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-   -   Raccoon encounters, 2 lessons learned (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=77619)

hazelrunpack June 24th, 2011 11:54 PM

Raccoon encounters, 2 lessons learned
 
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[CENTER][I][B][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Sitting in the blind, minding my own business
(okay, so maybe mine and that of a few birds on the feeders :p),
I heard a rustling coming from the brush in the vicinity of the bear path. :eek:
My first thought was that the bear was back,
so I started unzipping the door of the blind to make an escape into the yard.
Then I looked out and saw this little face. :flirt:

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[SIZE=5]Lesson #1: Raccoons don't look up.[/SIZE]

I was in full view through the open window of the blind but even when she heard the camera clicking she never looked up high enough to see me :shrug:

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She smelled hoomanz around [I]somewhere[/I] but nothing attacked her so she decided the danger couldn't be [I]too[/I] imminent
and she ambled boldly down the forest edge to the feeders about 80 feet away.

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hazelrunpack June 24th, 2011 11:59 PM

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[CENTER][I][B][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"][SIZE="4"]About the time that she reached the feeder

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the birds started to get active. You know hazel, if there's a bird, she's looking at it. :o

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And when I looked back down to check on the raccoon, I saw:
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hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 12:06 AM

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[CENTER][I][B][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Now wait a minute! How could she be suddenly so close and walking away from the blind
when she was so much farther away just a minute ago? :confused:

Quick check of the feeder:
[ATTACH]74721[/ATTACH]
*nom* *nom* *nom*

Quick check along the edge:
*sneak* *sneak* *sneak*
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Aha!! Different raccoon!

Raccoon the First was not happy when she finally realized she was not alone!
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hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 12:09 AM

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[CENTER][I][B][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"][SIZE="5"]Lesson #2: Raccoons have really impressive growls! [/SIZE]:eek:

Hey! This is MY seed!!!
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Ya, I see you're bigger than I am!
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Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! This ticks me off...
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hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 12:13 AM

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[CENTER][I][B][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Well then, okay, if you wanna be that way about it, you can have it.
I have kits to tend, anyway...so I'll just go, k?
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Sheesh! Some 'coons!!! :frustrated: Just won't share! :yell:
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*grumble* *grumble* *grumble*
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hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 12:18 AM

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[CENTER][I][B][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Hey!!! There's that funny smell of hoomanz again! Now where is that coming from? :confused:
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Back at the feeder, another complaint from Raccoon the Second:
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"A little privacy while I'm eating, please!"

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That's all, folks! :D

:laughing:

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Claudia36oh June 25th, 2011 12:20 AM

omg that's just too cute, did she get some of the seeds ?

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 12:23 AM

She got a lot of them--the interloper got quite a few, too--and there was at least one other raccoon that partook of the feast, as well. I can't wait till they start bringing kits to the feeders! :lovestruck:

growler~GateKeeper June 25th, 2011 12:25 AM

Adorable :lovestruck: :lovestruck:

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 12:29 AM

[QUOTE=growler~GateKeeper;1015426]Adorable :lovestruck: :lovestruck:[/QUOTE]
Ya, I thought so, too, till the growling started!!! You aren't, by any chance, named after a raccoon, are you? :eek: :laughing:

Seriously, though, when the third one appeared out of the brush closer to the feeder and the argument began to roll back toward the blind, I waited till they were posturing at each other behind a tree trunk (there's a line of pines there) and took the opportunity to slip into the yard and up to the house. What can I say? hazel is a wuss! :o :p

growler~GateKeeper June 25th, 2011 12:40 AM

:laughing: no my last dog was a growler :dog:

I don't think I'd want to be caught in the middle w/3 facing off either they've got long sharp claws :D

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 12:42 AM

Nice teeth, too. :eek: They're much more impressive close up than they are from a distance. :D Both the teeth [I]and[/I] the raccoons. :o

:laughing: Like I said...a wuss!!

Goldfields June 25th, 2011 04:32 AM

They certainly are beautiful little animals. I love the perfect rings on those big, bushy tails. :)

Longblades June 25th, 2011 08:00 AM

Lovely, lovely. Great shots.

They only come to our yard at night and boy, when they fight over the compost, it's wicked. I go out in the morning and I'm surprised there is not a body or at least blood on the ground. Nope, never.

breeze June 25th, 2011 08:28 AM

love the pics hazel
especially the one where she is sitting up in the bushes

I wouldn't want to be near when they go at it either :o

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 08:29 AM

Thx, GF--they do have luxurious tails, don't they! They must be shedding or else kits are really hard on their moms, though, cuz the fems I see have a lot of matts and are all disheveled. :D

They do sound wicked, Longblades! The first time hubby heard them growling in the brush he thought it was someone revving an ATV. :laughing: Then the scrapping started and he realized it was animals...

We're trying to retrain ours to come only at night. They used to, but after our spring bear raid, we had to start bringing the feeders in at night. Now they know their only chance at the feeders is during the day, so they've been coming out in broad daylight. And, when the feeders are empty, they come [I]inside[/I] the fence and try to raid the hummingbird nectar :rolleyes:

So now we hang both platform feeders high so they can't easily reach them (my ground-feeding birds will either have to learn to feed higher or settle for the pickings that get dropped over the edge) and the dogs keep vigilant watch through the window and send up an alarm the second they spot a striped tail heading toward the nectar. :dog:

At night, I dump the last of the seed left in the feeders in a particular spot outside the fence and I know they eat that--I'm hoping they go back to coming only at night and noshing on the leftover seed. :fingerscr I do have a compost pile--maybe I should start dumping the leftover seed there--farther from the yards and the nectar feeders!

