How to Catch a Leprechaun--Or Not

Lately, I have heard a lot of talk from various sources about leprechauns. You know, those elusive little fellows that were in the movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Darby was trying so hard to catch them.

Wanting to find out more about  these mischievous little beings, I took to the net and I found a lot of information about the subject. One site called Londontown Press was especially helpful. The website even offers a pdf document called  "Ten Things Everyone Wants to Know About Leprechauns." In case you would care to learn more, too, just go to: http://www.londontownpress.com/images/PDFs/HowMuchDoYouKnow.pdf.

A favorite website of mine, The Graphics Fairy (http://thegraphicsfairy.com/:) offers some wonderful images. You can even find some images of leprechauns which will give you a good idea of how a leprechaun looks and what they wear. This one is sending you St. Patrick's Day greeting

Picture Courtesy of  The Graphics Fairyhttp://thegraphicsfairy.com/

 One of my granddaughters told me a couple of days ago that she has been giving a lot of thought as to how she might go about trapping a leprechaun. She intended to catch one and when she was asked what she was go to feed him, she said nuts and sweets. Her mother reminded her that these folks are little people, not pets, and that it would not be very nice to do that. Undaunted, she enlisted the help of her two older brothers, who assisted her in building a leprechaun trap.

They used a shoebox in which my grandson's boots came. They placed lots of shiny "coins" and other "currency" all about the box. They even left a new hat for him, thinking that might also be an enticement, since leprechauns dress quite well and always seem to wear a nice hat of some kind.

My daughter posted their trap on Facebook. This is what they created.

Leprechaun Trap

I thought they did a really good job on the trap, but apparently regular human beings are no match for cunning and elusive little sprites. They stopped by my house this afternoon and she told me she had not been able to nab one of the little tricksters and that he had left a big mess. Even the water in the toilet was green!

Well, she gave it a good try and, no doubt, there will be another rascal up to mischief next year!