The Varmint

As many of you have seen on Facebook, I've had a furry visitor at my house yesterday and today.

Yesterday I let my cat outside and left the garage door to the outside open so that she could go in and out as she pleased.  I hadn't heard from her in about half an hour, so I decided to look in the garage to see if she was there.  I saw her on top of her cat tree and noticed out of the corner of my eye that something was moving.  I saw a raccoon had invited itself inside the garage!  It climbed under the garage counter and decided it was going to stay there.

The raccoon gets underneath the garage counter.

I tried to use a shovel to push it out.  I still had the garage door open so it had a way to escape.  It didn't hiss at me until the shovel started messing with it.  I was pretty sure it was sick at that point because it didn't want to move and should have been more aggressive than it was for the circumstances.  It just moved into a corner harder for me to reach.

The raccoon wants to stay in this garage!  He won't leave!

Butterscotch was still watching from her cat tree. She didn't want to have anything to do with the raccoon, so she went back in the house and kept away from the wild animal.

Out here, 911 sends phone calls to the comm center just inside Yellowstone Park.  Not much happens there anyway and I considered this to be an immediate situation, so I called them.  (I probably would have gotten in trouble if I did that anywhere else in the United States!)  They forwarded me to Fish and Game, which couldn't come until later that evening, and then they had to postpone it until today.  I had to leave the raccoon in the garage while I was at work for the evening.

At work, I read a Facebook user's message to me which inspired me to make my own catch pole when I got the chance.

When I got home around 11:30 pm, the raccoon was still in the garage, but now it was behind the wood stove.  I got a plastic pipe we normally might use for our underground sprinkler system and fed a rope through it so there was a loop on one end, and two ends on the other that I could pull.  Using a long stick and this make-shift catch pole, I managed to get the raccoon's head in the loop.  I tightened it and nabbed the little guy!  I put it in a cat carrier for the night.  I shouldn't have been able to do that; it was sick and I don't think it was up to a lot of activity.

The raccoon stays in a corner behind our wood stove, wanting to be left alone.

I captured the raccoon!

I also realized that the animal didn't eat any of the cat food in the garage or the bird seed that was stored while I was at work.  It drank a little water from the cat dish, and that was it.  Usually raccoons make big messes when they're in a building.

The next morning I talked with Fish and Game.  They told me that since no saliva had gotten in contact with me or my pets that I could release the raccoon since they didn't want to do any tests on it.  I took the raccoon in the cat carrier to the river on the edge of the property and tried to get it out.  It wanted to stay in though!  After disassembling the device, I finally forced the raccoon to leave.

Honestly I doubt I did the raccoon any favors by releasing it.  The animal was sick and may not survive.  On the other hand, I'd rather have it outside the garage than in!  I think I'll be careful in making sure I leave the garage door shut so I don't have any more unwelcome visitors.

One of my guests at the hotel suggested I contact our local newspaper about this interesting story.  Soit made the Enterprise today too.  It isn't available online, so I'll type the text of the article and include the picture they showed.

North of Gardiner

Ingenuity gets raccoon out of garage

By Enterprise Staff

A man who lives north of Gardiner succeeded Monday night in capturing a lethargic raccoon he found in his garage.

Wayne Dore discovered the furry invader Monday afternoon after he had left the garage door open.  He called 911, judging the situation to be an "immediate problem."  Dore notified a dispatcher at the 911 call center that the raccoon appeared to be sick, behaving in a docile manner uncharacteristic of a raccoon.

Dore fashioned an implement to catch the raccoon Monday night.  He said he followed the recommendation of a Facebook user, who advised him to feed a piece of rope through a long plastic pole to form a loop at the end of the pole.  He held two ends of the rope at his end of the pole and brought a loop at the other end over the raccoon's head.  He then put the animal in a pet carrier.

"I shouldn't have been able to do that," he said of the rope capture.  "I think because the animal was sick I could do it."

The animal ate nothing in the garage and drank only a little water from a dish, Dore said.

Dispatchers at the 911 call center directed him to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.  Dore said and FWP official advised him the Park County Health Department normally handles situations such as his.

