Jacob Lehman, Removing Raccoons From Community Pool
David Bennett
Captivating read posted on NWCOA- Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators Facebook Group, written by Jacob Lehman of
Impressed by his determination, resourcefulness, professionalism managing the situation, in addition to the marvelous articulation. We thank Jacob for awarding us opportunity to feature his original text as case study on our site and also his business, as he is a valuable TBRTC customer.
Jacob Lehman Removing Raccoons From Community Pool
Tuesday was a looooooooooooooong day. I had to go rescue a community pool area from a raccoon and her 3 young (very mobile/still inquisitive/big enough to hurt you if you make a mistake).
I arrived at 9:30 pm and was met by 2 ladies who knew where the raccoons were. After about a
10 minute search, I found the little ones, but couldn’t see the mother. “Don’t worry”, I said, “mom is around here somewhere, so stand back about 20 feet and help me by watching my back.” (How prophetic that would turn out to be 😬) I was able to quickly snare one of the little ones without making him scream, and as I was pulling him out, the other 2 started to follow, but didn’t get close enough to grab, so I put him in the cage (the only available cage I had on the truck) and went back for the other 2 who had moved to another area. The next one I snared started to call for backup from mommy and the third one got close enough for me to hand grab. Now I had 2 screaming raccoons and as I was trying to shove them in the cage I heard a thump behind me and a bloodcurdling scream from the women who were watching my back.
Yep, the mother raccoon was coming to rescue her babies. And she was MAD! I used the one on the control stick to defend myself, but that wasn’t doing it as I danced around trying to keep away from the snapping, snarling, pissed off mother raccoon, so I let her have the one I had in my hand. I quickly put the snared one in the cage and went after her. As she started to climb back up to the rafters with the baby, I knocked them down and tried to separate them. It took a few tries, but I was finally able to get the little one while she went back to their spot in a corner. Of course, she didn’t go far when she realized I had all her kids. After a few tries, I got her in the
noose. Now I had a problem: how to get her in the cage with her little ones without letting the little ones out.
Obviously I couldn’t ask the customer to help with anything other than hold the light and watch my back. So, I opened the cage and sure enough they all started climbing out. Closed the trap without losing anybody yet. Babies are freaking out in the trap, mom is freaking out on the snare pole. I was trying to hold her with my right hand and work the trap with my left hand. Attemp #2: open cage, tried to shove mom in past babies coming out. 😡 one escapes so I grab that one, stand on the pole to pin mom down and put Junior back in the cage. Attempts #3 and 4 fail to make any progress. Attempt #5 is a success, sort of. Mom is in, but she’s still snared and the pole is extended so I can’t reach the release and the trap door isn’t completely shut.
One of the ladies is able to help pull the release, but in the process, Junior escapes again. Oh, well, it’s easier to get him in the cage. Grab that one, stand cage on end, wait for just the right split second when mom is distracted quickly open cage and toss Junior in. It actually took longer to write this than it took to do that job. Too bad I didn’t get that on video, it would have been cool to watch!
Tags: Integrated Pest Management, IPM, NPMA, NWCOA, NYPMA, PestWorld2019
