Animal 411

Unintended ‘Leg Hold’ Trapping of Fox on Briscoe Road Prompts Concerns

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After a leg hold trap inadvertently caught a red fox in New Canaan on Wednesday morning, officials are cautioning residents who authorize use of the devices on their properties to ensure that non-targeted animals aren’t suffering needlessly in them. Rosemary DeClue of Briscoe Road notified the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section after spotting the fox caught in a next-door neighbor’s trap that was meant for coyotes, just over her property line. DeClue said she had noticed a contraption of some sort, set in plain view from her home, near a wood pile, but wasn’t sure what it was until about 8 a.m. Wednesday morning when “all the sudden, I saw something jumping around and it was a fox caught in a trap.”

The owner of a Labrador retriever and two smaller dogs (Havanese), DeClue said she’s concerned about her own dogs getting past her fence and into the trap and that she opposes trapping in principle. “No one knows how long this fox was there,” she said. DeClue remained outside until her neighbor’s hired trapper arrived and set the fox free, she said.

Animal 411

On Oenoke Ridge Road, Licensed Professional Hired to Kill Raccoon in Garage

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An Oenoke Ridge Road woman last week hired a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator to kill a raccoon in her garage, officials say. The resident originally had contacted the New Canaan Police Department Animal Control unit at 8:50 a.m. on Nov. 6 to put the animal down, according to a police report. But since the animal was perfectly healthy, there was nothing that Animal Control could do, Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt said. Though a resident is allowed to protect himself or herself—say, by shooting a raccoon on their property that’s suspected of being sick, as a Lukes Wood Road man did in September (Animal Control prefers it if you phone them first)—a permit is needed to kill a healthy animal.