
Because we operated a small family farm with livestock as well as sprawling gardens, raccoons were and still are the bane of our existence. This phrase is probably a cliché but I simply cannot force myself to change the wording; it describes these pests perfectly. Their exploits are so extraordinary, that a city dweller might think I am exaggerating. However, every word is the unvarnished truth.
.
An abbreviated mischief list:
- We removed one small pane of glass in a window six feet above the ground to help ventilate our meat-bird barn. One morning we discovered 50 chicks missing with only a few feathers left. Only raccoons, with their sharp claws can climb that high and carry off chickens.
- Raccoons love to pull down corn stalks, destroying the entire plant, to eat only the largest, sweetest corn cob.
- At night, as raccoons gather to celebrate their corn feast, they make a loud, piercing sound that can only be described as a cross between a crying human infant and a screeching cat.
- These thieves steal eggs, terrorizing the hens who make such a racket that one of the male members of our family runs out with a gun, no matter what the hour.
- They are garbage specialists, opening lids, toppling garbage cans that should protect the green garbage bags from them. Raccoons are not content to simply eat the food waste, they delight in dragging trash all over the shed.
- Mother raccoons hide their young in hay barns. Accidentally stumble upon her and she turns vicious. One huge, enraged mama raccoon chased one of our sons out of the barn, causing him to scream,
“It’s a bear. There’s a huge bear in the hay barn coming after me!”
He was terrified.
- One afternoon, our wonderful guard dog chased three raccoons up a hydro pole. One blew the transformer, electrocuting himself, as he tried to climb down later that night. He died instantly and cut off our electricity. We need power to even use water or flush the toilet because we run our own pumps in three separate wells.
The electrical crew, who had arrived in a long cherry picker, argued whether they really wanted to go up and rescue the remaining two raccoons.
“Do you want to go up there George?”
“Who me? No way. Why don’t you do it Harry?”
“No way”
They turned to me and stated,
“Tell you what. We’ll turn your power on and just come back tomorrow after they blow the transformer again.”
David, my son, decided to simply open his upstairs bedroom window, aim carefully and take the raccoons out of their misery. The power stayed on.
The only good thing I can say about raccoons is that they did clean our property as they scoured the yard every night for any tidbits of food dropped by our kids.
How can something that looks so cute be such a bloody menace?
Wait, I just looked at the pic with the teeth again. I get it now.
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laughing- that is exactly why I included that one!
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We have had trouble for many years with those buggers. I laughed at your post because one blow our transformer too the night before Thanksgiving one year just as I had four pies baking in the oven!
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Now that definetly tops my disaster list
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These things make a mess of my backyard often, and I live in an urban part of Southern California. Possums are plentiful here too, but they do a lot less damage.
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they really do get around then.. we live in rural. eastern Ontario, Canada
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Yikes! These animals are dangerous. Maybe it’s from being a guy but I like the gun idea.
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my husband has been pushed over the edge and is seriously considering it…again!
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Well he is not harming the environment by taking them out. In fact he would be helping other animals and humans have a better quality of life.
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laughing.. I am going to tell hime that.. you probably just made a new friend
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Oh, wow. What a great adventure, reading about your masked bandits! You’ve got plenty of wildlife stories (true, that is) up in Canada. I was hijacked out of the blog-o-sphere a few months ago, while I was out doing my fire mitigation in the forest. And then I had a black-bear conflict a few weeks ago … and somehow I found my way back to the trail. What a good blog to re-connect with. I think I’ll reblog this. Do I have to fill out an application?
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simply reblog with my blessing, referring back to my blog or post
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Reblogged this on Other Side of the Trees and commented:
On the other side of the trees, for the Mother of Nine9 blogger, there is some wildness happening, among a group of raccoons. Here is the story, from mother of nine9 blog (https://themotherofnine9.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/raccoons-masked-bandits/) … You need to visit this blog.
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Can Raccoon & Roof Rats or Norway Rats co-exist in the same attic? I think I have both. It is scaring me & my dog. No damaged rooftop anywhere, but they are both up there I just know it. Can they co-exist in same attic????
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? a wild guess would be, yes
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