[maple_leaf_eh]

Rot-tawa is feeling the effects of a resurgent rat population. Mild winter, wet and humid summer, new city-sponsored curbside compost pickup, low price street drugs, the return of Parliament, etc. Added together, we have more critters than even last year. I have gray and black squirrels in my immediate area, a skunk fell in a window well, and ... a family of raccoons that prowl the garbage cans. The mono-coloured beggars get killed in traffic and avoid the Jeep shelter. But the stripey ones have free run of the yard, to the point one crapped on the back porch right beside the back door.

Before I have to argue with a raccoon for drivers' seat privileges, any suggestions on how to 'deal' with them? A fresh pan of anti-freeze and a half-dozen apples? A few bricks of mouse or rat poison?