rocky raccoon

today, on stupid animal tricks…

seriously. i’m beginning to feel like the bill murray character in caddyshack.  i mean, yes, i know there are bigger issues to tackle: the economy, world peace, and why phil spector’s hair is so, so…er…lustrous and distracting.

but this is so all-consuming.

we live right by a park that is filled with wonderful fox, possums, raccoons, deer, and other furry friends. i love my furry friends as much as the next grrl, but i don’t love them in my giant county trash can. there’s a possum in particular who i have actually seen waddling away smugly after lunching in my bin. yesterday was the last straw. we had just discarded the zillion tons of halloween candy my kids had collected. (the standing rule in my house: when easter comes, the halloween candy goes and is replaced by… you guessed it: easter candy.) trash was due to be picked up on wednesday. and the night prior, my furry friends came by (their muddy paw prints are all over the plastic can), opened up the bin, and apparently had a sugarfest so wild, i bet they ended up in little diabetic comas. (for those interested, the animals apparently like reeses’ peanut butter cups and little chocolate bars over warheads.)

besides the obvious point that i don’t like the thought of wild animals eating things that could make them ill, i simply want to get these guys out of my trash bin. (usually, they just feast inside the bin; but tuesday night, they literally left a congo-line trail of candy wrappers in the street, down the driveway, and probably in my neighbor’s yard.)

i have tried attaching bungee cords around the bin. they get in. i have put a seriously heavy concrete block on top of the bin; they topple it. i don’t know what the heck these critters do in their spare time (pump iron?) but they are s t r o n g. i don’t in truth have the ability to store the trash in my garage;  and i would prefer not to keep the trash inside the house.

i’m channelling the spirit of bill murray’s character these days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv87T1CQF8E

my enemy is a varmint. and a varmint will never quit.

4 thoughts on “rocky raccoon

  1. My main question: How in the world do you manage to still have Reeses Peanut Butter Cups since Halloween? Those puppies are gone within a week here (with my thorough, but not solo, assistance).

  2. Sorry, hit submit too soon. I have also used the large concrete block approach, which has worked with my container. You must have a large gang of ‘coons, working together! If only you could videotape them in action somehow…

  3. I love the video! Sorry about the critter problem, though. I can’t believe they can get the bungee cords off the can! I second the video idea!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Theme: Overlay by Kaira Extra Text
Cape Town, South Africa