Loose Chins

So, loose chins are not one of those fairy tales... raise your hand if you've ever had your chin loose (accidentally!  not playtime) in your house.  *raises both hands high*  Ok, for us... we have enough of them, it's not uncommon for one to be out.

This year, we actually put up pieces of wood in our doorways that have to be stepped over (in the basement, where the chins are), so as to ensure the loose chins STAY in the rescue area, and not in the storage area, where they are notoriously hard to catch.

So, as is about par for the course, I was weighing chins the other day... none were loose... and one got away from me.  This same chin has gotten loose maybe 3-4 times now... crafty little bugger... and he is hard to catch.

Despite setting our live trap, he'd evaded me for a few days.  He's go for the treats and set the trap off, but NOT end up inside of it.  Now, tell me what happens after a few days loose?  Well, technically, the chins get more crafty and creative at getting away from you with every day.  But here's the thing... while there's always food and hay on the floor... there's not water.  So, they get THIRSTY.  Hehe.  (it's only funny because of the rest of the story, hold on)

So, I was filling water bottles the other day, and I noticed this little guy's head keep peeking out from under the cages.  It made me remember that the last time he was out, I had caught him because I had spilled a good amount of water, and snagged him while he was drinking at the puddle.  So, I noticed with every water bottle I'd fill, I'd look and he was somewhere under a cage staring at me.  So, I grabbed a filled water bottle and put it up to his face (cause while I couldn't get a hand close enough to grab him... a water bottle held on the end, still has my hand a good 8" away from him).  He started drinking!  Awesome... I backed up the water bottle a little bit so that he had to take a step out from under the cage to keep drinking... and he did.  And so on so forth... and I got him!!!  Had to share this with you, because maybe it will be beneficial for one of you, one of these days.

Now... usually what I do is hook up a water bottle to the live trap.  They can see the water bottle, but to drink from it, they go in the trap.  Hadn't had a chance to do that yet... but also useful for if you have a chin loose and are setting a trap and hoping to snag them. Happy chin-catching tip of the day!