(Summation below third image)
Raiding the Larder:
Keeping me at bay so the second sibling can feast:
Close Up of One of the Perpetrators:
This is the first time these little guys have been in my house and perhaps, should be the last. I will keep on feeding them but I think it is better to have them eat outside. I do find them endearing little creatures but they make quite a mess and while I was uploading the pictures I noticed that one of them was scrabbling in a flower box suspended from the balcony. No wonder my herbs aren't flourishing.
I feel honoured that their Mama trusts them with me. She actually was downstairs eating while these antics were going on. While the babies were small and nursing she ate like a horse. She would come earlier and earlier in the evening until she was having her meal at 4:00pm. I guess she must have been wanting to make sure that none of the other neighbourhood raccoons got first choice. On one occasion I was in my back room on the phone with my daughter. I looked out the window of the door and saw that she was standing upright on her hind legs on the wooden balcony rail, peering in the window and trying to get my attention. I had forgotten to put the food out. I was a little surprised earlier in the spring when she seemed not to fear me in any way. I think she must have been one of the babies I fed and fondled in past years.
Janet B cautions me that they might get mean. I do know that a raccoon has quite a nasty bite but I think that they only do that when cornered or attacked or separated from their babies. I have been feeding raccoons now for 15 years and although sometimes a baby will close their teeth on my finger when I am handing out food, they open their jaws immediately when they realize it is a finger and not food. They have never drawn blood.
Janet also mentioned rabies. I am aware of that possibility and keep up to date with information on any rabies news. So far there haven't been any rabies cases close to the island of Montreal and even if close they would be unlikely to come onto the island. Another fact I keep in mind is that rabies is also called hydrophobia due to an inability for a rabies victim to tolerate water. They also get water from me and all my favourites like to wash their food in it and drink it. Sometimes if the vessel is large enough they will get right in and splash around for a little bath.
Thanks to ~~Joy~~ for attempting to identify the home invaders for me. No, I wasn't scared because I am fairly familiar with these critters. I have almost as many photographs of them as I have my cats. LOL That reminds me of another interesting thing about raccoons. They seem to have a tolerance for cats but will fight with dogs.
Lastly, I apologize to any of you who might have worried on my behalf. I really did mean to publish the photos immediately following my dramatic Home Invasion story but I found that inserting images into a narrative took quite a learning curve. I was grateful to Sharon Kinsella for having figured it out so early which I hope let you down without a bump.
I certainly had fun with all this and so delighted that the raccoons paid me the visit this evening.
Thanks for reading, - until next time,
Jann
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Comments: 13
And thank you for your kind comments on my Mirror Lake/sailboat pic :-)
What a fun way to start my Saturday -- with a big smile on my face.
I'm glad you liked my photo from Butchart Gardens. What a paradise of greenery and flowers!
dianne
Last evening the mama with the two came up to the balcony but it was a little early and I hadn't expected them then so there wasn't any food. It was when I opened the door to take some food out that they approached and I went to grab my camera. The cat food bag was still open and in they came to investigate. I thought it was a marvellous Photo Op so I didn't deter them and these pictures are a few of those that I took. They won't find this particular restaurant available to them from now on - it will be l'apres midi sur l'herbe or apres souper sur l'herbe for them.
But honestly, isn't that an endearing little face in the last picture?
We had racoons in our neighborhood in Toronto who were equally as bold as yours are. One of my neighbors in a complex made up of 2 story buildings on the shore of Lake Ontario, had a pair come through his kitchen window to raid his cat's food dish.
My last apartment here in San Antonio I used to get visitors through my cat door... usually just other cats... one evening I was at the computer next to my kitchen area and caught a glimpse of something moving out the corner of my eye... another bold raider had come calling and was blissfully chowing down at the cat food bowl!
On another occasion there were two males (perhaps adolescents) on the landing and obviously not each other's greatest fans. The growling was getting rather noisy and I wanted to get them to stop. When I opened the door, the nearest dashed past me into the computer room and hid behind the lazyboy chair. He cowered there until the other went away.
On one evening there were two families up on the landing and I kept the peace by having many little bowls of food out and two large water containers. One mother had five kits and the other had six so there were thirteen up here at once.
Fun and games!
So when are you coming?
My old cat once had a pet skunk. She would insist that I put out a dish of catfood on the front porch every evening - and then when it was time for the skunks to be out and around, her little friend would come and eat the food.