Protecting our Assets, aka Catching Pillagers and Thieves

Since planting my garden about 2 weeks ago, I've been dealing with a few issues.  One issue is that something has been digging around in the garden. Who knows where the zucchini seeds have ended up! At the same time, many of my flower pots were being upended and rummaged through. They even broke my favorite pot (wah!). Hubby thought it was the cats (he says he hates the cats, but I know he loves them deep down, hehe).

Another issue is that something has been nipping off my pepper plants and my beans that are sprouting and have their first leaves.

Then there is the mole, but that's another story...

Two nights ago, I set the live trap directly on the spot I planted the zucchini seeds in. This is what I caught:

Last night, hubby saw a groundhog run under the shop (where the stray cat had been living...come to think of it, I haven't seen him around for a week or so...) and this is who we caught:

These creatures are now Turkey Buzzard Cuisine. Relocation is illegal--and besides, moving critters to someone else's woods is just making the critter someone else's problem.  Even our local "nature preserve" backs onto people's backyards. This is just the way things go when raising food and dealing with "the competition".  Lowering the population of raccoons will lessen the chance that our chickens will be ravaged later in the season. Lowering both the coon and groundhog population will help us to get a better harvest this summer. And....as I hear my hubby quote Clint Eastwood: "Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms."

In case you are wondering, our kids know the reasons we catch and dispose of these animals. It's not because we enjoy doing it. It's because these animals are, or have great potential of, destroying our crops and the chickens. 

I'm wondering what we might catch next. The trap is now set by one of the far outbuildings, where hubby caught some 15 critters last year.

I'm betting on another coon.