The Continuing Raccoon Saga

So...

I set my alarm this morning specifically so I could call animal control soon after they opened. I figured that if I called early I could be one of the first cases they handled today. I still didn't want to leave my apartment until I knew that the raccoon was gone and wouldn't come hissing around me again. So I get on the phone with the woman at animal control and she tells me that I can rent a trap with a $25 deposit and a $7 weekly fee. Weekly?! I wanted this taken care of today. She asked me if I had seen the raccoon today, and I told her that I hadn't been outside yet. She said that since I live in an apartment complex I should talk to the management about having them pay to have the trap set up. So I asked her if there was any way to get this all taken care of today. She said that I could rent the trap and come pick it up on my own and set it up myself. Excuse me, but what do I know about setting up wild animal traps?? I told her that I didn't want to have to deal with this raccoon anymore than I already had. So she told me to call them back if I see the raccoon again. When I called them yesterday they were closed. Raccoons are nocturnal. If I see this little creature any time after 5, animal control can't do anything.

I went over to the office to talk to them about paying for the trap. The guy in the office said they already had traps set up in Phase 1 and they were rotating them around. Apparently, there had been a big raccoon problem in one section already. He said he would have the maintenance people put the trap by my building, although no one on staff is trained to tackle raccoons.

I hope this all gets taken care of quickly. I don't want to have another run-in with the monster when I get back home later today. I also don't want to be anywhere near the trap when he (or she) runs in.