In my previous post about Duffy, the question was asked: “Life or death?” and the majority of you voted to spare the life of Duffy. It was also suggested that we use a humane live trap and capture him and relocate him.

Bowing to the will of the public, we acquired the trap and set it. For the first week we only succeeded in trapping a poor little sparrow which was quickly released. Cynthia was just a little discouraged by the fact that she felt herself being outsmarted by a rodent. She consulted one of the maintenance workers at her office who suggested using a different kind of bait. We had been using cookies, but he suggested nuts and seeds as rodents like to eat food they can hold in their paws.

With this in mind I purchased some more bird seed and baited the trap. At 7:30 Sunday morning Cynthia woke me up exclaiming that we had captured Duffy.

Personally, I could have received this news at a more “humane” hour of the day, say 9:00 or later. But I guess Cynthia’s excitement outweighed all other considerations.

Poor little guy was pretty terrified. Now it was just a matter of finding a place to relocate him. As I mentioned, it was pretty early on a Sunday morning so I figured we’d drive out toward Highway 6 and find a field and let him go. As we were headed down Briar Forest I spotted some commercial construction that backed up to a vacant lot and pulled in. I thought I would drive to the back and release Duffy there.

Imagine my surprise when we spotted a Houston Police cruiser parked back there. I quickly turned around and headed back out. The cop didn’t seem to see us which was a relief. I could imagine explaining to the officer exactly what we were doing.

We found another location next to another vacant lot and released Duffy and headed home.

Cynthia doesn’t think that we actually caught Duffy. She thinks this is another rat altogether. I think it’s Duffy, but the trap is reset and we’ll see if we catch anything else.

*UPDATE*

We need to stop setting the trap during daylight hours

The People Have Spoken – Duffy Is Spared

9 thoughts on “The People Have Spoken – Duffy Is Spared

  • August 9, 2010 at 6:06 am
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    Shoot, relocate all of them! LOL! When I had a rat problem at the house I lived at in The Heights, I would relocate the rats to the bayou near I-10 and Yale.

  • August 9, 2010 at 6:20 am
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    You can release them at the Houston Arboretum!

  • August 9, 2010 at 9:34 am
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    That fluffy-tailed rat you caught at the end is surely not Duffy, he’s too ugly.

  • August 9, 2010 at 9:59 am
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    Aw, Duffy is cute. Poor little mite. I’m glad you didn’t kill him.

  • August 9, 2010 at 10:34 am
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    Yay, you spared Duffy! I’m so glad.

  • August 9, 2010 at 2:41 pm
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    I hope you took that tree rat further out of town than Hwy 6.

  • August 9, 2010 at 3:23 pm
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    LOL squirrels are just rats with good PR.

  • August 14, 2010 at 6:49 pm
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    I guess Cynthia wouldn’t be happy with my neighborhood–we have been notified of a coyote problem.

  • August 18, 2010 at 10:52 am
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    Be free, Duffy!

    That last photo was full of win!

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