ええっ～！罠をしかけて生け捕りにする？
２、３日前から夜中にベッドの真上の天井裏で物音が。耳を立てて様子を伺っていると静かだけれども確実に何かが歩いている。ネズミのようなチョコチョコしたものでなくもっと重い物体。猫ではないな、ハクビシンかタヌキか。試しに「ワッ!」と声をあげて脅かしてみるも特に慌てた様子もない。天井板の向こうに得体の知れない動物がいる…何とも不気味であれこれ想像していると眠気は失せ、果てさてどうしたものかと考えながら役場に相談に行こうと決心。そこで本日は役場の産業環境課の窓口に。
駆除する業者は紹介できるが費用がかかるのでオススメは罠を貸すから自分で設置して、獲物がかかったら知らせてくれれば引き取りに行くとのこと。ええっ～！罠をしかけて生け捕りにする？！そ、そんなこと…！と困った顔をしていると係の方が「では、ちょっと待っててください」と言って奥へ。しばらくすると別の男性が一緒に現れ、「この人は役場の専門家ですから罠を設置してくれますよ」と。家で待っていると間もなくさっきのおじさんが来て、天井板を少し外したところから懐中電灯を照らして中を見てくださいました。確かに何ものかが侵入した気配があるとのこと。見ると壁に隙間が。結局、天井裏に罠を設置すると却って動物をおびき寄せることになるので、罠は外におきましょうとのことで、裏の軒下に大きな罠（オリ）を設置し、その中にりんごを餌として入れました。さて、夜中に無断闖入の動物は捕まるか否や。
Since a couple of days ago, I have been hearing some animal walking on the ceiling above my bed at night. I listen to the sound carefully. It’s not noisy but definitely something is walking there and it is not a small animal like a mouse. I guess it is not a cat, and it might be a masked palm civet or raccoon dog. I raised my big voice to scare him, but it didn’t work at all. It was the fact that there was a mysterious animal in the attic (on the other side of the ceiling) which scared me a lot and got rid of any drowsiness. I wondered what I should do and I decided to go to the town hall to consult about it. Today, I went to the Industrial Environment Division in the town hall. The person I talked to said that he knew a professional vender but it would cost a large amount and what he suggested was that I set a trap by myself and let him know when the animal is caught, he would come to take it away. It would be a big challenge for me to set a trap and catch the animal alive! Since I showed my hesitation, he said to me to wait there and came back with another person. He was a specialist of animal capture. He kindly came to my house and took a look at the attic with a flashlight. He said there was evidence that some animal came into my attic from a small hole in the wall. He also said it is not a good idea to set a trap in the attic because the animal is willing to come to the food in the trap, so he found the place to set a trap back in the house. I put two pieces of apple as bait. Well, I wonder whether the animal which came into my attic without my permission will be caught?
2020/10/19
