Humane Trap

A patch of white stared back at me.
I drew in a sharp breath.
Already?

The flashlight revealed an adorable-looking raccoon.
The trap had worked.
We had placed fish and pork bones as bait.

I had refrained from using a trap because I wanted to share the garden with this night visitor.
Four mums lay crushed underneath the flattened purple heart plants.
Three-inch deep holes dotted the garden.

At first, it was just the purple heart plants that were bruised.
Then, it started gnawing on the melons.
It had a favorite one and every day, it took a distinct bite into the green-striped skin.

The mums were not of a rare exotic kind.
It died in the winter and grew back with a wild freedom.
Every year, in November, we gathered armfuls of blooms to bring to the cemetery and laid them at graves, known and unknown.

On the Irving City website, the animal control services described this trap as "humane."
It does not hurt or wound the animal.

Humane? Trap?
Is a trap ever "humane"?

Why is it possible to have an Animal Humane Society and not a Humane Human Society?
That respects unborn life.

Since 1973 in the United States, one out of three children have been aborted.


ps1. Photo of the mischievous raccoon still in its trap, waiting for Animal Control to pick it up.
ps2. If you want to do respect life, join "40 days for Life."
http://www.40daysforlife.com/DALLAS/
There are other locations throughout the United States.