‘The contest’ begins

Delaware Township, NJ

$750,000 (63.88 acres)

Joan K Ireland 215.801.1219

MLS# NJHT2001422

Lambertville City, NJ

$550,000

Cynthia Shoemaker Zerrer 609.915.8399

MLS# NJHT2001434

Hopewell Township, NJ

$995,000

Owen ‘Jones’ Toland 609.731.5953

MLS# NJME2021992

Kingwood Township, NJ

$650,000 (38.83 acres)

Cynthia Shoemaker Zerrer 609.915.8399

MLS# NJHT2001542

Frenchtown Borough, NJ

$750,000

Sue Havens 609.731.6089

MLS# NJHT2001384

Hopewell Township, NJ

$1,850,000

Amy Granato 917.848.8345

MLS# NJME2026518

Hopewell Township, NJ

$2,450,000

Margaret Foley ‘Peggy’ Baldwin 609.306.2052

MLS# NJME2022652

Every day we’ve loved looking out our kitchen window over the sink. There, on a small suet bird feeder hanging on the dogwood tree, come all sorts of feathered friends. Beautiful birds! Sparrows, chickadees, cardinals, tufted titmice, redbellied woodpeckers, downies and more. What a joy.

About a month ago, the contest began. When we looked out in the morning, the suet holder was completely empty, and the top of the feeder was askew. The next morning, after refilling the feeder, we saw the same thing. Ah, it must be a clever critter — a raccoon?

The next night we watch, and there it is: a humongous raccoon right up in the tree happy as a clam in low tide. How can we stop him? Well, we have a Havea-Heart trap, so we’ll put suet in it under the tree.

In the morning, we rush to the window, and this is what we see: the suet holder is again empty, and the birds are tip-toeing in and out of the trap, eating the suet put in there for the raccoon. They look a bit nervous about being in a caged area.

We call animal control. They laugh. “What will you do if you catch it? They come back when we take them over to Pennsylvania,” they said.

Now we are frustrated along with the birds. How dare the raccoon spoil our fun and enjoyment? Hmm. We’ll get a tougher holder — one that the raccoon can’t open. Ten dollars buys an unopenable feeder. It takes a bit of doing to install. We tell the birds not to worry — we’ve fixed it.

The next morning, we look out and the “unopenable feeder” has completely disappeared. You’d never know it had existed! We’ve searched all over and yet to find it. The contest continues...

Barbara Dollard Hopewell Township

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