A Raccoon Update
Yes, we all knew this would end badly...
Our little troupe of raccoons - one mother/baby combo and 4 other renegades - has been showing up nightly for some time now. They knock on the door and we get out the bag of dog food and pour some into two dishes on the deck for them. It's been SO cold here - we are just sure they need "fuel" to survive. Who could resist? They gobble down what we've put out and ask for more. And more. And more. They finally go away when we turn out the lights and go to bed. All civilized, at least. Until recently.
First they started to fight among themselves. They'd all be there, peering in, at the glass door - sort of "cheerleader pyramid" style, so certainly cooperating with each other - but as soon as the food went out, there were 'access' issues - jockeying for position sort of thing.
And then, in spite of their differences, they seemed to have decided to band together to step up their 'demands.' One night I looked up from the sofa to see the broom handle waving around in the air. Battering ram? They rattled the dishes. Upset the bucket on the deck. Knocked pots around. And when I would try to open the door to feed them, instead of Mark, they would lunge at me - trying to be the first to the food, I think, although it really feels like they are attacking or "comin' through." Not good. The broom had to go into the garage instead, and the dishes came back in the house.
We finally decided to cut them off. We are closing the curtains and ignoring them. So far they've taken it pretty well.
But I'm sure glad we removed the broom!
posted by Cathy @ 2:01 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
We made a similar mistake involving javelinas. Much stronger, more dangerous and more aggressive! It only happened once!
After being chased back up on to the porch, Kathy decided to let them go back to eating cactus.
We now think that they have moved on though for a while we had the mom and 4 then 3 cubs living under the deck. They are gone but not forgotten. At least that mommy raccoon could keep out the other vagrants. We shall see but seems to have quieted down
Well because we had the light on I think, 2 of the now grown up cubs from last year paid a visit tonight. Pne of them was put off by Dillon on the other side of the glass but not the other. Dillon is much bigger than they are unlike Frik and Maddie. So I turned off the light and closed the curtains and told them that the bar was closed. They left eventually grumbling something about entitlements or some such. I think that there is a political lesson here. Maybe not.
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