The raccoon saga

[Aerows]

They were removed. Three juveniles were taken away, but I thought that was the end of the troubles. I nearly fainted when I was looking at the laptop, opened the sliding glass door to go outside, and two HUGE ones rushed it.

I had to drop the laptop to close the door to keep them from getting in, and didn't close it all the way, and a nose was sticking in the door.

Both were taken away. One male weighed 31 lbs, the female weighed 37! lbs.

Anyway, I still look before I go outside at night, but those dudes got HUGE, scary and were taken away, thank heavens. They got dangerous.

Moral of the story - don't feed or mess with raccoons.

[NYC_SKP]

1. If you could, it would make for an interesting chronology of posts to pull together everything....

...that you've written!



Glad for the outcome!

[Aerows]

2. I'll try to do so

I had a first post glowing about how cute one of them was for tugging at my shirt with it's little hands.

Then I had a post about how I had bonded with one.

Then I got scared because my cat was terrified.

Then they swarmed me every time I went outside at night, and one grabbed me around the ankle and slobbered on me trying to trap me so I would feed it.

Then they tried to break into the damn house.

But I'll try to collate the "raccoon" files. I'm an idiot for thinking they were "harmless".

[NYC_SKP]

3. I remember the ones that I read and your sincere wonderment about what to do!

And, of course, others telling you to be ware.

For me, racoons are very smart!

They remind me of certain humans I've run into!

[Aerows]

5. I posted the ones I could find

Yep, I'm an idiot for encouraging them. This is what NOT to do when a raccoon comes around.

[Aerows]

4. The saga

10/12/2013 I fell asleep in the chair outside

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018496877

I had the laptop on my lap, by there was this little pull on my shirt.

Yep, the raccoon that insists on being my friend was there because I had put the cat inside. It's little hand yanked on my shirt to wake me up.

What on earth?

10/23/2013

Raccoons - dumb question

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018503291

I have one that is a frequent visitor. She loves cat food, and lingers quite a bit with anything left in cat bowls. She's kind of solitary, though I think she was one of the brood I saw running around in the spring.

She's cute, and snatched my shirt one night when I was asleep on the porch. She nipped me (nothing bad, just a playful pinch) on the toe when she wasn't fed. I fed her, and she placidly crunched on cat food like she owned the place. She was about a foot away from me. I didn't dare touch her.

Is she dangerous? Is she rabid? Will she hurt the cat? So far, none of those things have come to pass, but she's kind of small. If she gets full grown will this be a problem?

11/01/2013

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018509664

I was out on the side patio, and two juveniles mobbed me. Like, sniffing my feet mobbed me. I went on the other patio to get the cat and bring her in, and there they came, and I had to grab her up and toss her inside while one of them grabbed my damn foot and sock as I was *fleeing* it. I don't think it was trying to bite, I think it was just hungry and was trying to stop the food wagon (I haven't left food out for them because they have gotten to be a nuisance).

What in the hell do I do with these damn things to get them to stop mobbing me? The cat was just sitting there like "they aren't going to mess with me if I don't mess with them" but they freaking run up to me like I'm their damn mother! Seriously, I felt a little raccoon slobber on my sock. It was trying to keep me from running away because I didn't feed it.

[Sissyk]

6. I must tell you Aerows.

I've followed your raccoon saga, and was at first saying to myself....self, raccoons are cute, semi sweet and MEAN!! Lol.

My aunt and uncle had a "pet" raccoon when I was little. So cute and sweet one minute and would bite your hand off the next. They kept it in the basement and treated it like a member od the family. Until the day my uncle wouldn't give it a piece of fruit he was eating. Nearly had to have his hand amputated. It was one of those memories that never go away! Lol.

He got rid of the raccoon and didn't tell us how.

[struggle4progress]

7. Best to leave the wild ones wild. Domesticating species takes many generations of selection