26 August 2009

The trap worked. . .


. . . .but now what do we do with this nasty little tomato thief?

About 11:30 last night I thought I heard the trap snap shut, but I was too scared to go out and look. Then at 3:30 I was up feeding and thought I heard Owen crying. I went into his room but the boys were sound asleep, and that's when I realized it was actually the nutria crying.

Jeff woke up and put on his head lamp to check it out, and ran back inside when he realized these dudes travel in pairs. He put his shoes on and got a shovel to scare the other one away, but couldn't ever find it again.

Imagine the excitement this morning when I told the boys to go check the trap. I sent James outside with the camera to prove that it was really there because I couldn't bring myself to go out and look it in the face. When I think about that disgusting animal sitting in that trap out there I get sick to my stomach. I get even more sick when I think about how we're going to get rid of it. I suppose we could just leave it to starve in that cage, except if we're going to catch his buddy we need it to be empty before tonight.

Luckily, Jeff has been volunteered to deal with it. I don't see myself even going into the backyard today. Poor husband--he doesn't even like tomatoes.

17 comments:

Lis said...

EEEWWWWWWWWWWW! I almost can't breathe.

WASHINGTON SOUTHWORTHS said...

Yuck! Glad you caught the nasty little tomato thief. We've had nothing like that attack our garden - just snail chow down on our flowers like there was no tomorrow!
Good luck trapping his buddy.

Lizzy said...

Why don't you guys just bring him inside and treat him as a pet?

Just kidding. So gross!

Jennylou's Projects said...

OMG, that's disgusting! We have a groundhog that has wrecked havoc on our garden this year. About as big, but not nearly so ugly!

Em said...

That picture taught Boozle a new word: eww! good luck with diquon heff.

David and Jana said...

Wow, glad I don't have those in my garden!

Aimee & Brennen Fuller said...

YES!!! I was so excited to hear/read that you caught the rodent. Good luck tonight!

megan said...

I know someone that likes to get rid of them. If you get desperate call me.

Anonymous said...

You got him!!! yeah!!!
now the hard part...sucks for you!

stacie said...

those nutria are so nasty! I'm glad I've never seen one around our house... I think we have cats and squirrels in our garden though. Good luck on the disposal of that creature... ew!

Bean said...

can't you let him loose somewhere far away?

Emily said...

That looks like my dad's cat trap. Since he works for the railroad, when he catches them in his trap, he puts them on the train and sends them down to California...you could go with that approach.

Ilene said...

those nutria scare the crud out of me.

ROUSes.

The Fullmer Times & Seasons said...

I just discovered mice droppings in my kitchen and about freaked out today. I feel so bad for you. That is huge! How did you even know about it? Just read up and ask friends?
I saw a disgusting rodent on my mission that I thought was a cat-could have been something like that.
I probably would have sent Samantha to take a picture, too. I can't stand rodents!!
So, so sorry.

Jaclyn said...

I've never even seen or heard of any kind of creature like that. And he is not nice to look at. What if you take him to the landfill and drop him off there. He'll have plenty to eat. Best of luck friend.

elowe said...

Jamie said that Peter Reaksecker would love to use it as target practice with his Bow. We've had quite a few experiences with those in our backyard and they're down right nasty. Jamie is the one that takes care of them at our house!!

Trisha said...

Yuck, I don't envy your position.