I caught the raccoons that were killing my chickens.  The night before last I put out a live trap in the coop.  Nothing came from it that night, but this morning I checked and the trap had been triggered.

There are two raccoon kits in the trap.  They’re maybe 12 inches long, including their tails.  I don’t know if the mother abandoned them when they got caught or if they were orphans before they started coming around.

Fuck.  Double fuck if they were orphans from the beginning.

What am I to do?  I could go out and shoot them but there’s something excessively distasteful about killing anything so young.  On the other hand, if I release them then I’m just asking for more problems down the road.

What am I doing wrong that I don’t have the “Disney Princess” experience?  I hear of all these people who have creative, wonderful experiences with animals.  Why don’t I?  Why aren’t my dogs more people-like?  Why do crows just caw and fly off?  Why are raccoons pests that kill my chickens and not furry neighbors that eat the cat food?

Maybe that’s why it’s so abhorrent to kill the young, they’re filled with potential and there are too many what-if’s.

So yeah.  I’m going to release the kits in the morning.  I may even offer them some cat food.

Be sure to keep an eye out for a post in the next few months where I regret this decision.