Strangers In The Night

It's interesting to see what lurks around your house at night.  That's why I always set my alarm, although the only thing we usually have is porch bandits.  Of course there was that time I caught some boys peeing in the bushes on my front yard ... and of course the coolest bandit of all, a raccoon!!

I sat on the patio for awhile in the morning, trying to come up with strategies for ridding myself of the midnight black and white bandits.  At least my roses are happy campers!!

Possibly the consensus that I wander the back yard in my tux might work, except I would be picking foxtails out of my pants for days.  I tried the raw egg enticement ... in fact, TWO whole eggs in the very back of the trap, hoping the weight in one's mouth might set off the trap.  Nothing ..... I got nothing.

Finally I decided to check the camera again.  For some weird reason, of which I have no clue, it recorded 928 videos.  I'm not kidding ... what the heck is wrong with this thing???  I double and triple checked the settings, which were all found to be correct.  The next three hours were spent trying to figure out how to see which ones actually recorded something.

That's when I found this.  Look for the eyes.  What in the world?  Must be a kitty cat.  Maybe a raccoon.  Skunks aren't that tall.  Truly, nothing that big can get in my back yard.

Take another look!!  Talk about being surprised!!  This is a fox!!!  There's no WAY!!  Apparently he doesn't like eggs either.  Very wary this little guy.  Talk about strangers in the night.  I haven't seen a fox since 1995 on the ranch!

I spent the next hour walking the entire perimeter to discover how in the world it could get in my yard.  Finally, at the very end on the opposite side from the skunk tunnels, was a huge hole, almost completely obscured by weeds.  THIS hole was coming from the OTHER neighbor's side where the goats live.  I've no idea how it gets in their yard since it is surrounded by houses.  Will wonders never cease.  Now I have to be extra careful with the puppies.

After that exciting find, shopping for dinner was a big letdown.  Tri-tip, one of the cheapest meats there is, has a price of $7.99 a pound.  Too bad we aren't still in the cattle business.  We would be RICH!!  Not really, the two middlemen (slaughter houses and grocery stores) get all the cash.  We were lucky to sell our beef for 50-75 cents a pound.  

I passed on all the beef and found two $8.00 chickens for the smoker, along with two-for-one pork loin at a reasonable price.  My dinner plans changed to chili verde.  I don't make it often, but when I do ..... it's YUMMY!!!

Next on the menu ... smoked chicken!!  I'll be working on that for several hours today, giving me lots of time to think about how to get rid of the skunks.  I'm thinking maybe I'll set up a feed station out FRONT of the house that will keep them occupied until they forget about the back.  

The alternative is to keep trying to catch them, leave them sit in the cage all day, then drive in the dark to some back pasture to let them go.  That's assuming of course they will LEAVE the cage.  SO MUCH FUN!!!