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 08:31 AM

[QUOTE=breeze;1015446]love the pics hazel
especially the one where she is sitting up in the bushes

I wouldn't want to be near when they go at it either :o[/QUOTE]
I love that shot, too, breeze! She was such an inquisitive little thing, but she never did look up high enough to see me!! Probably a good thing...if she'd known the paparazzi was chasin' her, she mighta been mad :eek: :D

breeze June 25th, 2011 08:40 AM

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1015448]I love that shot, too, breeze! She was such an inquisitive little thing, but she never did look up high enough to see me!! Probably a good thing...if she'd known the paparazzi was chasin' her, she mighta been mad :eek: :D[/QUOTE]

at least you got a good pic of her :lovestruck: and you were safe from her teeth and claws :thumbs up

they now know they can get food there, so maybe they will keep returning and maybe they will get use to you taking pics and they wouldn't be so mad

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 09:06 AM

If they'd turned on the blind (highly unlikely) I wouldn't have stood a chance--it's pretty flimsy. They're not likely to attack, though--they're more likely to run off, or at worst, just ignore me. Last night there was one in the tree in the basement yard, aiming for the nectar feeders hanging just below. Brier saw it and put up the alarm, so I went down to chase it off. It went up one branch and stopped at the grape jelly feeder instead. :rolleyes: I just don't have an impressive voice! :laughing:

I finally had to clap my hands, put on my deepest loudest voice (pathetically insipid and high-pitched even so :o) and charge the tree to get the danged thing to jump down and run to the fence.

Our biggest worry is that one of the dogs will catch up with a raccoon when it's on the ground and get hurt by it. Raccoons are good fighters when they need to be since, as Longblades pointed out, they practice every night! :laughing:

What am I laughing for!?! I've seen the damage they can do to a dog if they're cornered... :eek:

breeze June 25th, 2011 09:27 AM

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1015453]

Our biggest worry is that one of the dogs will catch up with a raccoon when it's on the ground and get hurt by it. Raccoons are good fighters when they need to be since, as Longblades pointed out, they practice every night! :laughing:

What am I laughing for!?! I've seen the damage they can do to a dog if they're cornered... :eek:[/QUOTE]

I hope that nothing happens to the pack, hazel :eek: or you :goodvibes:

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 09:31 AM

Well, we've lived amongst the wild things for this long without too much damage, so I'm hoping for the best :D :fingerscr I think I'm more worried about the porcupines cuz they move slower and the Pack is not likely to be smart enough to avoid them.... :o

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 09:32 AM

:laughing: What a terrible thing to say about my dogs' smarts!!! :p Sorry, Pack...but it's true!! :dog:

breeze June 25th, 2011 10:00 AM

ok pack,
Listen up,

you are not allowed to go after porcupines!! for "ANY" reason
I know your faster than them but trust your Auntie Breeze, it's not worth it!!!

I know what they can do :eek: so heed my warning!!

from your auntie Breeze :lovestruck:


[SIZE="1"]you think that will help Hazel?? :D[/SIZE]

chico2 June 25th, 2011 10:07 AM

OMG Hazel,amazing pics,love those critters:cloud9:

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 11:38 AM

They [I]are [/I]cute, chico! I'll bet they're soft, too!

I wanted to groom the one mama so badly--her fur was a mess! It'd be cool if she let me do it, but I'm not gonna ask, much as I wanted to! :laughing:

hazelrunpack June 25th, 2011 11:39 AM

[QUOTE=breeze;1015473]ok pack,
Listen up,

you are not allowed to go after porcupines!! for "ANY" reason
I know your faster than them but trust your Auntie Breeze, it's not worth it!!!

I know what they can do :eek: so heed my warning!!

from your auntie Breeze :lovestruck:


[SIZE="1"]you think that will help Hazel?? :D[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

I [I]hope[/I] it helps!!! You know how kids don't listen to their moms? Maybe they'll listen to their Auntie breeze!!!! :fingerscr :pray: Thx, breeze!!! :D

breeze June 25th, 2011 03:16 PM

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1015481]I [I]hope[/I] it helps!!! You know how kids don't listen to their moms? Maybe they'll listen to their Auntie breeze!!!! :fingerscr :pray: Thx, breeze!!! :D[/QUOTE]


I know, sometimes they will listen to others more than mom or dad :o

lindapalm June 25th, 2011 08:49 PM

When I was a teenager, a man used to bring me baby raccoons that were found motherless in the woods. ( I didnt think about it then, but now my guess would be he probably shot the mother, glad I didn't know) I raised them, and they were the most fun pets to have. They would have free run of the outside, and live in a doghouse. I would bring them in the house, and they would eat grapes, but first wash their hands in the toilet. My mother wasn't too thrilled when they made a game of climbing up the drapes. I had a collie, and he and one raccoon were best friends, everyday they would go out in the woods together, and come back hours later, walking side by side. It was amazing. After awhile, the raccoon would stay away longer, and only come back every couple of days, then not at all. Nowdays I'm sure you could get in trouble for raising them. Even though it was many, many years ago, I'll never forget how smart they were, and how much fun.

Dee-O-Gee June 26th, 2011 10:21 AM

Beautiful pictures and wonderful captions Hazel! :thumbs up :lovestruck:

I think Auntie Breeze's talkin' to should straighten out the pack for you Hazel. :D :laughing:

hazelrunpack June 26th, 2011 11:34 AM

Oh, great memories, lindapalm! What a sweet story! :cloud9:

Thx, klm. My plan to retrain the coons to 'after dark' only seems to be working--they didn't show up till 9:22 last night :thumbs up Brier let us know when they came a'visitin'. I think he was relieved to see them! He'd been missin' his buddy. :dog:


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