July 1, 2010

There's a mystery scavanger in the garden!

I was hoeing a row of corn yesterday in the garden when I discovered some red tinted feces filled with strawberry seeds. Definitely a small mammal. I check over the whole fence looking for possible entries and found nothing that looked like it had been breached. The is always very unsettling. It makes the whole garden vulnerable. It wasn't a bird so some animal has found a way inside.

After some speculation and a look in the Sierra Nevada Natural History, I settled on a the idea that is is a ringtail cat. The can climb a little, can squeeze through small apertures and eat fruit as well as other small animals and bugs. Other possibilities are a fox who eats mostly small animals but does eat berries on occassion or a raccoon.

So I have a plan. I 'm going to put the Have A Heart trap out in the garden. I"ll put in s rotten strawberry or two and some fish and a piece of meat and set it in the garden near the corn where it seems to have established it's bathroom. Hopefully I'll get the little critter and take it for a long long ride and let it loose.

At Havahart 1089 Collapsible One-Door 32-by-10-by-12-inch Cage Trap for Raccoons, Stray Cats, and Woodchucks