A Toby’s Lane couple this week phoned police to help set free a raccoon that had become trapped in a cage in the woods that was meant to snare a woodchuck, officials said.
Around 8:26 a.m. Monday, the residents reported to the Animal Control section of the New Canaan Police Department that a woodchuck had been decimating their garden and so they set a Havahart-brand trap for it, according to a police report.
Yet when a frightened raccoon ended up in the trap, down a steep ravine in the woods at the end of the dead-end street in northern New Canaan, they didn’t know how to get it out, according to Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm.
“If you only want to catch a possum, put a sign up that says ‘possum only,’ ” Halm said dryly when asked about the incident.
Halm traveled to their home and instructed the couple how to let the animal out, which the wife did, she said.
The raccoon scampered off, clearly scared, Halm said.
Asked how long it had been in there, Halm said: “By the amount of mud dug up, I would say most of the night.”
Residents can look up humane ways to resolve conflicts with wildlife on WildlifeHotline.org, Halm said.
“Humane deterrents are out there,” she said.
“There are all sorts of ways to protect gardens without trapping, and people don’t realize that they create an imbalance when they drive animals elsewhere. It’s not illegal to relocate a woodchuck, as long as it’s on state property—it cannot be on town land, like a park, or private property. But what you’re doing is really just transferring an animal away from its home. Just like with squirrels, they’ve lost the food source they’ve built up. A woodchuck’s home is actually pretty intricate. You’ve really just sentenced it—I won’t say to death—b but you’ve sentenced it to some sort of stress. In these cases, there’s a lot to it, and you cannot just call and have your problem solved when you do it wrong.”
Mark Fowler with a red tailed hawk at Grace Farms. Courtesy of Grace Farms Foundation © Adam Thatcher
Halm will join Grace Farms Nature and Wildlife Ambassador (and 1992 New Canaan High School graduate) Mark Fowler and wildlife rehabilitator Christine’s Critters at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Grace Farms’ West Barn for a discussion about living with wildlife in New Canaan.
‘After Dinner: Co-Existing With Native Wildlife’ will uncover some misconceptions about wildlife such as coyotes, bobcats and bears, and advise residents on simple tools and precautions they can take to live with those and other animals, Fowler said.
“What’s really exciting is that for the first time in 100 years, there are bears, coyotes, coywolves, bobcats, foxes and other animals thriving here—it’s amazing to see a flock of wild turkeys with big males walking around—so I’m excited about het future of wildlife,” Fowler said. “It’s an incredible time.”
Though it’s coded into human DNA to be frightened by wildlife, data-backed facts show that the animals pose almost no threat to people, and that with a few achievable steps taken, residents can ensure that their domestic pets also are not in danger, Fowler said—taking in a birdfeeder at night, for example.
Who uses a Havahart trap without knowing how to release a animal after it’s trapped?