Reamde

by Neal Stephenson

“Ever make a raccoon trap?” “No,” C-plus said. “I was told they carried rabies, and I couldn’t see why it would be desirable to catch one.” “You drill a hole into a tree stump, or something, big enough to admit the raccoon’s hand. But you drive some nails in around the edge of the hole and bend their heads inward so that he has to thread his little paw between them to get it into the hole. Then you leave a piece of bait in the hole. The raccoon insinuates his hand into this thing and grabs the bait. But he can’t pull his hand out between the nails unless he lets go of it. He ends up trapped by his refusal to let go, you see.” “Have you ever actually done that? I mean, I know you had a very rural childhood and everything, but…” “Of course not,” Richard scoffed. “What the hell was I going to do with a rabid animal welded to a tree stump?”