Critters

Why do I always have critter stories?

Well, we always have critters and for whatever reason, they seem to like this property/area.

This time it was a poor little 7 month old Pomsky that managed to escape her new owners as soon as they got home.  She had been hanging out around our place and the first time I saw her I mistook her for a coyote (after I got a good look at her I knew I was nuts, but at dawn it's hard to tell).  Why is this story important?  Well, because we had been working on getting OUR critters acclimated to the camper, which came to a screeching halt every time Chelsea (the pomsky) showed her pretty little face.  As well as all the people that were trying to catch her showing up all the time without warning and sending Annie into hyperdrive.  Then there were the two traps in the yard that smelled of different animals to Annie and she didn't like that and then there were two (yes 2) raccoons caught in one of them. 

We, of course, had to try to help with getting the little girl caught, which disrupted the schedule we had set for ourselves.  So we tried melatonin - made her a tad sleepy, but not enough soes we could catch her or even get close to her.  She wasn't afraid of us, just not going to let us touch her...little brat!    Then we attempted Ace, same thing, her metabolism must be Awesome!  We didn't get any closer either time.  But - I was feeding her first thing in the mornings for two days, two feedings of half a can each time.  As well as sitting on the porch and tossing kibble to her...so she was getting closer and more used to me and starting to trust that I would provide food...this was a good thing.  She had been free for two weeks by now and we were getting super anxious about leaving her here when we left - coyotes like little dogs. 

Charlotte - the neighbor helping the owners out - found a larger trap and they set it up complete with cardboard on the bottom so she wouldn't be stepping onto the wire bottom, and two bowls of food just past the trigger.  She wanted that food but would not go into the trap to get it, it sat there all night.  The next morning I put the first serving of her breakfast just inside the trap, on the cardboard, and Chelsea was right behind me, ready to eat.  I sat on the porch and watched her, she was stretched out as long as she could be to keep her back feet out of the trap and still eat the food, which was sliding further into the trap, thanks to the cardboard.  Then she was all the way in!!!  Eating and starting and eating and jumping and eating and finishing right before reaching the trigger!!! DANG IT!!!

I did not know how the trap worked, so I woke Trav to come help me and we put her second serving, consisting of half of what was left in the can, right into the bowl she had just finished in the same place, and the rest just past the trigger.  Went into the house and watched out the window as she went back for her second breakfast.  She was pretty skittish, but she knew I had put more food in there so she went in to get it - and when she finished that first bowl, she had to have just One More Bite - and SNAP!  We had her.  Safe at last!  I cried, I was so thankful to have her caught and she would be safe and cared for, like she should be.  She is back with her owner family and seems to be doing great and we are so thankful that it all ended well.

Now that that saga has concluded, it's back to getting Annie into the camper.  We made a ramp and stapled her rug onto it for traction and got her interested in some special kibble and actually managed to get her to walk up the ramp eating kibble out of my hand...didn't freak out til Trav started to go in and rocked the camper - she tried to come back out and we wouldn't let her - and then we spent some time inside with her and she was a bit scared but settled down pretty quick.   So we walked her back down the ramp - not as smooth as we would have liked, but still a positive experience, and went in the house. A little while later we tried again, didn't go as nicely, but once inside she was fine.  Coming out the second time was great, so we quit while we were ahead.  Tomorrow we will try again.

The cats were fine when we took them over, not happy, but not as stressed as we thought they might be.  The kitty litter/food area is done and when we take them over tomorrow they will be introduced to that and we will be ready to move on. 

We have a few more things to do and a couple of engagements before we are moved in completely - but things are back on track and we are finally making it work out


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