Over the last month I have been having a miserable time with a cute, mask faced, rascal of a Raccoon below!!
Evening and nightly raids on the feeders, and disappearing suet , got to the point of the feeder getting destroyed!!
So I started putting out food and bringing it in early evening ,and the little bugger started coming in the late afternoon around 3to4 o'clock...I couldn't win !! I was to the point that I didn't dare eat on the deck ...""""oh yes I forgot to say, this is on the deck 8 ft of the ground'"""" he just used the stairs" of course" why not everybody else does !!!
Daytime visit ...with that little paw reaching in for a paw full!!
Ooop's caught with my paw in the cookie jar!!
This is a daylight photo....just scooping up the few seeds I had put out on the deck boards......
"for the bird"
And of course this is at dusk and I forgot to pick up the seeds,..
here both paws hold a scoped up
bunch !!
Then when the food was not there...the bagging started !!
I tried to get a photo with it standing up on it's hind legs
scratching at the door making a vocal noise like the combination
of a dog and cat cry was a nightly happening ...muddy paw tracks all over the window!! grrr!!
Then there was this look ... front paws where together ...I think he was praying
for me to brake down !!
Where are you Lady ...can't you see I am starving out here ...just open the door and let me in...just make a mistake and open the door like I was the dog your letting in !!
Sorry buddy I don't have a dog!!
It has been the same Raccoon because there is a stripe of hair about 4 inch long and about 2 inches wide just beyond the nape of it's neck that is about 1 inch shorter then the rest of it's coat !!
A couple of nights ago it was digging seeds that where stuck in the cracks between the deck boards...I open the slider door a couple of inches..stamped my foot and shouted get out of here ...well it charged at the door growling....scared the living be daylights out of me out of me..".this is war" ,but don't know what to do!!
I can't put out food anymore for awhile!! :{
Hi Grace,
ReplyDeleteWonderful images, what a fantastic nature reserve you have there.
Could you put food well away from the house for him.....he is obviously very hungry and perhaps can't find enough food to survive.
I know you won't like this, but perhaps for a few days stop feeding the birds :( I know that is hard, as you love your birds but perhaps it will take racoon away from your home.
Let us know how you get on......
Sorry bud but I have to admit that I laughed when I first read this tale.... Thinking of you doing a mini riverdance by stamping your little slippered foot and then not expecting the tough guy tactics reply... You know he has tried the softly softly approach with you but to no avail. This guy means business and he's smart. Hope there can be a mutual resolution to all this. Btw package was sent Saturday so I don't have a clue when it will arrive with you.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when the raccoon came knocking at the door. We don't have raccoons here but I know they can be a pest. I can't help you with any suggestions to get rid of him, but the first step you've already done--declared war. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but you have me in stitches.How about getting a can of 'Raccoon-off' spray? I know it is not funny anymore but is it someone whom you forgot to feed in another lifetime, come back to haunt you?
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of planting anti personnel mines in the garden or getting out the shotgun.{:)
ReplyDeleteOh my! Call the police, fire brigade, ambulance, army....or....maybe just enjoy your new and persistent visitor ;-) What a beautiful creature it is! I have visions of you opening the door, it barging past and throwing you out and and all your belongings after you and then the positions reversed with you hammering on the door trying to get in while it sits in a chair watching and taking the ocassional photo of you ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou be careful, cute, but could be rabied, if it charged at you. Give the DNR a call, they may trap it. Or buy yourself a big 'ol gun, Granny!!
ReplyDeleteAll in all the photos are adorable!! I'm sure "Bandit" was cute at first, but now is a pain in the rumper!!
uh oh. the aggression is not fun. good luck!
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience several years ago. The raccoon dug at the corner of our screen door in an attempt to get it open. It also had no fear of me or my dog. Turns out it had been released by a coon hunter who used it to train his dogs. Apparently this was common practice with many hunters, but they would get rid of the raccoon when it was no longer needed. The raccoon slept on the porch during the day and scratched at the door at night. When it began snarling and chasing my wife and me, I called the wildlife officer and he came and got it. I hope your problem is solved soon.
