How to Catch a Leprechaun

Friday, March 18, 2005

Page 15

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

How to Catch a Leprechaun

By J’AMY PACHECO

Do you believe in leprechauns?

I never gave them much thought until my daughter came home from school two years ago and informed me of her desire to build a leprechaun trap.

Another first grade language arts class had been given an assignment to make a trap. On St. Patrick’s Day, the students arrived at school toting amazing green and golden creations covered with glitter, shamrocks and whatever else they thought might attract a leprechaun.

The traps were to be left at school overnight, and the students had high expectations for what they might find in the morning. My daughter could hardly stand the idea of missing out on all that excitement, and wanted to build a trap at home.

For reasons I can’t remember, we weren’t able to do it on such short notice. My daughter wistfully listened to her friends’ stories of entering their classroom to find chairs overturned, books pulled from shelves—and chocolate coins wrapped in golden foil on every desk.

None of the students caught a leprechaun, though. Even the most clever traps—like the pot filled with sticky honey and baited with golden coins—failed to imprison any of those little Irish sprites.

Last year, we managed to produce a cute, but useless, trap using an upside-down shoebox. Although my little believer failed to catch a leprechaun, she delighted in finding out one had been in her bedroom, as evidenced by the mess left behind. Books and toys were tossed on the floor, and a lamp was tipped over on her nightstand. Her window blinds were askew and her window slightly open, leaving us to believe he’d made his hasty exit through the window after dropping gold coins on the floor near her bed.

This year, she is determined to catch a leprechaun. So convinced is she of their existence that she periodically voices her ethical concerns about imprisoning living things.

“I’ll just keep him to show my friends, then let him go,” she tells me, with no doubt this is possible.

It seems like a lot of trouble, but if she’s successful, it might be worth it. As I understand it, each leprechaun has a pot of gold that he will give to his captor in return for being released.

Now, I’m not exactly an advocate of hostage taking for ransom, but a pot of gold is a pretty strong temptation. Everything I’ve read, however, indicates that catching a leprechaun is almost impossible.

One article I read said leprechauns disguise themselves as leaves and grass, making sounds like wind and crickets. They like to play tricks and pranks while frolicking in the human world on the night before St. Patrick’s Day.

I was quite surprised to read another article that indicated leprechauns stand about two feet tall. I’d always envisioned them as tiny things that could easily be overwhelmed by a shoebox.

I can’t think of anything we can build that would be capable of trapping a creature the size of a toddler. (As the aunt of a two-year-old wild thing, I can’t imagine anything that could trap a toddler, either. I wonder if the toddler could trap the leprechaun?)

I do, however, have an alternative to offer. Yet another article (who knew there were so many articles about catching leprechauns?) suggested children create something called a “Magic Treasure Box.”

The idea, according to Family Fun Magazine, is to leave the decorated, empty box “under the moon” for a leprechaun to find. The leprechaun will then likely fill the box with gold, jewels and other gifts—but will hide it in a place that’s difficult to find.

If the box is found on St. Patrick’s Day, the finder can keep the treasure. But if the box isn’t found that day, the leprechaun gets to take his valuables back. Nobody gets caught, nobody has ethical dilemmas about living creatures in captivity, and if all goes well, everybody gets to enjoy some gold-wrapped chocolate coins.

If my daughter won’t go for that, I have one other idea. I’ll hide in the back yard and wait to see if any two-foot sprites come out to frolic under the moon. If that happens, I’ll suck up my courage, throw myself on top of him and squish him until he agrees to give up his gold.

It sounds difficult and slightly dangerous, but for a pot of gold and my daughter, I’ll try just about anything.

Heck, I’d do it just for the chocolate!