First Post of 2007: Visiting Raccoon

Recently we spent a couple of nights at my daughter's house in Strathcona, house- and cat-sitting.


The first night, I heard some scritching noises on the back porch; a large raccoon, trying to get at the dog food, stingily stashed in a sturdy but transparent plastic container. I rushed for my camera, and snapped wildly through the rain-spattered windows. He sat there placidly, not minding the flash, until I opened the back door to get a clear shot. Then he left, in a hurry, so that all I got was his backside, a lump of grizzled fur on the steps.



Here, though, is one of the photos through the window; recycling containers, leftover Christmas "snow", old summer chair, dogfood and the 'coon, all smudged by the dust and rain on the window.


And an enlargement and enhancement of the important part of the photo. He looks very tame, sitting there, very dog-like.


They warn us about these raccoons. They may seem tame, but if frightened or trapped can inflict nasty wounds. And since they sometimes carry rabies, a bite victim may need a series of protective (and expensive) shots.


I have never heard of an actual case where a person was bitten, but they do tangle with cats and dogs fairly frequently. The pets usually get the worst of it.


And they can be real nuisances in populated areas. They make nests under porches, in basements, in garden sheds. They rummage through the garbage, dig holes in the garden. And eat the cat and dog food, if they can get at it. "Masked bandits", they are often called.


My daughter, like her neighbours, keeps the garbage in a container with a tight-fitting lid, the compost well covered and the dogfood zipped up. The cat eats inside. But this guy obviously is finding plenty of unprotected edibles; look at the size of him!


There's a good side to the raccoon. They are often (properly vaccinated) kept as pets, and I hear that they can be good companions. (As a child, I read the book, "Rascal", about one such pet raccoon; how I envied that boy!) In the wild, they bother no-one; like the bears they are related to, they fish, hunt, pick berries, root for insects. Like the bears, they will raid an orchard or harvest your corn in season. And of course, if you catch them doing so, they're fair game; a raccoon stew is very tasty, I've been told by them as should know.


And, nuisance or not, they belong here. Long before the first Europeans sailed, paddled or hiked to these shores, this raccoon's forebears were collecting mussels and clams along the waterfront, fastidiously washing the sand off before they ate them. We have built houses and roads in his berry patches and polluted his fishing holes; maybe he's entitled to a mouthful of dog food now and again.


So, to start the New Year off, a nod to our fellow-creatures; may we long live in peace and mutual respect.

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Posted on Friday Ark, January 5th