I'm almost embarrassed to bring you news of a prowler that has infiltrated The Compound. We have a crazed raccoon wreaking havoc. He first appeared two weeks ago, when Dad discovered that some varmint had been into the galvanized garbage can in the barn where we keep the grain for the donkeys. He thought it was probably a raccoon, and he put bungee cords on the can to keep the lid on. Last week, he noticed that something had chewed on the cords. The same day he saw this, a neighbor said he actually saw a raccoon out in our back yard.
Flash forward to this weekend. Saturday night when I came home, I parked the BMW behind the Blazer, which was under the carport. Yesterday afternoon, when I got in the BMW I noticed it was covered with leaves, twigs, and tree gunk. The ground around the front of the BMW was also covered with leaves, twigs and tree gunk. I didn't pay too much attention to it, and just thought that maybe the wind was blowing during the thunder shower we had during the night, and a squirrel's nest blew down. Then this morning, Mom discovered that something had been into the garbage can. Put all of these clues together and you come up with a crazed raccoon on the loose.
When I got to work this morning, I called a friend that works in the Receiving department who is an avid coon hunter, and enlisted his help. As we speak, he's on his way over to The Compound with three traps to set out in the yard to hopefully catch the raccoon. If it weren't for the neighbors complaining, I'd have him bring his best coon dogs over here and have them go at it. But for now, we'll try the quiet approach. I'll keep you posted.
2 comments:
He'd probably be big buddies with the big fat one that terrorizes our neighborhood.
For the most part, I have acclimated to the wildlife that resides in my neighborhood. The raccoons are a bit frightening with their arched fraidy cat sideway dance though. I've walked out at night almost stepping on skunks thinking they were cats but they seem to be docile for the most part. The mother and baby skunk became so entranced with the neighborhood that they started sleeping on the neighbor's porch which provoked the Hav-a-hart trap. My newest welcome addition has been Mr. Buns, the surviving rabbit, that hasn't been consumed by Orange, the stray cat. Normally, the only remnants of the three baby rabbits dropped off every Spring is a tuft of fur. This year though, I talked an old woman up the street into successfully adopting Orange, and I'm proud to sponsor two month old Mr. Buns that has migrated to shedding baby fur fluff and thriving off Raddachio and rabbit pellets. I love the wildlife since the subdivision I live in encroached and threw off the natural coyote paths and deterred the geese from making their evening landings behind me. I feel compelled to accommodate wildlife but keep it wild and limit my contact with them in order to keep them wild. However, if I saw a coon dipping into my fish pond, I would feel compelled to call our neighbor animal relocater.
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