Your Big Backyard

[naomikritzer]

It's not that I object to sharing my back yard with the local wildlife.

But when a pair of raccoons wander into my yard while I'm eating dinner, I would appreciate it if they'd at least skedaddle when I stand up, yell, and wave my arms at them threateningly. Rather than giving me a look like they're kind of embarrassed for me, and then going back to digging for goodies in my yard.

There are cats in this neighborhood who are more skittish than these raccoons. I took some pictures of them; they were perfectly comfortable letting me get within six feet of them, and they were obviously aware that any yelling was just a bluff. Ed warned them that we actually have recipes for raccoon (we really do, and so do you if you have the old version of Joy of Cooking -- it also has cooking instructions for bear) but they weren't impressed.

Comments

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Someone in your neighborhood is feeding them. It's going to be interesting to see if you tell us about trashcans being ripped apart, local cats & small dogs terrorized or killed. 'Coon is much less greasy than possum though I like squirrel better than both.

[naomikritzer]

It might actually be us who is feeding them. We've been eating dinner outside and haven't been careful about sweeping the patio afterwards.

Our trash cans are provided by the city and are both dog-proof and raccoon-proof. In eleven years I have yet to see one tipped over or pulled open.

[naomikritzer]

You know, it also occurs to me that our next-door neighbors feed the squirrels, so the raccoons probably are eating the stuff they leave out, as well.

Our squirrels are also extremely fat and unintimidated by humans, but they're at least smaller.