critter
raiding all sorts of things. i've seen them
climb up the poles in the back to check the few
very small nest boxes for eggs/chicks. not an
easy climb as the poles are 7-8ft.

they are usually the culprits when the killdeer
eggs get raided. a few nights ago they found the
nest out front with 4 eggs in it. all gone now.
about every other year the killdeer put their
nest inside the fenced garden and in there they
have a much better chance of surviving.


songbird

When I was a young boy, think ten or twelve years old, my family were
well known for being coon hunters. All of us had at least one coon dog,
mine was a "black and tan" name Lady. She was quick to find the trail
and get on it quickly and, generally, was the first to sound "found."

We only hunted in the fall/winter as the raccoons were nice and fat.
Skins sold for a nice bit of money at that time and we ate the raccoon.
They have several glands in their bodies that can spoil your meal so we
were careful to get them out. I never really cared for the meat as it
had a sweet taste to me.

I quit night hunting when I got out of the Navy in 1960 except for when
the coons raided my corn patch or the hen house. Between raccoons and
opossums the dog and I stayed pretty busy. It was a lot of fun and sort
of scary for a little kid though.

Thanks for stirring up old memories.

George