Because he had not been in contact with any of the animal's saliva, Dore was cleared to release the animal.

"I'm just going to let it go at the river near my house," he wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.

Photo by Wayne Dore.  Pictured is the raccoon in Wayne Dore's garage, Monday.  Dore, who lives north of Gardiner, caught the animal Monday night and released it Tuesday.

Hustle and Bustle for the Holidays

December is always a busy month for everyone--me included.  After Betty's house sold, we still had things to do.

Jean and I went to a care conference for Grandma on Wednesday, December 22.  Afterward we visited with her and talked a bit.  It's kind of funny how she remembers things.  Her memory for things in the past is pretty good, and she remembers all of her family.  There are just some things that she can't wrap her mind around still.  She believes that her husband Lyford is still alive, though he died about 10 years ago.  She doesn't really know where she is.  Her surroundings don't remind her of anything terribly familiar.

Betty's doing alright too.  We saw her for awhile.  She grimaced at me when I wrote her name on a stuffed animal we got her for Christmas.  In a nursing home it's a good idea to put the resident's name on everything.  Hospice is still taking care of her, and there hasn't been any significant change I can see lately.

That evening Jean and I ate dinner at Applebee's, and then we went to the mall to do a little shopping for Christmas.  We had pie and ice cream at Perkins and then watched Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader at the movie theater.  I like to hang out with my aunt.  I never really considered that I'd be living in the same house with her and we'd be spending as much time as we do.

That night on the way home from Bozeman, we saw a mega-herd of elk between the Yellowstone River bridge and Yankee Jim Canyon.  I turned off the car and rolled down the window, and we could hear the calves whistling to their mamas.  Occasionally we could hear the cows whistling back, but they weren't as vocal.  It was very pleasant to see and hear.  The bright moon and the snow on the ground allowed us to see how big the herd was.

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve because Jean had to work on Christmas Day (she works on all holidays).  We spent it at Chris' house in Livingston.  We had dinner--steaks, potatoes, vegetables, rolls, the works.  Afterward, we exchanged gifts in a secret Santa exchange.  That was lots of fun.

Christmas Day I spent by myself at home.  I had a good but modest Christmas--mostly movies, and some software.  I spent the day reading and watching TV.

Work was incredibly busy between Christmas and New Year's.  I'm sure that the holiday breaks that schools give was the main reason for the burst in activity.

New Year's Eve I had to work through midnight, and Jean had to be at work in Bozeman the next day, so I spent it by myself.  New Year's Day I decided it was a good time to clean the garage, and that's what I did.

It Finally Sold!

The past couple of months have been pretty busy for me and Jean.  The holiday season is filled with things to do!  This particular Christmas we've been getting ready for Betty's house to sell.  We received an offer that we wanted to take on October 28.  Gardiner is a pretty small town, so we've been keeping a lid on it the best we can because people talk.

Glenn and Patty and have been living there for awhile as renters.  It's been really beneficial because they've been really great with the property and have taken good care of it.  Without people actually living there, a lot of problems could have come up that could have prevented the house from being sold.  At the point that we had to sell the house some hard feelings started coming to the surface toward us and our selling agent, which we're sorry about since Glenn and Patty have been great to have around.  Honestly it was expected because the house was selling around Christmas and Glenn and Patty, our neighbors, only had a month to find a place to live and move.  Gardiner is not the easiest place to find a place to live!  They've had a lot of stress this Christmas season, and I can appreciate that.

On the other hand, it's been stressful for Jean, Dad, and myself too!  As per part of our buy-sell agreement, we had to make a private road easement between Betty's house and our own.  I'd been busy with a lawyer trying to arrange that.  We had a little bit of stuff and one last car in Betty's garage which had to be immediately moved.  Dad and Bonnie came up to Gardiner a few days ago and we got that taken care of.  Since Betty and Grandma are both in a nursing home, all of their affairs had to be signed by their powers of attorney.  Grandma was unable to sign for Betty in her condition, so we had to have Betty's daughter-in-law help, but she's in Colorado, so it slowed the process down a bit.  We had to fumble through some paperwork from both the lawyer and the title company.  There were discrepancies that needed to be fixed, and strange questions which arose that needed to be answered.  At the last minute I found out that I needed to hire a professional cleaner according to the buy-sell agreement before the buyer moved in.  Such is the situation with a house being sold, isn't it!?

