The coons confrontation

We forgot to tell my daughter-in-law, who was the one that fed our animals mostly while we were gone, to leave extra food out for our wild animals. When we got back they had got out of the habit of coming here for food and we did not see many for a while. Then we had a lot of rain and the food was not put to where we can see it. I kept forgetting to watch for the coons and possums as much as I used to do. They have started coming back now.

A couple of nights ago I looked out and there was a big coon eating out of the cat food pan. He would pick it up with his front paw and rise up and look around to see if there was any danger, and then start eating. The only other animal I saw was Tri, one of our cats, sitting on the bottom step about six feet away from where the coon was. The cat just watched the coon, but did not really seem very interested. The coon hardly glanced at the cat. He knew there was no danger there.

The coon started looking off to the right. He had heard or seen something I had not. He got another piece of food and ate on it, but kept looking back in the same direction. About that time another coon showed up from the direction he was watching. This was a big coon, but not as big as the first one.

When the second coon got about five of six feet from him, the first coon charged. It looked like he snapped at the second one as if he was going to bite it. The second coon ran past the first one and got to the food pan. The first coon rammed into him. I could not tell if the bump and push actually was what moved him or not, but the second coon backed away with a piece of food.

I was very interested in what would happen when the second coon finished eating, but did not get the chance. Something that I did not see or hear startled them and both coons ran off.

I have seen something similar to this before. It has me wondering. The first coon was definitely trying to scare the second one off when he charged him and snapped at him. The second coon seemed to know that the first one was not going to bite him. I’m sure that coons will fight at times. I wonder if biting is part of it. You would think so. If it is how did the second coon know the first one would not bite him?

I need to start paying closer attention to the animals and try to learn more. It is interesting and entertaining watching them and I am learning about them at the same time.