Coping with Critters

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I use Macabee traps, the old-fashioned, hard-to-set type. When we see a lettuce or artichoke plant disappear, I gingerly dig around with a shovel to find the gopher’s tunnel(s). I put on light cloth gloves in an attempt to mask my scent and dig back into the tunnel with a trowel. I set the trap, gingerly push it into the tunnel (pincers of trap facing gopher direction), then put some lettuce or other vegetable behind the trap so they’ll get nailed if they come after it. I then push dirt in to cover up the tunnel.

I have a string attached to the trap, tied to a wooden stake, and driven into the ground. I leave the string loose on the ground; when it’s pulled taut, I know I’ve got a gopher. If you don’t do this, they’ll occasionally retreat to unreachable subterranean depths and you’ll never find the trap. An even better method is to find a main tunnel and set traps going in both directions.

Bats

We had bats in our belfry. We sleep in the second story of a three-story tower, and bats were living in infinitesimally small cracks in the third-story ceiling and then occasionally swooping down into our bedroom, looking for a way out. We’d wake up to the swish of wings, I’d open the windows, and a bat would swoop out into the night. This was terrifying for my wife, who one night had a bat drop onto her neck in bed. Shades of Dracula! Damsel in distress!

Our tower is covered with hand-split shakes, so there are small crevices under the eaves. I found every crack I could and covered it with quarter-inch mesh. They still got in, so I got some industrial grade foam and shot it into every inside and outside crack I could find. Finally, after several years of intermittent bat encounters, they were gone altogether.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m an admirer of bats. They’re beautifully designed, with elegant membrane-webbed wings. They use a type of sonar called echolocation, bouncing signals off objects in front of them, enabling them to fly in the dark. Plus, they eat tons of insects. But they can get through unbelievably small spaces. If you can poke a pencil through a crack, don’t be surprised if a bat can wiggle through.

For more information on bats, including do-it-yourself bat exclusion techniques, a nationwide listing of professional “bat excluders,” or simply how to live in harmony with them, visit Bat Conservation International.

Skunks

I only trap them if they persist in blasting our environs — most of them I’m happy to have around. But when the need arises, be careful. Skunks can make your life miserable.

I use a #1050 Havahart Large Raccoon trap #3A. There are 10 different sizes of Havahart traps; you’ll find them online at the Havahart website, and at most lawn and garden stores. Again, I tie the bait to the trigger inside the trap.

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