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Bedford Boy Beefs Up Leprechaun Trap With Motion Sensor

BEDFORD, N.Y. – No one has ever caught a leprechaun, but Bedford Hills Elementary School first-grader Cliff Lanier IV has a plan to do the impossible this St. Patrick’s Day.

Cliff Lanier, IV, plans to be the first to catch a leprechaun this St. Patrick's Day.

Cliff Lanier, IV, plans to be the first to catch a leprechaun this St. Patrick's Day.

Photo Credit: Brian Donnelly

Lanier, 6, tried and failed last year using a “primitive” trap, comprised of a box, stick and string. But, this year, he means business. 

“He is convinced that a good trap is the only way to spot the elusive Leprechaun,” his father, Cliff, III, told Daily Voice. “We have completed the trap and this weekend we are putting the bright green wooden trap outside as he believes St. Patrick’s Day is a likely day for a trapping.”

Lanier’s grandfather is a wood worker and sent plans for construction last month. Using quarter-inch plywood, the Lanier boys built a 3.5-foot long and 1-foot wide Kelly green trap. A cable props open the 1 foot by 1 foot trap door, which will shut if and when the motion detector is triggered. Yes, this thing has a motion detector.

The motion sensor will also trigger a light that will shine on the leprechaun if caught. Finally, they will place gold coins inside the trap to bait the tiny figure.

“It’s a fun project to build with your son,” Lanier III said. “He really thinks this leprechaun is out there.”

Even though the Bedford family didn’t catch the creature last year, it did come, Lanier’s mother, Dorothy, said. It left a tooth brush and little nick nack toys by the trap, presumably to taunt the young leprechaun hunter.

“We had the best time shopping for all the stuff at the Bedford hardware store and they were treating the project very seriously,” Lanier III said.

The trap will be set Sunday night, with the hope that it will produce the elusive Irish symbol by Monday morning, which is St. Patrick’s Day. Lanier picked out a spot of especially green grass in the woods.

“He thinks it’s perfect because its green,” Lanier III said.

Lanier IV's fascination began at St. Matthew's preschool in Bedford, when the parents of another student taught the kids how to catch a leprechaun that St. Patrick's Day. 

"With that it’s just sort of taken on a life of its own. I find what’s so intriguing about it is no one has ever caught one and he wants to be the  first," Dorothy said.  

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