Trap captures turf shredding raccoon...

Nearly two weeks ago, Gloria Johnson of Cathlamet called The Eagle because she was waking up most mornings to find the sod recently placed in her back yard flipped over in multiple places, hindering it’s growth.

It must be raccoons, she thought. They’d been seen in the neighborhood, on a fence, in a nearby tree.

She did everything her friends suggested, applying Irish Spring soap, deer deterrent, and a $200 chemical that would kill grubs and not harm any cats. She bought motion sensor lights, and someone else brought her even more.

The sod remained unmolested for a few days, but just as Johnson started to relax, the mysterious imp was back to his old tricks.

Then she heard a rumor that someone nearby was feeding the little villains.

Johnson found some relief this week, when a raccoon found the aroma of a honeybun placed in a live trap too tempting to pass up. The offending critter was relocated for his troubles.

Since then, Johnson’s sod remains unturned.

They will return, a friend advised, as he set up the live trap again, honeybun in place.

“It caught another raccoon,” Johnson said, laughing. “A yellow one.”

The yellow raccoon, otherwise known as Johnson’s cat, must like honeybuns too. And adventure. Last year he spent five days in a nearby tree until a local woodsman climbed up to greet him.