I did it

I got Eevie a harness and let him take me for a walk this afternoon. He seemed a lot calmer after exploring for half an hour or so. At that time he managed to ooze out of his harness when I tried to get him out from behind a bush I couldn't get to but was content to let me immediately pick him up and go inside.

I also let Son get a BB gun, but he only gets to use it when I'm watching, in fact it will live in my room, or at the house of a friend who also has one. Royal Rangers has a badge for BB guns, which he finds a lovely intersection of something useful and that he wanted to do anyway.

What I didn't do was finish clearing the flower beds as completely as I'd thought as the side beds are longer than I was originally thinking. By the time Son and I had removed six barberry bushes there wasn't any room in the trashcan to do the final long side so I think things will work out well as long as I don't forget or give up.