“The Cunning Culprit” by Reva Lachica Moore
(I took a pic of the garbage can and photoshopped a raccoon in it).
Lately, we’ve been seeing garbage strewn on the ground around the garbage can each morning and we wanted to catch the culprit responsible for it. It could not have been a dog because the garbage can is tall and the lid stays closed all the time. An animal must be able to go inside the garbage without opening the lid all the way.
I can only imagine my horror if I were to open the garbage can and some animal would jump out! Placing a heavy object on the lid would surely solve the problem, so I placed a full gallon jug of Clorox to keep it closed. This worked during the first two nights, but then, a few days later, trash littered the backyard again. It was mindboggling because the gallon of Clorox was still on top of the lid. How can this animal pull out pieces of trash with the lid still closed?
One night, a scratching and thrashing noise outside woke me up. The noise was coming from outside of the bathroom window. I peered into the darkness but couldn’t see anything.
I got a flashlight and shone it through the glass window, aiming it at the garbage can outside. I did not see anything but I could hear the scratching sound even more. An animal was inside the closed garbage can! There was hardly any garbage in it because it was emptied earlier.
With the flashlight still on, I waited to see what the animal would do. Some more scratching noises and before long, furry paws showed in the narrow opening of the garbage can. Then the opening got a little bigger and a masked face with a black and white striped tail appeared and then quickly jumped out! The gallon jug of Clorox had moved towards the other side of the lid that remained closed. What a clever animal! We have got to try another way to drive it away.
That morning, my husband bought two big clamps from a hardware store only to return them the following day. The clamps wouldn’t work. The gallon jug of Clorox was not heavy enough so that afternoon my husband placed a huge flower pot full of dirt on the lid near the front opening. So far it is working but having to place the heavy object before nightfall takes much work.
Raccoons are intelligent animals that have the ability to climb and jump quickly. Capturing a raccoon is not an easy task, and chasing them away is just a temporary solution. It will come back. Besides, there could be more than one raccoon out there.
I just read about homemade Coon Repellants such as: making a concoction of boiled Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, small amount of liquid detergent and pour into a gallon of water and spray this around the garbage can everyday.
Another way is to soak a piece of cloth with ammonia and place inside or outside the garbage can. Raccoons cannot stand pungent odor. We decided to try the cloth soaked in ammonia and it has worked so far, except I have to pour ammonia on the cloth every few days.
I can compare our raccoon problem to “temptation” – or enticement to sin. Often, temptation can find its way into a person’s life so subtly before the person realizes the predicament he or she is in.
Temptation is something a Christian faces no matter how he tries to do the right thing. The more he wants to be on the side of Christ, the harder Satan will work to get him to his side.
We must be able to recognize the enemy’s attack when it comes, for Satan is cunning and has many strategies to make you stumble. Satan’s main goal is to have you back to living in a materialistic world and away from living in harmony with God’s will for your life.
And about the raccoon? My husband bought a trap and placed it near the garbage can. The trap worked. We had someone who took the live animal and let it out in the wild. (Written in 2011)
The Holy Scriptures tell us how to defeat the attacks of the enemy. Ephesians 6:11 says: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” And Ephesians 4: 27 says: “Neither give place to the devil.”