If you live in a country setting like most of us do around this part of the state, we are used to spotting an assortment of wildlife roaming about the nearby forests and fields, and even our backyards.

Over the past few weeks, we have had a couple of black bears walk by the house, and a gray fox and a couple of Pileated Woodpeckers have also passed by. Rabbits and squirrels, along with a variety of other wildlife, show up as well, and it’s a couple of those other critters that have garnered more of our attention lately.

My wife and I have been trying to attract Baltimore Orioles to our walnut tree out back. Oranges and grape jelly are great attractants, and we have had regular sightings of orioles almost every day.

The problem is that our oranges-and-grape-jelly offering has also attracted a raccoon.

For several nights in a row, we spotted the raccoon on one of our cameras, and it wasn’t long before the oranges and jelly became a favorite evening snack for the raccoon. It wasn’t long until the whole feeding station was on the ground, getting worked over by the raccoon. And it wasn’t long until I borrowed a live box trap from a friend, and within a couple of days, the coon made his way into the trap.

Last week, we had another interesting encounter with another wild creature — a skunk!

Our preacher, Andrew, who is relatively new to our area, called and asked for assistance. He had placed a live box in his fenced-in backyard where the kids play each day, and to his surprise, when he checked it later, there was a skunk in the trap. Fortunately, the youngsters had not been near the trap. I gave him the same advice I’d been given years ago: quietly and carefully place an old blanket over the live trap.

My wife and I went right to his place, and Pastor Andrew and I very carefully carried the trapped skunk over to the bed of my truck, and Sheila and I hauled it away to the woods. Fortunately, there was absolutely no trace of a smell even while I was letting the skunk out of the live trap.

If you find yourself in that situation, the blanket covering will “probably” work, but don’t blame me if you end up stinking. If in doubt, get some other sucker to get rid of it for you. Oh yeah, when we got back home that afternoon, there was a very large skunk walking along the edge of my backyard, but fortunately, it turned and went back into the woods.

By the way, I did some checking with the Pennsylvania Game Commission just to be sure of what is legal when dealing with these nuisance animals in your backyard. No license is necessary to use a live box trap to remove these critters from your private property; however, once you capture the animal, it’s best to take it away and release it as soon as possible. The blanket covering the trap is a good idea as well. I was told, too, that it is not legal to release the animal on private land unless you have that person’s permission, and that you should not release the animal on state or game lands either.

Well, it will be interesting to see what else roams through the yard in the days to come; hopefully, that skunk won’t be back.