Because we live in the city, I never thought we would become trappers. Alas, the big varmints that raid our birdfeeders have given us cause to take action. This season we have live trapped 10 raccoons - relocating them miles and miles away. I know a neighbor's compost pile attracts them and so do the seeds, suet, and peanuts we put out for birds. All things considered, we decided on the option of giving raccoons a new habitat.

We have become quite adept at setting the live trap with kitty chow in a cup and placing the trap under birdfeeders. Usually the scavengers enter the cage area in the early evening hours. If the dogs don't alert us to activity in the yard, we can hear the cage snap shut as a raccoon steps on the trigger. We have our work cut out for us the next morning, carefully loading the cage in the van for the relocation.

I sometimes recollect the summer our raccoon population contracted distemper and one by one died in our yard. We had to manage removal of the critters then too. Memories of that time probably influence our inclination to keep the raccoon numbers down in our yard.

Best practices for discouraging city varmints― don't feed them; don't give them access to garbage. Feed dogs and cats indoors and keep them inside at night. Prevent raccoons from entering pet doors. Put discarded garbage in secure compost containers and clean up barbecue areas. Don't put food of any kind in open compost piles. Eliminate access to den sites.

I have not been as successful at trapping pesky chipmunks and red squirrels. I heard a suggestion of putting marshmallows out for chipmunks. The implication was that marshmallows would get stuck in the chipmunks' throats. The end! Alas the marshmallows disappeared, but the chipmunks remained. So much for that attempt at pest control.

Just a final note: if you can't live trap your varmints yourself, you might want call in wildlife management experts. There are several trappers for hire who will help you with controlling our troublesome city wildlife.