I have been more of the middle man in all of this.  I have had no power to sign any document--even a check--but I have been responsible for making sure that things happened.  Grandma certainly couldn't have done this all on her own even before her stroke.  Especially at the end, I found that people relied on me to communicate between parties and to ensure that contracts were enforced.

This past week felt like I was back in college and this was finals week.  So much had to be done in a very short amount of time!  At least I didn't have to do any all-nighters!  I have been here for the entire ordeal: Betty had to go into a nursing home in 2005; I and 5 other people went through the majority of her house for 2 months in 2006; Betty's house went on the market in 2008, and shortly afterward, she also had to go on Medicaid; she was put into hospice care in October, and now Betty's house finally closed on Friday, December 17.  Next month she will be paying her bill privately at the nursing home, and the lien that Medicaid put on the house has been satisfied.

I haven't seen Betty lately, but Dad and Bonnie seem to think that she's declined in the past month.  Jean doesn't think so.  Talking to Evergreen on Friday, I found out that Betty had a fall that day.  She doesn't appear to have hurt herself badly, and it seems that she tried to get out of her wheelchair by herself to walk.  Her falls are infrequent now, so that's some good news.  Evergreen has changed her diet to being pureed, which has also helped.  I'm not so sure that we're going to be able to get new bottom dentures for her based on what I'm hearing from Evergreen and the denturists.  In the meantime until dentures are plausible, we'll have to just settle for the pureed diet.  One of the ladies there commented that although she doesn't recognize anyone else, she does still recognize her sister because when they are in the cafeteria, Betty will often scoot herself in the wheelchair to a place next to Grandma.  Betty can't talk anymore, but she can answer yes-or-no questions.  In my opinion she's just existing.  I don't think she has long to live, but she's survived longer than I expected!

Medicaid has never been fun.  Medicaid is a state sponsored program in which people who don't have enough income can receive government help.  The nursing home here costs about $50,000 a year, and that eats into people's life savings really quickly.  Although Betty still partially owned her house, she didn't have enough money to pay for the nursing home.  Subsequently, I've had to jump through a lot of hoops so that she qualifies for Medicaid.  To put it simply, Medicaid is a huge bureaucracy that goes to extreme lengths to make sure they don't lose any money.  Even Betty's burial policy had to be signed again because Medicaid wanted to put limits on how it can be used.  Medicaid was a necessary evil in all of this mess, and I hope I never have to use it again, especially regarding Grandma being in the nursing home.  Nevertheless, it's better than nothing.

I'm so glad it's over!

Hunting Along the Miner Creek Trail

Yesterday, Trever and I went hunting for deer.  When I told Scott of our adventure, he said he was proud of me.  Honestly I'd rather shoot an animal with a camera than a gun, but I've never had any objection to hunting.  It's been about 15 years since I've actually done any hunting, so it's definitely been awhile.

We had kind of a day of misadventures.  It was already snowing, and my car wouldn't start.  After a quick jump start, we got a couple supplies and tried to get a license for Trever.  Unfortunately for him, I didn't realize that he needed hunter's safety because of his age, so he was unable to get a license.  I guess it didn't matter anyway because we never saw anything that we could take anyway.

Regardless, we drove to Tom Miner Basin and tried to get as close to the campground as we could.  I started realizing that if I went any farther, I would probably get stuck in the Blazer, so I tried backing up to where several cars were already parked and got stuck doing that.  We couldn't dig ourselves out and the tires just wanted to spin, so we asked someone there if he would pull us out with our chain, which he did.  Thanks, Jeff!

We started hiking up one trail and then we realized we were going up the wrong trail--we were on Sunlight Basin trail instead of the Miner trail.  We backtracked and then went on the right trail.  Things look a little different in the snow than in the summer.  We trekked through some snow on the trail but soon found that we were getting into deep snow.  We waited for about an hour at the edge of a clearing, but saw nothing.  Once we stopped moving, we started getting cold, and I was glad to get moving again.  I think the worst enemy to clothing in the winter is sweat and humidity.

