They’re Coming out of the Woodwork

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The day after the bandidos visited and were treed by our dogs, I thought calm was restored in the neighbourhood, but it was not to be. Emma, the self-appointed yard supervisor, gave a few barks and stopped. I looked out the window and saw nothing. No one that needed barking at was passing by the house. I went back to my work. She barked again. I looked again. She doesn’t bark just for the fun of barking. She knows that’s not allowed. After the fourth time, I went outside to see what was up.

She caught my attention and then ran to the side of the yard and sat by the fence, looking up, as if she had something to show me. (Reminded me of Lassie trying to tell her owners that Timmy fell down the well.)

Ruby, her assistant supervisor, also sat by the fence and looked up. I couldn’t see anything, and they turned to me with a desperate pleading look before pointing their noses back up into the forest above us. So I did a CSI thing. I followed the path of their line of sight and it led me straight to a huge fir tree in the neighbours’ yard. At first I saw nothing, but then a furry creature moved.

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They’re ba-a-ack! But only one this time.

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This was not one of the two who were up a tree the day before. If you go back to compare this one to the raccoons on the “Bandidos” post, you’ll see that one of the original bandidos had a tattered right ear and a gash on the left side of his lip.His buddy had a milky right eye.  The lone raccoon pictured here has none of those identifying marks. He has a piece missing out of his left ear, and a gash on the right side of his lip. So there are at least three of the critters in the area just now.

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It seems that they’re coming out of the woodwork. I’m glad we don’t have chickens.

35 thoughts on “They’re Coming out of the Woodwork”

    • We hear stories of people feeding them and getting bitten. One woman who had them coming up to her bedroom deck to get fed made the mistake of thinking they were tame. At night a raccoon came in through the window or sliding door and gave her some serious bites when she woke up and tried to get him out. Another time a woman was riding her bike (in the city) and a raccoon bite her in the leg. It does happen, especially if people forget that they are wild animals. I don’t mean “wild” as in “crazy” but just “not domestic” animals.

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      • They are so cute, I can understand why people would think the cuteness extends to their character too. Koalas here are super cute too, but they bite and scratch if cornered. Of course they only eat a certain kind of eucalyptus leaf. They are being seen increasingly more often in the suburbs now, especially in hot weather, looking for water.

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    • The trouble is there is always food around here for them. They get into composts, and anything else that’s near the house (like cracked corn, when I fed the deer) and they eat those horrible beetles that fly around at night. That’s one good thing about the raccoons.

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    • I think that shows how brazen they’re getting. They’re getting used to people and dogs, but with so many trees around they must know that they can safely escape the dogs. Once they’re in the trees, it’s the crows and ravens that can really bother them. I’ve seen crows make repeated dives at a treed raccoon and try to pick their eyes. Owls would be a problem too except the owls don’t show up as often in the daytime. But we hear them at night.

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  9. They really are cute, but so destructive as well. I always escort my cats out first thing in the morning, and check the perimeter of the yard and the cedar tree. We have one or two that routinely sleep in our neighbour’s towering pine trees, and yes, those annoying crows dive on them constantly. The crows are more annoying to me than the raccoons. When I read your title “They’re coming out of the woodwork”, my first thought was a post about the vast number of wasps! I am buying a few wasp traps today (I’ve already made a couple to no avail), and hope it will put an end to that problem. Cute photos of Emma and the masked bandit.

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    • Yes, the wasps are pesky already. I read somewhere that they also do pollinating just by flying around and shaking up the blossoms, so with our bees in decline, I wonder if we should be killing them, but then it gets so bad with wasps that you can’t safely sit out on the deck. So what to do. I guess wasp traps are in order. I think you’re wise to escort your cats when they first go outside. You never know what has been making itself comfortable in your yard overnight.

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  12. Hi Anneli,
    That reminds me of an incident years ago when we were still living in Karnes City and had our two (big) dogs, Buster and Sally. They were really after the racoons. Especially Sally. She would sit under a tree for hours, once she had chased them up there, and it would take me a lot of strength to pull her away.
    Well, one day those two doggies had again chased a raccoon up a tree and were sitting under it, barking away furiously. The raccoon must have got quite afraid and or just in need. Whichever it was, it loosened its bowels and, as you can imagine, straight onto the dogs! What a mess they were. And I had to clean them! Yuck!!!
    Have a more pleasant weekend,
    Pit

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