The Great Battle with the Varmits!

Living in the mountains is never boring. We have Santa Anna Winds with 100 mph gusts that cause fires, 2-3 feet of snow, torrential downpours, pea soup fog, and animals. Lately there have been alerts for Mountains Lions and Bears who are causing havoc to certain parts of Running Springs. But I am more concerned with the creatures that are annoying us. We have been having a battle with the creatures that live here naturally. I think we are losing and nature is saying ha ha in our face.

For example yesterday Cameron spent an hour putting water down mole holes and then setting traps to try and kill the moles. Why are we trying to catch them? They are eating our vegetable garden and we need it. I love tomatoes but apparently so do they. They like everything else too. How can we grow a garden so we can eat this summer in the face or rising gas and food prices? So the gophers have got to go.

The moths are a serious problem inside our house. We can't get rid of them. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated because other than Cameron's nightly rampage with a used sock, we don't have any ideas. I am sure they are eating something of mine but I don't know what yet.

All day long wood peckers peck at the house. They are annoying! But a little fun too! I get to pound back at them and then they usually fly away-at least for a little while. I have tried to explain that a bunch of holes in her walls are not what the land lord wants and maybe she should call an exterminator but she is not interested.

Last night the coyotes were at it again too. Right before we went to bed they were in the neighborhood attacking some little animal -I wish it was a gopher or raccoon- but it was probably a cat. Their noise is scary and can wake the living dead but at least I wasn't asleep yet. (My kids sleep through anything. Tip: A box fan in the kids room with do wonders.)

Finally we have a raccoon problem. They are keeping us awake at night and distressing the dog. I am not sure what they do but nearly every night they come up our steps from the yard to the lower deck and then go on the upper deck by our kitchen. Sierra sleeps right there and she barks and growls. The raccoons themselves also make noises. You can't sleep through their growling and hissing. It woke us up at 4:00 this morning. I finally saw the raccoon and even though it was right next to our room on the deck and Cameron opened the door it did not scurry away but just moved very slowly down the steps like it was taking a morning stroll. Also around 9:30 or 10:00 pm the raccoon goes on a walk to a tree by our house gets in a fight with something and leaves. Do you think it is love gone bad? Or perhaps an aggressive stalker raccoon?

Help us get rid of all these animals, we need a break!