Raccoon 🦝!!’ Sighting

[Ultum4Spiderz]

wooo been waiting too see one running around . I was making coffee and looking out the window.

 

[Brewser]

Check'n Out the Ranger ... Kick'n the Tires ...
Probably Look'n to Buy.

 

[NMTs]

Check'n Out the Ranger ... Kick'n the Tires ...
Probably Look'n to Buy.

More likely trying to figure out how to siphon the gas - raccoons are always making trouble...

I saw one strolling through Central Park in NYC last week and I was certain he was looking for somebody to mug.

 

[gzophia]

Haha, I've never seen one of these alive, which is pretty weird since they are common in my area.
I guess I'm happy without meeting one though, I've heard of the trouble these little bandits get up to

 

[Charliemum]

I watch a thing on YouTube about them this woman bought a house and the previous owners said oh we feed the racoon, she thought they were joking till one turned up . They now feed her and her baby's that bring their baby's back , now she has a full troop to feed . Apparently they love marshmallow

 

[Westicles]

I can't stand trash pandas! Lol

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Haha, I've never seen one of these alive, which is pretty weird since they are common in my area.
I guess I'm happy without meeting one though, I've heard of the trouble these little bandits get up to

That is weird.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Raccoons can tear you up too if you get too close. Most times they will run off when startled. The full grown one I caught rummaging in the trash can I mistook for a big cat. When it lifted it's head out to look at me we were both startled. It took off like a bat out of hell.

 

[darkness975]

I hate them. I have to throw bleach in the trash can every week to keep them out. They used to wake me up all night too.

 

[NMTs]

I'm not very fond of them either. I lost 2 of my adult female box turtles to a raccoon raid several years ago, and I've been on the defensive since then. The only thing left of my girls were their completely empty shells... My oldest male survived the attack, and was lucky to come out of the deal only missing one of his front feet and the end of his tail. He's recovered fully and fathered numerous offspring since.

I was in between dogs at the time - the raccoons don't risk coming into the yard when I've got dogs out there...

 

[Glorfindel]

Masked Bandits

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

As mammals, I kind of like them. However, if one decides to take up residence in the attic, as one did here this past fall, it undermines one's appreciation of them.

And if one figures a way to into the house from the attic somehow, that appreciation is lowered even more.

Which leads to a story...

The porch roof to the house was in need of repair. The leaking led to ruining a few ceiling tiles disintegrating and falling out. Roof repair is not cheap, as I'm sure everybody knows, and I had to put it off until the fall. Well before I was able to locate a repairman, the coon had moved into the attic.
Well one night I heard a noise in the entry room where you enter the house. Fearing the worst, I looked in the room and at the place where the tiles were gone, I saw the racoon peering down. I shouted at him in not friendly or polite way to scram. He climbed back from whatever way he came. up. As a temporary measure I blocked of the entry into the house proper in case he decided to explore again.

Well, a few nights later, I heard a noise again. I had heard no disturbances for a few nights after the invasion and so had removed the barricade. So I looked, and this time the thing HAD gotten into the entry toom. I shouted at him and he dropped down and got behind darge-is piece of furniture I had in there.

So I REALLY barricaded the place again and then went about figuring out how to get him to leave. He had to do so on his own volition of course, so the only immediate solution was to leave the front door and the outside door open.
But that left me with a puzzle...How would I know if he had left?

I thought it over a bit and thought "Hmmm. I have the window that goes over the door screen in the winter. I have a bag of sand...EUREKA!"
I laid the window in the doorway, propping open the door, and liberally sprinkled sand on it. All I could do after that was hope for the best. I slept pretty lightly that night, let me tell you. This was in January, luckily the temperatures had not dropped to super-cold levels yet

So the next morning I went to check the situation out and found this...one set of footprints in the sand. With no returning footprints. Whew!

I'm not sure if I created this post to tell the story, or if I just wanted to show folks that I was ingenious! See photo below

Epilogue: I got the roof fixed in February. Not that the leaking roof had anything to do with the racoon living in the attic, because it had left following the roof repair, no doubt because of all the noise while it was trying to sleep. But, I heard it thumping around in the attic again a couple weeks later.. But I've heard no activity since. I suspect I know where it got in at, and will investigate and block entry if I am correct, when the weather improves a bit more.
By the way, I love wildlife, but that love stops when it enters my home. Or at least if anything as potentially dangerous as a racoon comes in, then all bets are off. I considered poison bait, but really did not want to have to deal with the stench of a dead coon in the attic. Shooting would be illegal and unsafe. I even went out and bought a live-catch trap, but had no luck.
And here is the kicker. Where I live, as a fur-bearring/game animal, it is illegal to trap and relocate racoons. (The risk of releasing one that might be diseased into an area where the disease has not spread to probably is a factor as well)
But it annoyed me when I learned of that law. My rational was "Hey, if the state is protecting the invasive animal, THEY should be responsible for removing it!" But they seem not to be here, you have to hire professionals. Not cheap. So, that coon was smart to finally decide to pack its bags. Because if I had caught the thing in the live trap, I MIGHT have made it an ex-racoon somehow. Which I would have hated to do. Apologies for the lengthy post!

 

[Ratmosphere]

My old condo had dumpsters in a fenced in area.

One day my very elderly Polish neighbor came over asking me to assist him. "They put them in there!" he exclaimed in broken English. I did not know what he meant, so we walked to the dumpster so he can show me.

I looked in the dumpster and there were two very young raccoons who obviously were stuck and couldn't get out, but he thought people dumped them in there. I tried to explain that these were wild animals that got in but now were trapped. He brushed it off, as the language barrier made it hard for him to fully understand.

Without warning, Stefan proceeds to put his hand in the dumpster and starts to PET one of the raccoons! I say, "Stefan! Don't do that!" and he continues to pet them. I explain that they are wild animals that can carry disease and to stand back before he gets hurt.

I now have the responsibility of getting these raccoons out so I grab a broom and hope to God they do not bite or scratch me. The youngsters were able to grab the broom head as I lifted them out. One got out pretty well, but the other took a spill after losing his grip. It's a miracle Stefan came out of that situation unscathed.