Once charmed by raccoons, our backyard became the Wild West with ‘Lil Bastard’ as the outlaw. After our lab passed, these masked marauders invaded, turning our deck into a midnight snack bar and outsmarting my amateur Wyoming Mountain Man traps. Despite PB&Js and marshmallow treats, it took cage relocation and one noisy 4 am capture to finally earn my trapping badge. Lil’ Bastard’s forest relocation ended our backyard critter capers… for now.