ReplyDeleteWe have them visit here but it's been a long time since I got photos as good as these. Cute little guy but like you I stopped keeping the feeders full for a while to discourage them. Mine usually came out at night.
ReplyDeleteTrap it and relocate. Animal control will do it for you. That's why you pay taxes.
ReplyDeleteI liked your original title. It certainly made me curious.
ReplyDeleteThat raccoon is a brat, that's all there is about it. If he gets relocated, I hope he's not brought to my area of Maine! I've got deer to deal with.
ReplyDeleteCUTE raccoon...until the charging & growling part! yikes!! THAT's not a good sign.
ReplyDeletethey're supposed to get scared & run...when they see you...
hmmmm, i say RELOCATION is in order for this one!
Wonderful to see Grace...
ReplyDeleteGrace, I can definitely sympathize--currently have 2 raccoons living under my deck and raided & destroying feeders at night. I can also see their trails leading to my neighbors houses as well.....I have been taking my feeders in at night. Will relocate them as soon as I can get County Animal Control to return my calls. Once they re gone, I will have to regular use Critter Rid for boundary control around the deck. Very frustrating...
ReplyDeleteI won't laugh because I'm having the same problem! My raccoon has come in the daytime several times while I still had the cats outside. I always bring the cats in by dark. I also have to take down the suet, but he is leaving most of the feeders alone. I wonder if they have babies right now and are looking for extra food. The one I am seeing is big, but usually I get a couple of small ones eventually.
ReplyDeleteFunny, funny write-up, Grace. Also lots of good advice, and some I’m not crazy about.
ReplyDeleteYour idea, and Cheryl’s advice, is the most humane. Move food away from the house and stop feeding for a few days. No food – no reason to stay there. Shy Songbird’s suggestion to enjoy your visitor is the way I would go! And Mary’s comment that there may be babies is something to consider. Our raccoons come out mid-afternoon this time of year, too. They need extra nutrition and take it while the babes are sleeping.
I don’t have any experience with raccoon deterrent products but raccoons like to dig in my newly-planted herb pots so I sprinkle the soil with cayenne pepper powder. Not pleasant, but not harmful, either.
Relocation doesn’t work. When you move a wild animal, you’re moving him/her into a) unfamiliar territory and b) habitat already occupied by other creatures. No good ever comes of it.
In my part of the country, critter control companies are required by law to euthanize any creatures that they trap. People think it’s a humane solution but it’s anything but.
I wish you – and your wild things – the best!
So glad we don't have coons here ... we had them at the coast though but I never had a run in with one. Here the deer eat everything ... including sunflower seeds!!! I bought a scarecrow sprinkler today in hopes of keeping them away from my garden.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your pest control.
Grace, I feel your pain. You did get some cute shots of the raccoon. But, they really are pigs. My suet is always the first to go. I started putting it away at night, I have not seen my raccoon during the day. Maybe, because I have a dog.
ReplyDeleteGrace, no advice as we have never had raccoons or any other animals, aside from rabbits despite having living in what's called a rural areas. Withholding food for awhile, even from the birds, may be the best deterrent to convince your furry visitor to move on...you hope.
ReplyDeleteGrace, no advice as we have never had raccoons or any other animals, aside from rabbits despite having living in what's called a rural areas. Withholding food for awhile, even from the birds, may be the best deterrent to convince your furry visitor to move on...you hope.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty Raccoon, great photos.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if (s)he was one that you took pics of in the hollow tree as a baby :D
ReplyDeleteOh...bad boy!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots...indeed! Love to come here. Hugs
BShell
Hi Grace. Just catching up with my old buddies because I have been in Spain for nealy 3 weeks.It's a hard life insn't it. Now about this little furry chap. Don't you think you are being a bit cruel and heartless when he is actually begging you to feed him? He probably wanders off into the night with an empty tum and wondering why that previously generous human being has decided to disown him. All he was after was a free meal and doing his best doggie impression. Catch up with me soon and hope you are mended from all those ops now.
ReplyDeleteThose are great Raccoon pics
ReplyDeletedirty, rotten, scoundrel!! your in trouble!!
ReplyDelete