When we got back to the car, a little cold from the waiting and the drop in temperature, the car wouldn't start.  Jeff was once again our savior with a quick jump.  The only thing I can figure is that my four-year-old battery may need to be replaced since this isn't normally the kind of problem I face.

Getting back to Gardiner was easy, and the only deer we saw was on our way home: a mule deer doe on private property, which we weren't allowed to harvest.

Once in Gardiner Trever realized that he didn't have a key to his apartment.  Once he got in, Trever and I parted ways and got into fresh clothes and had met again for some dinner at K-Bar.  Pizza really hit the spot.  Trever's a bit sore today.  From the digging I did yesterday my shoulder blade areas are a little sore, but I feel alright.  It's been awhile since I've hung out with any friends.  It was good to get out!

We might go out hunting again soon, we'll see since there's only another week left to hunt deer.

Even though things didn't turn out as we were hoping and planning, we still had a good time.  I was a little amused at all of the small disasters we had!

Dipper, My Birthday, and Other News

It's been about a month since I last wrote on this blog!  I really am not being lazy.  Honestly, not much has happened.

A month ago, Dipper died.  October 20, Jean and I couldn't get him inside that evening because he was struck on the highway.  Jean found Dipper, but didn't want me to see him.  She said that he basically died instantly.  I was really sad when it happened, and I'm going to miss him.  He was my favorite cat out of the three.  It was interesting that I just took some photos of him a day or so before when he had gotten into some iron oxide.  Now only Butterscotch and Lightning are left.  My mighty hunter is gone.

Dipper got into iron oxide somehow!

Lately, Lightning has been acting pretty strangely.  On Wednesday evening and Thursday morning we had a bad windstorm which blew in a snow storm.  Ever since then Lightning hasn't come out of Grandma's bedroom closet.  Yesterday I told Jean at work, "There was an old kitty that lived in a closet.  She had so many worries that she made a 'deposit.' "  Subsequently I moved one of the litter boxes next to the closet so that we wouldn't have this problem in the future.  I don't know what to think about Lightning.  Maybe I need a cat whisperer to figure out why she's so nervous.  Butterscotch doesn't bother her, and there isn't anyone there to do mean things to her.  She is an obsessive licker and has a bare belly with no fur.  Maybe this is related somehow.

This month I've been working a lot on family photos and genealogy.  I recently discovered some cousins on my paternal grandma's side of the family.  I only knew of one that was still living until Jean and I found a wedding invitation from 1952.  I'm in contact with her, and I've been collecting information from her side of the family.

I've seen a lot of photos lately.  We pulled out several portraits of people, one of which was my second great grandfather's wedding photo from 1892.  We're having it professionally digitally rendered since it's bigger than my scanner.  He's one of my favorite ancestors anyway, so I consider this a good investment.  The digital version should be ready by Wednesday, but I don't know if I'll be in Bozeman to get it then!

Tuesday, November 16 was my thirty-first birthday.   I got so many birthday wishes on Facebook!  I celebrated my birthday on Wednesday with Jean.  She and I are so close we're like a brother and sister; I never thought I'd be so close to her.  She took me out to Corino's in Bozeman and we watched a movie together.

By the way, I didn't like Skyline.  They had a good idea for a plot, but the movie never had a conclusion; it ended on a twist.  As well, I found the movie depressing.  I thought the movie was violent enough that it should have been rated R.  Oh well.

Also while we were in Bozeman we did some shopping, mostly related to family genealogy and archiving.  We want to preserve the special things in Grandma's house like photos.  We'll eventually transfer all these things to acid-free media.

We had a big snowstorm on Friday.  In one night we got about 12 inches of snow.  The next day it continued to snow, though we didn't see more than a couple inches Saturday.  Today was pretty clear, but last night it got really cold.  It was 4 degrees last night and warmed up to 21 today.  This is more snow than we got cumulatively last year!  In general we've had more precipitation this year than normal.