Raccoon Ruckkus

We had been hearing a rustling sound downstairs in the work room. It was a little unnerving, but after a couple of days we didn't hear anything. So move to Thursday evening. Dad went down to get something in the freezer. He turned on the light, walked around the corner and saw two raccoons racing on the top of the food storage boxes. Apparently, they were trying to hide. Well, they didn't do a very good job of it. When Jim got back upstairs, he said, "If I tell you something, would you promise to not freak out?" Okay, was my response. "Well, he said, "I just saw two raccoons run for their life." I didn't hold to my promise. We immediately got on the phone to try to get ahold of animal control. This was at 9:30 p.m. Well, no answer. Can you believe that!!! So I looked in the yellow pages and found Critter Control. Caleb answered. We explained the problem and he said he would be out in the morning. So we barricaded the top of the stairs, shut all the doors to the downstairs rooms and tried to sleep. Then Jim went merrily off to work and I stayed home - never venturing downstairs. Caleb came about 10:30, assessed the situation, and said we probably have a momma and a few babies. Great!!!! He even showed me hole where they were coming through. Of course, I didn't see anything. Caleb set a trap on the roof, showed me how to see if the trap had been sprung, and said to call him in the morning. Because raccoons are nocturnal, nothing would probably happen until the nocturnal came. Jim came home for lunch, I appraised him of the problem and showed him the hole where the critters had been living. Of course, now I saw a bunch of fur pulsating. I was a nervouse wreck all afternoon. We decided to go to the movies on Friday night to get away. We got home about 10:00 and as I passed the stairs, there they were - three big babies running up the stairs. I ran and Jim grabbed the broom. The babies run the other way back into their hiding place. Well, I tried to sleep last night, worried about having to go to the bathroom, and hoping they didn't jump the barricade. It was a horrible night - weird dreams. Along with worrying about the raccoons, I shouldn't have eaten Taco Bell at a quarter to ten. Anyhoo, Caleb showed up this morning and yes, the momma was caught in the trap. He carried it down from off the roof in the cage. Then it stuck a big brush down the chimney to push the babies down to the basement. Then he and Jim went downstairs to capture the babies. I heard growling, snarling, crying and that was just Jim. No, just kidding. Anyhoo, they caught them all and took them away. They will come back later on today and put caps on the chimney. Now Jim is cleaning up the mess in the work room where they were playing and pooping and probably watching TV. Needless to say, it was quite an ordeal. I for one, am glad there are people out there who, when they are young, say, "I want to grow up to be a Critter Controller!!" My hat is off to them. And may I say as a P.S. I already had empathy for Carole, but much more now.