While picking out some chickens this Spring, my kids fell in love with these two ducks. They named them Fluffers and Snowflake. We raised them with care and made sure they had every pleasure that a duck could want, including a great pond and endless hugs from my kids. They were an absolute joy to watch waddling around the yard and quacking.

##Here's a couple videos of them when they first discovered the pond!
https://dtube.video/#!/v/nerd-minion/alsiubjv
https://dtube.video/#!/v/nerd-minion/czn9pa70

Unfortunately something got into our barn while we were away and killed both ducks and three chickens. I was left with no clues except one mangled duck and a pile of feathers.

So the next day, I used a board and leveled out the dirt around the chicken coop in hopes that when it returned I could at least figure out what type of animal it was by it's tracks.

Here's what I found the next morning!!!

I'm no animal expert, but that sure as hell looked like little fingers and a thumb...

I had a pretty good suspicion after seeing those tracks, but I pretty much confirmed it after I did a little Internet research. I believed I was dealing with a no good, dirty, rotten, duck killing, Raccoon or as Star Lord says.... a trash panda!!!

Well a little more Internet digging and I found some tips and tricks on catching that varmint. Apparently, raccoons love marshmallows...who knew? So with my trusty live-trap and a half bag of Stay Pufts, I rigged up something that would make Bear Grylls envious.

And you know what? Surprisingly it actually worked!

()

I caught that murderous trash panda! And as much as I wanted to kill it for taking those ducks away from my kids, I looked past that black mask and saw a scared animal just trying to survive in this crazy world. So I loaded it up and drove him to the nearest river. I grabbed a shovel just in case I needed to protect myself, but while I was knelt down taking the lock off the trap, the damnedest thing happened... he slowly stuck it's paw out of the cage as if to say "thanks". So I gently grabbed it, gave him a little handshake, and released him back into the wild.

So in the end I lost two feathered friends but gained an unlikely one.