Thanks for all your continued replying, everyone.
So, the coon came back. He dragged White Owl's poor carcass out of the trash can and now there are pieces of White Owl all over the backyard.
That was IT. Two hours later, the trap went out with tuna. We caught a young skunk in it, it sprayed the backyard while attempting to hit SO before he finally sprung the trap. We will be going marshmallows next.
No, animal-rights people, this animal isn't here because of human habitation destroying their primo forest habitat! There are actually more raccoon problems in the middle of SF than on Angel Island, an actual state park island, off the Marin County coast.
They used to have one, and they're the state of California, but PR wise it would have just upset these PC babies too much to try any elimination strategy.
So one day these coyotes just show up. There's no bridge, only a ferry, but they just said it was nature and the PC babies shut up. Their raccoon problem went away.
The PC babies don't even want them relocated (not that anyone would want them) because they might have baybees, they're just trying to live, and they were here first.
Yeah! Like RATS!
Whatever. This may be unpopular, but like I said before, the plan is elimination.
Our plan was to go with a pellet option. But then I hear stories about how they just don't go down, not even with repeated shots, and meanwhile the thing is screaming and caterwauling. This is not ideal when you live around lots of neighbors.
The even more unpopular option that people (especially from old-school ag culture) do is drown them. Cage goes into the garbage bin and water gets turned on. OK, I know what people are gonna say about this, but bite/scratch risks are minimized doing it this way.
I'm wondering if dry ice in the bin would do the trick and if so how much would be needed. This would be like a family size garbage bin.
After all, we are in a drought and I feel bad about wasting water.
