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For those among us who garden and live in the outskirts, meaning where small animals live also , keeping insecure plants (especially veg) from being eaten can be a real challenge. There aren't many things more unpleasant from a gardener's standpoint than coming outside and seeing a plant that has taken weeks to reach a fair size, gnawed down to the ground. If can cut back the most well changed plant grower to a blubbering mass.

If you are like me, you'll detest the tiny harmful beasts but you still can't bring yourself to harm them. In fact , they are not antagonistic, just hungry and opportunity seizing. So we try and find ways to repel these unwelcome beasts (which is unreliable at best) or we have got to trap them.

In my neck of the woods, it's often groundhogs that eat up everything they can reach with their stubby small legs. And boy are they able to eat fast. I once observed one of them prepare to attack a foot high broccoli plant from my kitchen window and by the time I got outside it had been a skeleton. And once they've staked out your garden as their private pantry, you have only two choices: get shot of it or stop gardening.

Raccoons are a different story. They can be a bit more problematical to release. For one thing, they can be pretty vicious and make you a little frightened as you try to prop open the door to let them go. Masses of them have growled at me in a threatening while doing this. Make sure you keep your hands clear of the cage. Two them have charged me as they have come out of the cage. Because of this, I keep a stick convenient with which to bop them on the nose if required. This always turns them away. the largest concern about raccoons is they are sometimes rabid. If they show any sign of this or you are not sure, it's best to have somebody from animal control look after the animal.

But the most fun unintended capture of all are skunks. There's no real need to tell any person why these fellows are the trickiest of all to release. They are like small black and white striped packages of nitro glycerin, good to go off with one bad move. The way In which I release skunks is to slowly walk toward the cage holding a blanket up in front of me so it really can not see me. I then drape the blanket (slowly) over the entire cage, excepting the front. This lets me (again, slowly) open the door and slide a stick through to prop it open. After a few minutes the skunk will leave. But if you are unsure about your ability to do this, or you think the skunk may be sick, call a pro to take care of it.

There is a straightforward solution to evading the capture of animals you do not need to. All 3 of the species caught are nocturnal. The groundhogs in my area are not. Therefore by closing the cage right before dark, I now avoid being forced to tiptoe and dance around raccoons and skunks that I've caught.